Purpose:

Gippsland Primary Health Network (PHN) is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information. This privacy policy explains how Gippsland PHN manages the personal information that we collect, use and disclose and how to contact us if you have any further queries about our management of your personal information.

Gippsland PHN is required by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”) to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”) (subject to the other provisions of the Privacy Act). The APPs regulate the manner in which personal information is handled throughout its life cycle, from collection to use and disclosure, storage, accessibility and disposal. Gippsland PHN is also required to comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) (“Spam Act”).

This policy should be read in addition to our Privacy Policy and specifically for Employment applications and subsequent use of information supplied by you in the application. 

Purpose of Information we collect

Gippsland PHN collects your personal and sensitive information that we believe is reasonably necessary to consider your application for employment and/or facilitate and manage your employment relationship with Gippsland PHN.

By providing us with this sensitive information you consent to our use or disclosure of your information for a secondary purpose directly related to the primary purpose. Unless permitted by law, we will not use this information for any other purpose without your consent. 

What information we collect

The information we collect includes the information you provide to us:

• in your job application (for example name, address, and previous employment details);
• any additional verbal information collected by our staff through discussion with you (for example at interview); and
• any information we may need to collect about you from third parties on your behalf (for example referee comments, police checks etc.).

Access to your information

You may request access to the information we hold about you at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer (details below). By not collecting this information we may be unable to assess your suitability for employment and unable to facilitate and manage your employment relationship with us.

Disclosure of Information

In order to consider your application for employment and/or facilitate and manage your employment relationship with Gippsland PHN we may need to disclose this information to organisations and individuals that carry out functions on behalf of or in conjunction with Gippsland PHN. These may include:

• Government agencies and public sector bodies;
• Workers compensation and other insurance providers;
• Recruitment agencies; and
• Individuals or businesses we contact for reference check purposes.

Your consent to collect information

In order to consider your application for employment and/or facilitate and manage your employment relationship with Gippsland PHN, by applying for a position you consent to our collecting of sensitive and personal information about you from:

• recruitment agencies;
• law enforcement agencies for criminal checks;
• educational institutions to verify qualifications; and
• from individuals or businesses, we contact for reference check purposes.

Requirements to collect information

The collection of this sensitive and personal information may be required by:

• the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) and the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth);
• child protection legislation; 
• court orders; and/or 
• our contractual agreements for particular programs or projects with State and Federal governments.

International Disclosure

Gippsland PHN is not an international company. However, while every effort is made to keep personal information we hold in Australia only, we may need to disclose your personal information to overseas recipients such as:

• individuals and businesses, we contact for reference check purposes in your application; and
• liaising with government agencies and public sector bodies for the purpose of assessing a 457 Visa application (if applicable).

How we store your information

The personal information we collect about you will be stored securely in a recruitment file. Once the recruitment process is complete the information will be treated as follows:

If you are… Successful, and become an employee

Then … An employee file will be created for you and the information will be stored on this file.

If you are… Unsuccessful and are not offered the position

Then … The information will be stored on the recruitment file.

Please contact Gippsland PHN if you have any queries about the personal information that Gippsland PHN holds about you or the way we handle that personal information. Gippsland PHN’s contact details for privacy queries are set out below. 

Lodging a complaint

Individuals who would like to lodge a complaint about a potential data or privacy breach can do so by visiting our website and clicking on this link. 

Further information

For further information or enquiries regarding our Privacy Statement, or to request access to personal information: Email: info@gphn.org.au