Privacy Policy

Inner Peace In-Home Nursing & Care is a registered in-home aged care and nursing service provider operating in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia — including Bairnsdale, Bruthen, Lakes Entrance, Lindenow South, Paynesville and surrounding towns.

We provide Personal Care, Nursing Care, Social Care and Dementia Care services to our clients in the comfort and familiarity of their own homes. We have been proudly serving the East Gippsland community since 2022.

This Privacy Policy applies to all personal information — including health information — that we collect from:

• Current, past and prospective clients and their authorised representatives or family members
• Visitors to our website (innerpeace.vision)
• Job applicants, employees and contracted carers
• Referrers, health professionals and other third parties who interact with us

Depending on your relationship with us, we may collect the following types of information:

a) Client & Care Information

• Full name, date of birth, gender and contact details
• Health and medical information relevant to the care we provide — including medical history, medications, diagnoses, care plans and clinical notes
• Emergency contact and next-of-kin details
• Medicare or DVA number and health fund details (where applicable)
• My Aged Care reference numbers and funding information
• Financial information required for invoicing and fee management

b) Website Visitor Information

• Your browser type and operating system
• Your IP address (anonymised where possible)
• Pages visited, date and time of your visit, and documents downloaded
• Information you voluntarily submit via our online contact or appointment booking forms (name and email address)

c) Staff & Carer Information

• Name, contact details, qualifications and work history
• Police check and Working with Children Check results
• Tax file numbers and payroll information (where required by law)

We collect personal information directly from you wherever practicable. This may occur:

• In person during care assessments or home visits
• Via our website contact and appointment booking forms at innerpeace.vision
• By telephone or email
• From referrals by general practitioners, hospitals, My Aged Care or other health professionals — with your knowledge
• Through our carer recruitment and interview process

We will notify you of any collection, or ensure you are aware of this Privacy Policy, at or before the time of collection.

We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information to:

• Provide safe, high-quality in-home nursing, personal, social and dementia care services
• Assess your care needs, develop and review your personalised care plan, and coordinate your care
• Communicate with you, your family or your authorised representatives about your care
• Process appointments, enquiries and service agreements
• Comply with our obligations under the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth) and relevant quality standards
• Liaise with your treating GP, specialists or other health professionals involved in your care
• Process invoices, manage payments and administer government-funded aged care subsidies
• Recruit, train and manage carers and staff
• Send you service updates, newsletters or promotions — only with your consent, and you may opt out at any time
• Improve our website and monitor service performance using de-identified data
• Comply with our legal and regulatory obligations

Health information is classified as "sensitive information" under the Privacy Act 1988 and is afforded the highest level of protection. Because providing nursing and care services necessarily involves collecting health information, we handle it with the utmost care and professionalism.

We will only collect, use or disclose your health information:

• With your consent (express or implied from the context of your care relationship with us), OR
• Where necessary to provide a health service to you and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain consent, OR
• Where required or authorised by law — for example, mandatory reporting obligations, court orders, or the Aged Care Act 2024

We will never sell your personal information to third parties. We may disclose your information to the following parties, only to the extent necessary:

• Your treating GP, medical specialists, pharmacists or other health professionals involved in your care
• My Aged Care and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (for aged care funding and registration)
• The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (for quality audits, complaints or regulatory purposes)
• Our insurers and legal advisors (subject to confidentiality obligations)
• Contracted IT service providers who assist in operating our systems (under strict data processing agreements)
• Family members or authorised representatives — only with your consent or as permitted by law
• Emergency services or law enforcement, where there is a serious and imminent threat to health or safety

We do not disclose personal information to overseas recipients unless required to do so by law, or unless you have explicitly consented.

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Our security measures include:

• Secure, password-protected electronic systems and encrypted databases
• Physical security for paper-based records (locked storage)
• Restricted access — only staff who require information to perform their role may access it
• Staff training on privacy obligations and confidentiality
• Up-to-date firewalls and security software

When personal information is no longer needed, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it, subject to any legal retention requirements. Health records must be retained for a minimum period under Victorian law.

In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm, we will comply with the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme under the Privacy Act 1988. This means we will promptly notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and any affected individuals as soon as practicable after becoming aware of the breach.

Under the Australian Privacy Principles, you have the right to:

• Access personal information we hold about you (subject to limited exceptions under the Privacy Act)
• Request that we correct inaccurate, out-of-date or incomplete information
• Withdraw consent to use of your information for direct marketing at any time
• Lodge a complaint if you believe we have mishandled your personal information

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us (see Section 12). We will respond within 30 days. In some cases, we may need to verify your identity before granting access. If we decline your request, we will explain our reasons in writing.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may escalate your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):

• Website: www.oaic.gov.au
• Phone: 1300 363 992

Our website (innerpeace.vision) may use cookies and similar tracking technologies to gather statistical information about site usage — such as page visits and traffic patterns. This information is used in aggregate, de-identified form only, for the purpose of improving our website. It does not personally identify you.

You may configure your browser to decline cookies, though this may affect your ability to use certain parts of our site.

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those external sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

For any privacy questions, access requests, correction requests or complaints, please contact our Privacy Officer:

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal obligations. The current version will always be available on our website at innerpeace.vision/privacy-policy.

Updated policies apply only to information collected after the effective date of the revision. We encourage you to review this page periodically.