Privacy 

Definitions

Personal information - Any information that can identify a living person. This includes names, contact details, health or disability information whether it's written down, electronic, or spoken.

Privacy Officer - The staff member who supports VisAble to meet privacy laws and respond to concerns.


What is Sensitive Information?

Sensitive information is a subset of personal information. It means information or an opinion about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political organisation, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices or health information about an individual. 


Privacy Policy

Your confidentiality is important to us. We respect your privacy and keep your information safe. Sometimes, if there is a serious risk to your safety or someone else’s, the law may require us to share your information, but only when necessary to keep people safe.


Our Commitment

We collect and manage personal information with care and respect. We are open about:

  • Why we collect your information,

  • How it is stored and used,

  • When it might be shared,

  • Your rights to access and correct it.


Our Responsibilities

Our Leadership will:

  • Act as or assign a Privacy Officer,

  • Oversee how we collect, store and manage information,

  • Reduce risks by keeping information safe,

  • Respond to any privacy breaches.

Our Privacy Officer will:

  • Monitor compliance with this policy and the Privacy Act,

  • Support staff and volunteers with privacy questions,

  • Liaise with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner if needed,

  • Help with staff and volunteer privacy training.

Our kaimahi (staff) will:

  • Follow privacy policies and protect people’s information.


When and How We Collect Information

We only collect personal information when we need it to:

  • Provide services,

  • Meet our legal responsibilities,

  • Operate our organisation.

We collect information in a way that respects your culture, age, needs, and situation.

We will explain:

  • Why we are collecting the information,

  • How we will use and store it,

  • Who will see it,

  • Your rights to access and correct it.

We will ask for your informed consent using a Consent Form or similar process.


Getting Information from Others

If non-identifying information helps us to achieve the same purpose as personal information, non-identifying information will be collected and used instead.

Where possible, we collect personal information directly from you.

If we collect health information from someone else (e.g., a support worker), we will check with you to confirm it is correct.

Information collected for recruitment (e.g. police checks) is for evaluation only and may not be verified with the person it’s about.


Using and Sharing Your Information

We only use or share your information for the reason it was collected, or when the law allows it (under the Privacy Act 2020, HIPC Rule 10).

We will also tell you who else may see your information.

Before we use or share your information, we will check with you (or your representative) to make sure it is:

  • Accurate,

  • Up to date,

  • Complete and relevant,

  • Not misleading.

If safety concerns arise, they will be discussed with our leadership before taking action.

If we want to use your information for a different purpose, we will ask for your permission first.

We are also guided by the Family Violence Act 2018 and Crimes Act 1961.


Correcting Your Information

You have the right to ask us to correct your information.

If we agree, we’ll update your file notes and let anyone else who has the incorrect version know.

If we don’t agree, we’ll explain why in your file notes. You can ask us to make a file note with your suggested correction.


Accessing Your Information

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you or your child.

Unless there is a good reason to say no, we will:

  • Give you access within 20 working days,

  • Remove any private information about other people,

  • Suggest you have support with you if the file has sensitive information,

  • Let you ask for corrections.


Requests from parents or guardians

If you are a parent or guardian of a person supported by VisAble, we will give you access to their information unless we believe it would not be in their best interests. We will consider:

  • Their will and preference, 

  • What the information is about,

  • Your reasons for requesting it,

  • The importance of privacy for their wellbeing.

If we decline access, we will explain why and tell you how to contact the Privacy Commissioner.


Keeping Records

We will keep a record of:

  • Any request for access and the date received,

  • What information was provided,

  • Who authorised the access,

  • Reasons for any delay or refusal,

  • Any safety steps we took during the process.


Family Violence and Safety Information

We follow the Family Violence Act 2018 and Crimes Act 1961 which allows us to share information to protect people from harm.

When someone asks to access personal information in a family violence context:

  • We take care not to release information that could endanger an Adult at Risk.

  • We may share information that supports the assessment of risk, safety and wellbeing of an Adult at Risk. 

  • Whenever possible, we will seek consent from the Adult at Risk or their caregiver before sharing any information with a respondent or their programme provider.

  • If there is an urgent threat, we may share necessary information without consent, but only information that is needed to reduce the risk.

  • If we are unsure about what can be shared, we will get advice from a Family Court Coordinator.

To talk more about our privacy policy contact us

Phone
Call us our voicemail service to leave a voicemail at 0800 998 858