NSW Health Privacy
General privacy statement
The NSW Health REGIS website is maintained by NSW Ministry of Health. This Privacy Policy applies to all the publicly accessible pages on the REGIS site located at www.regis.health.nsw.gov.au. The NSW Ministry of Health does not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to the NSW Health REGIS site. If you have any questions about the NSW Health REGIS site, or the application of this Privacy Policy or a request for access to information held please contact:
Communications - REGIS
NSW Ministry of Health
73 Miller Street
NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2060
t: 02 9461 7615
e: regis@health.nsw.gov.au
Users of the NSW Health REGIS site are entitled to expect that any information as a result of that use will be treated within the terms of the New South Wales government's privacy responsibilities and obligations. The New South Wales government's privacy practices are regulated by the New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1988.
What information do we collect?
When you look at pages on the NSW Health REGIS site, our computers automatically record information that identifies, for each page accessed:
- the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the machine which has accessed it
- your top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .edu, .au, .uk etc.)
- the address of your server
- the date and time of your visit to the site
- the pages accessed and documents downloaded
- the previous site visited, and
- the type of browser and operating system you have used.
There is a cookie identifying if you have visited the REGIS site before. We will capture the information entered when you register for REGIS updates.
Otherwise, only sessional cookies are used from the NSW Health REGIS site to collect information. This information is unable to be retained once the user session has ceased.
How do we use the information collected?
The information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports in order for the NSW Ministry of Health to identify patterns of usage of the site. This will assist us in improving the NSW Health REGIS site and the service it offers.
The NSW Ministry of Health will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent or otherwise in accordance with the New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1988.
What exceptions are there to this rule?
The NSW Ministry of Health will collect, use and disclose more extensive information than stated above in the following circumstances:
- unauthorised attempts to access files which are not published NSW Health REGIS pages
- unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on the NSW Health REGIS site
- unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the NSW Health REGIS site by other sites
- attempts to intercept messages of other users of the NSW Health REGIS site
- communications which are defamatory, abusive, vilify individuals or groups or which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed, and
- attempts to otherwise compromise the security of the web server, breach the laws of the State of New South Wales or Commonwealth of Australia, or interfere with the enjoyment of the NSW Ministry of Health site by other users.
The NSW Ministry of Health reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the NSW Health REGIS site raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed. In the event of an investigation, the NSW Ministry of Health will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs.
Is the information stored securely?
Yes. Information collected is stored in an appropriately secure format and held by the NSW Ministry of Health for archival purposes. When the information is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected it is deleted.
What will we do with information provided in Feedback?
The NSW Ministry of Health will provide a feedback facility on the NSW Health REGIS site to allow users to provide input into the future development of the site and to comment on the provision of service by the NSW Ministry of Health. This information will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided. We will communicate with you directly to keep you updated on the progress and outcomes of your feedback.
The NSW Ministry of Health may publish aggregated information about feedback on the site, to the extent that it does not identify or cannot be used to identify individual users.
Will this policy be updated over time?
Due to the developing nature of privacy principles for online communication, this policy may be modified or expanded in light of new developments or issues that may arise from time to time. The amended policy will be posted to this site and will operate from the time it is posted.
If you have a general privacy enquiry or complaint regarding the NSW Health REGIS project, please contact:
The Privacy Officer
Legal Branch
NSW Ministry of Health
Locked Mail Bag 961
North Sydney NSW 2059
Phone: (02) 9391 9606
Fax: (02) 9391 9604
Email: privacy@doh.health.nsw.gov.au