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Privacy Unit

Both the department and agencies funded by the department are subject to privacy legislation which governs the handling of all personal information, including health information. The Information Privacy Act 2000 and the Health Records Act 2001 regulate the information-handling life cycle. These acts include standards for a range of personal information-handling activities such as collection, storage, access, transmission, disclosure, use, and disposal.

The Privacy unit's role is to support the department and its service partners meet the compliance requirements set by these laws. This includes:

• Promoting a privacy best-practice culture.
• Providing advice, education and training.
• Enhancing and developing tools and resources to support privacy compliance.
• Establishing and maintaining an open, effective and responsive complaints-handling structure under the umbrella of the department's broader complaints-handling activities.

Formal consultation and advice is also provided to the project teams of key departmental projects that involve the handling of personal information. The provision of advice to other DHS staff and to agencies is primarily managed using an online Privacy Knowledge Management Database accessible from the department's Privacy website . The Privacy website also provides access to the department's privacy policy and a wide range of tools and resources to assist funded agencies achieve compliance with the privacy laws.

For the department's policy regarding privacy on its website, see the Privacy statement.

Major projects

• Development and promotion of a corporate compliance package.
• Targeted communication and training initiatives across all regions and for the funded sector, including sessions conducted in tandem with staff from the offices of the Victorian Health Services Commissioner and the Victorian Privacy Commissioner.
• Undertaking departmental privacy policy reviews and refining and developing policy guidelines.
• Establishment and maintenance of an effective privacy complaints-handling process.
• Providing executive support to the department's Corporate Privacy Management Group.

Contacts

For further information regarding privacy, please contact one of the privacy contact officers