About us

The Arthritis Movement (ABN 95 681 353 131) (“us”, “we” or “our”) is a health charity which has been established to help improve the lives of those who suffer from arthritis. We perform a range of functions, including providing general information about arthritis and its treatment, and delivering specialised education and community outreach programs which support self-management of arthritis.

About this Privacy Policy

Please take your time to read this Privacy Policy carefully. This document explains how and why we collect, use, hold and disclose personal information (including sensitive information) about you.

What is personal information?

Personal information means information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

Personal information may include sensitive information. Sensitive information includes:

  • information or an opinion about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual orientation or practices, or criminal record, that is also personal information; or
  • health information or genetic information about an individual;

What types of information do we collect?

We collect personal information

We may collect different types of information depending on the circumstances, including:

  • Personal details such as your name, gender, date of birth or age.
  • Contact information such as your mailing or street address, billing address, email address or telephone number.
  • Information about your use of our services such as what services you have used or enquired about.
  • Fundraising information, including information about fundraising efforts you participate in or donations you give.
  • Government related identifiers including your Medicare number, driver license number, passport details and pension card number.
  • Records of your correspondence via in person or web forms, post, email, telephone, text message, social media or otherwise.
  • Customer service information, including any customer service enquiries, comments, survey responses, testimonials or feedback you have made or given.
  • Transaction information, including details about payments to and from you and other details of services you have purchased from us. This information may include bank and credit card details.
  • Analytics data, about how you use our websites and applications and your interactions with us online, such as pages you visit, language preferences, webpage interactions, searches you make, emails from us that you view or open, our posts on social media or advertisements that you interact with. Information may also be collected automatically from your device (for example through the use of cookies), including IP address, wi-fi information, device type, operating system, unique device identification numbers, browser-type, server address, date, time and duration of visits to websites, pages accessed and documents downloaded, previous websites visited, high-level geographic location (e.g. country or city-level location) and other technical information.
  • Marketing information, including whether you have opted out of receiving marketing messages, which topics you have indicated you want to hear from us about, and products or services we think you might be interested in hearing about.
  • Job or volunteer applicant information about your profession, occupation, employer or job title. For example, if you are a job applicant, volunteer or contractor, we may collect your application, professional history, salary and payment information, superannuation details, education and qualifications and results of reference, and working with children checks.
  • Any other information which you give your consent for us to collect, for example if you give consent to us to collect information for a specific purpose.

We collect sensitive information

The Arthritis Movement provides a variety of services related to arthritis. As part of providing these services to you, we may collect sensitive information.

Sensitive information we collect in relation to our health services

We offer helplines, exercise classes, education programs, webinars, mentorship programs, support groups and children and young adult camps. In considering your eligibility for these services or providing these services, we may collect sensitive information including:

  • Health information, including information provided by you about your arthritis type and diagnosis, as well as other relevant sensitive information about your health status related to providing our services such as your:
    • vaccination details, including COVID-19 vaccination status;
    • allergies;
    • disabilities;
    • hospital and clinical history and records;
    • family history;
    • symptoms or diagnosis and the treatment given to you;
    • prescriptions and other pharmaceutical purchases;
    • billing details
    • accident and injury/disease details;
    • prescriptions and other pharmaceutical purchases
    • health practitioner details;
    • health fund details;
    • referrals to or from Commonwealth, state or territory government and non-government agencies such as the National Disability Insurance Agency or the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission;
    • other sensitive information relevant to our services.

Sensitive information we collect when you create an account to use Clara

As part of our services, we provide the clara.www.arthritis.org.au website and app (Clara) that provides general information relating to arthritis including through the use of artificial intelligence. You do not need to provide any personal information which identifies you or others to use Clara without an account. If you voluntarily provide personal information about yourself or others in your questions or prompts to Clara, we will handle that information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

When you download Clara (app), we will ask you to provide your name, email and information relating to your arthritis (e.g. type).

If you provide your sensitive information such as health information which identifies you, you consent to our use and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy.

If you provide the personal information or sensitive information of others, you must have the authority to give consent on their behalf or you must have obtained their consent for us to collect, use, and disclose their sensitive information as set out in the Privacy Policy.

Sensitive information we collect from job applicants, employees, contractors and volunteers

To consider your job application and manage your employment or engagement with us, we may collect the following sensitive information:

  • Membership of a professional or trade association or trade union you belong to.
  • Health information including details of disabilities and/or allergies, medical certificates and vaccinations.
  • Diversity and inclusion information including your racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs or affiliations, or sexual orientation.
  • Criminal records from your criminal background check or arising during the course of your relationship with us.

We will only collect, use and disclose sensitive information with your consent or the consent of your carer, responsible person, guardian or authorised representative unless an exception applies under applicable law. We only collect sensitive information from you or from others such as your health practitioner or relevant health or government authorities.

How do we collect information about you?

We collect information from you

We may collect information from you in various ways, including when you:

  • complete a form in person or online on our website or while using our app;
  • visit our premises;
  • correspond with us by post, telephone, email or otherwise;
  • use, or request to use, any of our services;
  • enquire about our products and services;
  • respond to surveys, provide feedback to us or submit testimonials;
  • create an online account with us;
  • subscribe to our newsletters or mailing lists;
  • make a donation, or participate in our competitions, promotions, events, classes, camps or fundraising campaigns;
  • visit, access or use our websites and social media pages or click on, view or interact with online messages, posts or advertisements; and
  • make a payment to us.

We collect information from third parties

  • We may also collect information from third parties including from:
  • your carer, responsible person, guardian or authorised representative;
  • Commonwealth, state or territory government or non-government agencies;
  • law enforcement agencies;
  • our IT services providers including parties who help us administer our websites and apps;
  • other sources, including marketing lists, credit lists and other publicly available information; and
  • our related entities, partners, other Arthritis associations we have a relationship with, and service providers.

If you sign in to Clara using Google or Apple, we may receive information such as your profile picture. You should read Google and Apple’s privacy policies to understand how they collect your personal information when you sign in this way.

We collect information from your browser or device

When you use our websites or apps, we collect analytics data from your browser or device. Some of this analytics data is collected using cookies. If you do not want cookies to be used, please adjust your browser settings to disable them. If you disable cookies, some parts or features of our websites may become inaccessible or may not function properly.

What are the consequences if all or some of the personal information is not collected?

If we are not able to collect personal information or sensitive information as described above:

  • we may not be able to provide all or part of our services to you;
  • we may not be able to provide you with information about the services that you want;
  • we may not be able to engage you as our employee, contractor or volunteer;
  • we may not be able to respond to your request or complaint;
  • we may not be able to verify your identity; and
  • we may not be able to personalise your experience.

Why do we collect and use information about you?

We may collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information so that we can provide our services to you, or the person in your care, and carry out our organisational activities and functions. This may include:

  • Providing you with a product or service (including health services) for example by providing our services to you or the person in your care, managing the methods by which we deliver our products or services to you, registering you as a recipient of our services, determining whether you are eligible for our services, or otherwise fulfilling our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us.
  • Providing and managing Clara including to generate responses to your questions and prompts on the Clara website or app where you have included personal or sensitive information in your question or during account creation. We will also keep a record of questions and prompts submitted to Clara and the responses provided by Clara to periodically monitor the performance and accuracy of the technology.
  • Communicating with you about our products and services including where relevant providing you with information and updates about these products and services or notifying you about changes to our terms and conditions.
  • Fundraising activities including planning, coordinating and promoting our fundraising initiatives and receiving and processing donations.
  • Responding to your enquiries and feedback including addressing your questions, concerns or complaints.
  • Verifying your identity, for example as may be required to provide our services to you, or confirm you have authority to act on behalf of others, to give access to or correct your personal information, or respond to your complaint.
  • Marketing and promotional activities including sending you newsletters, information or other updates about our services, or making suggestions and recommendations to you about our and third-party goods, services, events and other offers that may interest you (unless you have unsubscribed from those types of messages). These communications may be sent in various forms, including mail, text message or email. You can opt-out of receiving these marketing communications from us at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions in the message.
  • Performing data analytics, strategy and product development tasks such as understanding who is interested in our services, improving our marketing or public health awareness campaigns, improving our websites and apps, developing other products or services, and enhancing and personalising client relationships and experiences (including through data analysis and business intelligence techniques).
  • Administering our information technology and security to protect our organisation, websites and apps (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting, data hosting, and network, security, and fraud protection activities).
  • Safety purposes including ensuring the safety and security of our clients, employees, contractors and volunteers.
  • Recruitment purposes including to evaluate any applications you have made for any employment or volunteering positions with us.
  • Managing employees, contractors and volunteers including to maintain our relationship with you and to fulfil our duties under this relationship.
  • Preventing, detecting and investigating any actual or suspected fraud, unlawful activity or other serious misconduct;
  • Compliance with legal and financial obligations including using and disclosing your personal information in accordance with any laws, regulations, codes or orders applicable to us and as requested to co-operate with regulators, authorities, government departments or bodies, courts, commissions or tribunals.
  • Legal purposes including enforcing our legal rights or the rights of others and taking or responding to legal action.
  • Any other purposes which you were informed of at the time of collection or which you have otherwise consented to.

Who do we disclose personal information to?

We disclose your personal information to others

We may disclose information for any of the purposes set out above, including to:

  • Third parties such as suppliers, agents, volunteers, contractors and partners who assist us with our organisational processes, and to provide our products and services including in relation to:
    • IT services;
    • providing, managing, supporting and improving our organisation as well as any of our websites, apps, products and services;
    • identity and fraud protection services;
    • advertising and marketing (including targeted and direct marketing) and market research services; and
    • statistical analysis and business intelligence services.
  • Other persons authorised by you or responsible for you such as your employer, carer, responsible person, guardian or authorised representative.
  • Regulators, courts, tribunals, law enforcement and credit and debt collection services entities to enforce our rights or the rights of others or if we receive a lawful request for your personal information or are obliged to provide your information.
  • Our professional advisers including lawyers, bankers, auditors, audit assessors and insurers who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance, auditing or accounting services.
  • Healthcare providers such as medical practitioners and allied health professionals involved in providing services or other care to you, or the person in your care, or where we refer to you these healthcare providers.

Your Personal Information may be disclosed outside of Australia

There may be instances where some of our third-party service providers hold or disclose your personal information outside of Australia

How do we store your personal information?

We will retain personal information about you until we no longer need the information for any purpose for which the information may be used or disclosed by us in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) including for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, or as is otherwise required to be retained under law or by a court or tribunal. We may also aggregate and/or de-identify information collected in accordance with this Privacy Policy so that this information can no longer be linked to you.

Under health information protection laws, we are required to retain your health information for prescribed periods.

We are headquartered in New South Wales and provide services throughout Australia. This means that we may transfer and hold your information outside your state or territory of residence.

We have security measures in place that aim to protect your information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

How to contact us about privacy issues

We welcome any feedback you might have about privacy-related issues. If you have any questions about how your personal information is being handled, please contact:

Privacy Officer
The Arthritis Movement
Suite 201/65 Hume St
Crows Nest NSW 2065
+61 1300 275 826
[email protected]
[email protected]

You have the right to request to access or correct personal information we hold about you. You may also authorise another person to request to access or correct your information on your behalf, if, for whatever reason, you are unable to do so yourself. This authority must be given in writing and a copy must be provided to us. The authority must name the person whom you authorise to access information.

We will aim to respond to you within a reasonable period, usually within 30 days after receiving your request. Occasionally, it may take us longer to respond if the request is particularly complex, or you have made several requests. If we are not able to help with your request, or cannot respond within 30 days, we will let you know and provide you with a written explanation as to why.

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your complaint you can also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) on http://www.oaic.gov.au/

How we change and update this Privacy Policy

This policy may change from time to time. Any updated versions of this Privacy Policy will be published to our websites and apps and will be effective from the date of publishing.

Links to third party websites

Our websites or applications may include links to other websites or applications provided by others.

Accessing these links may allow third parties to collect information about you in accordance with their own privacy policies.

We do not control third party websites and we are not responsible for their privacy practices or policies. You should review the privacy policy of any third party and any applicable terms of use when you use their websites and applications.

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