Introduction

This Collection Notice explains how Healthdirect Australia Ltd (Healthdirect) collects, uses, discloses and protects your personal information when you access digital health services, digital care pathways and decision-support tools provided through our digital platforms. It applies to Healthdirect's digital services, including where you provide information directly or use a self-service tool to access care, including but not limited to:

• Symptom Checker
• Queensland Virtual Emergency Care Services
• NSW Virtual Emergency Services which include referral to Virtual KIDS (for NSW children aged 15 and under) and Virtual ADULTS (for NSW residents aged 16 and over)
• Contraception Decision Support Tool (CDST)

This notice should be read together with the Healthdirect Privacy Policy, which explains how we manage information across all Healthdirect services.

Why we collect your information

Why we collect your information Healthdirect collects and uses personal and sensitive information to provide you with health advice and triage services. Our Healthcare digital care pathways collect personal and sensitive information to:

• Provide you with health information, digital triage, guidance, and care pathway recommendations.
• Facilitate your access to virtual healthcare services or third-party service providers by sharing this information with the healthcare service provider that you have requested access to.
• Create and maintain a record of your interaction with Healthdirect digital tools, for example, Healthdirect's Symptom Checker.
• Monitor, evaluate, maintain, and improve our digital services, care pathways, and user experience.
• Meet our legal, regulatory, clinical safety, and accountability obligations.
• Provide tailored, evidence-based information, recommendations and referral options through digital decision support tools based on the information you choose to provide (for example, age,gender and health-related information).

Children and young people

Some of our digital tools and care pathways are designed for use by children and young people aged 15 and under (e.g. NSW Virtual KIDS). Where a child or young person wishes to self-refer through our available pathways, we recommend that a parent, guardian or trusted adult should be present to support them through the process.

By proceeding through the self-referral process, the child or young person and their accompanying parent, guardian or trusted adult acknowledge that the child's information will be collected, used and disclosed as described in this notice. Where appropriate, Healthdirect may provide age-appropriate information notices for children and young people.

For more information about how Healthdirect collects and uses children information, please refer to Your privacy at Healthdirect — for children & young people.

Information for parents and guardians

As a parent, guardian or trusted adult, your presence is required when a child or young person self-refers through our digital care pathways. You may also complete the self-referral process on their behalf where appropriate.

Where a child or young person is assessed by the receiving clinician as having sufficient maturity and understanding to make their own healthcare decisions, they have a right to confidentiality in relation to the information they provide during the virtual consultation. In these circumstances, Healthdirect may not be able to share that child's health information with a parent or guardian without the child's consent.

If you are a parent or guardian and have concerns about information your child has provided through our services, please contact us using the details at the end of this notice. We will work with you to the extent permitted by law and in the best interests of the child.

How we collect your information

We generally collect information directly from you during your interaction with Healthdirect digital care pathways and tools. Occasionally, we may collect information from a parent, guardian, or authorised representative acting on your behalf.

Providing information is voluntary. However, if you choose not to provide certain information, we may be unable to offer specific digital tools, pathways, or referrals.

Additionally, Healthdirect collects limited information when you use our websites, apps, digital services, including through cookies and analytics technologies (such as Google Analytics). This information helps us understand how our digital services are used and how we can improve them. Analytics information is used for traffic monitoring, funnel analysis, service improvement, and reporting purposes only.

What types of information we collect

The following list includes the different types of information that we may collect from you, during your interaction with Healthdirect's digital platforms or when you provide your information as part of registering to access a virtual healthcare service provider, including:

• Personal information such as your name, date of birth and contact details (e.g., email address, phone number) and demographic information such as age, gender, postcode.
• Sensitive health information including:
  • Illnesses, symptoms you have experienced, any disabilities, health concerns, and self‑reported health details
  • Other health services you are receiving or will receive in the future
  • Medications you may be taking
  • Where clinically relevant, sensitive information about your ethnic background or sexual practice
• Government-issued identifiers such as your Medicare number, Veteran Card details and other healthcare identifiers
• Where a parent, guardian, or authorised representative completes a self-referral form on behalf of another person (such as a child), the representative's name and contact details in addition to the patient's personal and health information
• Technical and usage information, including:
  • Information about how you interact with our digital services (such as page interactions, timestamps, and navigation paths)
  • Device, browser, and session information
  • Website and digital analytics information collected through Google Analytics (for example, page traffic, funnel progression, completion and abandonment rates)
• A pseudonymous identifier that helps us understand how users move through our digital services.

How we use your information

We use your information to:

• Provide health advice and triage services
• Facilitate your access and self-referral to virtual healthcare pathways
• Support continuity of care with health services (e.g., Queensland and New South Wales Health)
• Conduct surveys, quality assurance, website and digital analytics, service monitoring and reporting to improve our services, consistent with our Privacy Policy and service specific collection notices
• Provide tailored, evidence-based health information through digital decision support tools
• Support clinical audit and complaint handling where required.

How we may share your information

Healthdirect may share your information:

• With healthcare service providers or partners, you choose to engage with through a digital care pathway. Healthdirect acts as a connector in your healthcare journey. By engaging with our services, you acknowledge that your information will be shared with relevant health services and providers as part of delivering care (for example, where we refer you to a jurisdictional virtual healthcare service).
• Where you access a virtual care pathway through the Symptom Checker, your personal information, contact details, and triage outcome are securely shared with the relevant state or territory health service to facilitate your virtual consultation. Once received, your information is managed in accordance with applicable state or territory health privacy legislation
• With service providers who support the operation, hosting, analytics, or improvement of our digital services, including Google Analytics. We may also disclose information to companies that conduct surveys for us to seek your feedback on the service you have received. Survey partners are bound by confidentiality and privacy obligations.
• Where required or authorised by law.

Digital decision support tools

Healthdirect offers digital decision support and triage tools, including the Symptom Checker and Contraception Decision Support Tool (CDST). This section explains how these tools collect and use information to provide tailored health information, triage outcomes and care pathway recommendations.

These tools are not designed for use by people under the age of 12. Users under 12 are redirected to Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) or encouraged to speak with a trusted adult or health professional.

For additional privacy, you may wish to access sensitive health tools using your browser's incognito or private browsing mode. This prevents your browser from saving your browsing history, cookies, and site data after you close the window.

These tools:

• Use the information you enter (such as symptoms, health history, age or other relevant details) to provide tailored health information, triage outcomes, and recommended care pathways.
• Apply structured logic, clinical rules, or algorithms to guide you to an appropriate next step (for example, recommend contraception, self-care, GP, or virtual emergency care).
• Are designed to support, but not replace, advice from a qualified healthcare professional.

Key information about how these tools handle your information:

• These tools do not collect direct personal identifiers, such as your name, email address or phone number to generate a result, or other identifying details to generate a result.
• Limited demographic information (such as symptoms, health-related inputs, and limited demographic details like age or sex) to provide tailored triage outcomes, health information and care pathway recommendations.
• You may choose how you use the tools. In some cases, you can explore information without completing all questions, and you may exit the tool at any time before submitting your responses.
• You may choose to download or retain your results. Healthdirect does not retain downloaded results on your device, and information is only retained by Healthdirect where it is submitted or required to support the digital care pathway or self-referral process into a virtual healthcare service.

Because these tools generally do not require you to provide direct personal identifiers, Healthdirect may not be able to identify your individual responses or action requests relating to your use of the tool. If you have a complaint or concern, Healthdirect may investigate using contextual information (such as the approximate time and stage of your journey) if you provide it. For privacy enquiries, please contact us using the details at the end of this notice.

Survey and feedback

Following your use of a Healthdirect digital tool or service, you may be invited to provide feedback or participate in a survey about your experience. These surveys help Healthdirect understand user experience, improve our services, and meet our quality and reporting obligations.

Key information about the consumer survey:

• Surveys are designed to minimise the collection of personal information and, where possible, responses are collected without directly identifying participants.
• Participation is entirely voluntary and will not affect your access to Healthdirect services, tools, or care pathways.

For more information about how Healthdirect collects and uses feedback and survey data, please refer to the Healthdirect Consumer Engagement Collection Notice.

Virtual consultations

Where you are referred to a virtual care service through a Healthdirect digital care pathway, your consultation will take place via the Healthdirect Video Call platform. The information you provided through the Symptom Checker and self-referral form is made available to the healthcare service provider delivering your consultation.

Any additional information you share during the video consultation (for example, further clinical details discussed with the treating clinician) is collected and managed by the healthcare service provider, not by Healthdirect. The provider's own privacy obligations and policies will apply to information exchanged during the consultation.

Consent and withdrawal

You may withdraw from a digital pathway at any time before submitting your information. Once your information has been shared with an external healthcare service provider, Healthdirect may not be able to require that provider to delete your information if you later withdraw consent. In these circumstances, you will need to contact the provider directly. For digital decision support tools that collect information anonymously (such as the CDST), you may exit the tool at any time.

How we keep your information secure

Healthdirect has an obligation to ensure that the personal and sensitive information that you provide is appropriately protected from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. We retain information in accordance with legal, regulatory and health record‑keeping obligations.

Where to find service-specific notices and policies

• Healthdirect Privacy Policy: healthdirect.gov.au/privacy-policy
• Queensland Health — privacy information: health.qld.gov.au/global/privacy
• New South Wales Health — privacy information: health.nsw.gov.au/pages/privacy.aspx
• Other jurisdictional virtual care services: Links to partner privacy pages will be provided when you are referred to those services.

Please note that privacy policies of virtual care service providers may differ from Healthdirect. Once you enter a partner service, their privacy policy will apply to the management of your information.

Further information and your rights

Our Privacy Policy for members of the public explains in more detail how we process personal information, including how you can access or correct information we hold about you and how to contact us.

Questions from children and young people

If you are a child or young person and have questions about how your information is being used, or if you would like to access, correct or remove your information, you can contact us at support@healthdirect.org.au or call 1800 022 222. You are welcome to have a parent, guardian or trusted adult help you with this, but you do not have to.