When this privacy notice applies
This privacy notice applies to input received by our secretariat as part of MSAC public and targeted consultation.
This notice explains how our secretariat manages personal information to meet our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
Information we collect
Our secretariat collects personal information from you when you send us consultation input on an MSAC application. This includes:
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your personal opinions about an MSAC application or, if representing the views of an organisation, your organisation’s opinions about an MSAC application.
Our secretariat may also collect:
- your phone number or postcode
- other personal information that you choose to give us, which may include sensitive information. For example, information about a medical condition or treatment of that condition.
- your image or audio of your voice where you choose to provide your input in a video or audio file.
Please do not include personal information about another person (third party) in your input.
Why we collect this information
We collect your name and contact information so that we can contact you if we need to clarify the information you give us. It also helps us to avoid collecting duplicate input from the same person. We collect your postcode to help us understand the areas throughout Australia from which we receive input.
We collect:
- your personal opinions about an MSAC application
- other personal information that you choose to give us.
This input helps us and our subcommittees to assess the health service or technology.
Consultation input helps us to understand
- how the service or technology may affect:
- the lives of people with the health condition, their carers, family, and friends
- clinical practice
- the Australian health care system
- the benefits and disadvantages of the service or technology
- the experiences of people who have received or been involved in the service or technology.
Some questions in the MSAC consultation survey, such as your name and email address, are compulsory. If you do not give us this personal information, you will not be able to submit a survey response. Similarly, we will not accept input that is given to our secretariat anonymously.
How we collect this information
Our secretariat collects personal information from you:
- directly when you email, write, or send a video or audio file to them
- through Citizen Space, via the OHTA Consultation Hub, when you submit an MSAC consultation survey or upload a video or audio file with your survey.
How we use the information you provide
Our secretariat routinely shares consultation input with us, our subcommittees and with the MSAC applicant. The information shared will differ, depending on whether your input is in writing (including MSAC consultation surveys) or via video or audio file.
Written input
Our secretariat shares your written consultation input (including survey responses) with us, our subcommittees, and the applicant. Our secretariat shares:
- input from groups or organisations in full, after redacting any personal information of third parties. Our secretariat is unlikely to disclose personal information provided by organisations to any overseas recipients but please note that some applicants will have overseas affiliates.
- input from individuals:
- with us and our subcommittees in full, after redacting any personal information of third parties. That is, your personal details will not be redacted
- with the applicant in a de-identified summary form.
Our secretariat will not disclose personal information provided by individuals to any overseas recipients.
Video or audio input
Our secretariat is unable to edit consultation input provided in video or audio form. As such, our secretariat shares video or audio input:
- from groups or organisations in full, with us, our subcommittees, and the applicant (unless it includes potentially identifying information about a third party). Our secretariat is unlikely to disclose personal information from organisations to any overseas recipients but please note that some applicants will have overseas affiliates
- from individuals:
- in full, with us and our subcommittees (unless it contains potentially identifying information about a third party)
- in written de-identified summary form with the applicant. Our secretariat will not disclose personal information provided by individuals to any overseas recipients.
If video or audio input from a group, organisation, or individual includes potentially identifying information about a third party our secretariat will share the input in a written de-identified summary form with us, our subcommittees and the applicant. The summary will not identify individuals but may include the name of the submitting group or organisation (if applicable).
Who else we may share your input with
From time to time, our secretariat may also share your consultation input with:
- other health technology assessment (HTA) committees. For example, if another HTA committee is also considering the application, our secretariat may share consultation input with that committee. Our secretariat shares the input in the same form as it shares it with us
- HTA groups, to inform their reports to us and our subcommittees. Our secretariat shares the input in the same form as it shares it with us.
From time to time, our secretariat may also share your consultation input with representatives from state and territory governments, where the application is for a therapy delivered through public hospitals. Our secretariat shares:
- written input from organisations in full, after redacting any personal information of third parties
- written input from individuals in de-identified summary form
- video or audio recordings from organisations in full, unless it includes potentially identifying information about a third party, in which case our secretariat will share it in written de-identified summary form
- video or audio recordings from individuals in written de-identified summary form.
Your consultation input and any documents or recordings you give us as part of the MSAC process may also be shared, in full or in a de-identified format, with third parties where authorised or required by law.
Committee members, HTA Groups and state and territory representatives are all subject to confidentiality obligations.
Published summary of consultation input
Our secretariat may publish a summary of consultation input on our website as part of the PICO Confirmation and/or Public Summary Document for the application. The summaries in these documents contain no personal information about individuals or third parties. The summaries may include the names of organisations who give input and may attribute views/comments to these organisations. Organisations should not include information or opinions in their input that they would not wish to see in the public domain.
Role of our secretariat
Our secretariat is responsible for:
- making any required redactions to consultation input
- preparing summaries of consultation input.
Our secretariat may use artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with these tasks. Whenever this happens, your personal information remains secure.
From time to time, our secretariat may outsource the summation of consultation input to a third-party. If this occurs our secretariat will share your consultation input with the third-party in the same form that it is shared with us. These third-parties are subject to confidentiality obligations.
Consent
By providing your personal and sensitive information to us you consent to our secretariat collecting and using the information for the purposes indicated above.
How you can access or correct your information
Our secretariat is part of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. The department’s privacy policy contains information about:
- how you can contact the department if you want to access or correct personal information that the department holds about you
- how you can complain about a breach of the APPs or of a registered APP code that binds the department
- how the department will deal with your complaint.
You can get a copy of the department’s privacy policy by contacting the department’s Privacy Officer or downloading it from the department’s website
Contact
