Privacy Policy

Paul Fell Eyecare holds personal and health information about the people we care for. This policy explains what we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and how you can see it, correct it or complain about how we have handled it.

We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. As a health service provider, these obligations apply to us regardless of the size of our practice.

Last updated: 8 September 2026

The information we collect

Personal details. Your name, date of birth, address, phone number and email address. Your Medicare number, and your DVA number, pension or concession card details where they apply. Your private health fund and membership number. Your GP’s name and practice, along with details of any other practitioner involved in your eye care. Where it is relevant to your prescription, we also record what you use your eyes for — screen work, driving, close work, a particular trade or sport.

Health information. The reason for your visit and any symptoms you describe. Your vision and prescription, and how they have changed over time. Measurements of eye pressure, eye coordination and focusing. Retinal photographs and OCT scans. Your eye health history and your family’s. Medications you take and any medical conditions relevant to your eyes — diabetes in particular. The notes your optometrist makes during and after your appointment. And details of the frames, lenses and contact lenses we have supplied to you.

How we collect it. Almost always directly from you — in the practice, over the phone, by email, or through our online booking system. From a parent or guardian, where the patient is a child. From other practitioners involved in your care, with your consent: your GP, an ophthalmologist, or an optometrist you saw previously. And from Medicare or your health fund in the course of processing a claim.

We collect information about you from someone other than you only where it is unreasonable or impracticable to collect it from you directly.

Why we collect it

The main reason is straightforward: we cannot examine your eyes properly, or supply you with the right glasses or contact lenses, without it. A clinical record that carries forward from visit to visit is also what allows us to compare this year’s retinal scan against last year’s, which is often where a change first becomes obvious.

We also use your information to:

• bill you, and claim on your behalf from Medicare, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs or your private health fund
• order your glasses, lenses or contact lenses
• remind you about an appointment, or let you know when your next eye test is due
• run and improve the practice, including staff training and quality assurance
• meet our legal and professional obligations, including those set by the Optometry Board of Australia and AHPRA

You are welcome to deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym for a general enquiry. We cannot do that for an eye examination, because we cannot keep a proper clinical record — or claim from Medicare on your behalf — without knowing who you are. If you choose not to give us information we ask for, we will tell you what that means for the care we can provide.

Who we disclose it to

• Other practitioners involved in your care — an ophthalmologist, your GP, your endocrinologist — where a referral or a report is appropriate. We tell you when we do this.
• Optical laboratories and lens suppliers, who receive your prescription and measurements in order to make your glasses or lenses. They do not receive your clinical record.
• Contact lens suppliers, where you have asked us to arrange direct-to-home orders.
• Medicare, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and your private health fund, for claiming and rebates.
• Our practice management, IT, backup and website providers, who may have incidental access to information while maintaining the systems we rely on. They are bound to keep it confidential and to use it only for that purpose.
• MyHealth1st, which operates our online booking system and receives the details you enter when you book an appointment.
• Anyone else you have asked or authorised us to share it with.
• Where the law requires or permits it — for example under a court order, or where there is a serious threat to someone’s life, health or safety.

We do not sell your information, and we do not provide it to anyone for their marketing.

Information sent overseas. Your clinical record is held in Australia. Some of the services we use to run this website — Google Analytics, Google Maps and Google Fonts — are operated by providers who store data outside Australia, including in the United States. That applies to website usage information only. It does not include anything from your clinical record.

Appointment reminders and recalls

We contact you by SMS, by post and by phone to remind you about an upcoming appointment, or to let you know that your next eye test is due. This is part of providing continuing care rather than marketing, and it is the main reason routine problems get picked up on time.

If you would rather not be contacted this way, or would prefer one method over another, tell any of our staff or email admin@paulfell.com.au and we will change it. There is no cost, and it makes no difference to the care you receive.

This website

Analytics. We use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used — which pages people visit, how long they stay, roughly where in the world they are based on their IP address, what device and browser they use, and how they arrived. We use this to improve the site. We do not use it to identify individuals, and it is never connected to your clinical record.

Cookies. Small files stored by your browser that help the site work and allow analytics to recognise a returning visit. You can block or delete them in your browser settings. The site works without them.

Online booking. Our booking page displays a booking system operated by MyHealth1st. Anything you enter there goes to MyHealth1st as well as to us, and is covered by their privacy policy in addition to this one.

Maps and fonts. Our contact page shows a Google Map, and the site loads its typefaces from Google Fonts. Loading either tells Google that a visit to the page occurred.

If you email us or fill in a form on this site, we treat what you send with the same care as anything else we hold about you.

Keeping your information secure

Electronic records are held in password-protected systems, and access is limited to the staff who need it to do their job. Paper records are kept secure on the premises. Every member of our team is bound by confidentiality obligations that continue after they stop working here. Records are backed up so they can be recovered.

Retinal photographs and OCT scans form part of your clinical record and are stored and protected in the same way.

We take reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access or disclosure. If a data breach ever occurred that was likely to cause you serious harm, we would notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires.

How long we keep it

We keep your clinical record for at least seven years from your last visit. Where you were under 18 at your last visit, we keep it until you turn 25.

Records are kept this long partly because we are required to, and partly because they remain clinically useful: a retinal scan taken years ago is the baseline every later scan is compared against, and it cannot be recreated after the fact. When a record is no longer needed and the retention period has passed, it is destroyed securely.

Seeing and correcting your information

You can ask to see the information we hold about you, and you can ask for a copy. Speak to any of our staff, or write to the Practice Manager using the details below. We will respond within 30 days.

Usually we will go through the record with you rather than simply hand it over, because clinical notes are not always self-explanatory and we would rather you understood what you are reading. We may charge a reasonable fee to cover the time and materials involved in providing a copy — we will always tell you the cost before doing anything you would be charged for.

There are limited circumstances in which we can decline a request: for example, where providing access would pose a serious threat to someone’s life, health or safety, or would unreasonably affect another person’s privacy. If we decline, we will explain why in writing and tell you how to complain.

If something we hold about you is wrong, out of date or incomplete, tell us and we will correct it. Where we have already passed the incorrect information to someone else, we will let them know at your request.

Complaints

If you think we have mishandled your personal or health information, please tell us first — most things are resolved quickly once we know about them. Contact the Practice Manager by email at admin@paulfell.com.au, by phone on (07) 3278 8300, or in writing at the address below.

We will acknowledge your complaint within seven days and aim to resolve it within 30 days. If we need longer, we will tell you why.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can take it further:

• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner — for privacy complaints. Phone 1300 363 992, or lodge a complaint at oaic.gov.au. Postal: GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001.
• Office of the Health Ombudsman (Queensland) — for complaints about a health service. Phone 133 646, or visit oho.qld.gov.au. Postal: PO Box 13281, George Street, Brisbane QLD 4001.

Changes to this policy

We review this policy from time to time and update it when our practices or our obligations change. The current version is always the one published at this address, and the date it was last updated appears at the top of the page.

Contact us

The Practice Manager
Paul Fell Eyecare
Shop 15, 235 Forest Lake Boulevard
Forest Lake Shopping Centre
Forest Lake QLD 4078

Phone (07) 3278 8300
Email admin@paulfell.com.au