Children’s Health Queensland (CHQ) is committed to protecting the privacy of our website users. We understand and appreciate that visitors to, and users of, this website, are concerned about their privacy and the confidentiality and security of information they provide to us.
As a general rule, we do not collect information that can directly identify you when you visit our site. When you visit our site to read or download information, our web measurement tool and Internet Service Providers record the following information only for statistical purposes:

• your server and IP address
• the name of the top level domain (for example, .gov, .com, .edu, .au)
• the type of browser used
• the date and time you accessed the site
• the pages accessed and documents downloaded
• the previous site you visited.

These statistics provide information to assist us to make improvements to the content and structure of our website.
We collect personal information via online forms or by email communications for the purposes of, for example, registration for community advisory groups.

Your email address details will not be added to a mailing list nor will we disclose these details to third parties without your consent, unless required by law. Email messages may be monitored by our information technology staff for system trouble-shooting and maintenance purposes.

Cookies are text files that a website can transfer to your computer when you access information on that site. Cookies allow websites to recognise you as you browse their website.

Children’s Health Queensland uses Google Analytics to gather statistics about how the website is accessed. Google Analytics uses cookies to gather information for the purpose of providing statistical reporting. The cookies do not collect information that can directly identify you.

The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers located outside of Australia. No personally identifying information is recorded or provided to Google.

Information gathered using the Google Analytics cookie is used for the purpose of determining:

• the number of visitors to the CHQ website
• how visitors arrive at the CHQ website, for example, did they type the address in directly, follow a link from another webpage, or arrive via a search engine?
• the number of times each page is viewed and for how long
• time and date of visits
• geographical location of visitors
• information about what browsers are used to view the CHQ website and the operating system of the computers or devices
• whether these browsers supports Java and Flash
• the speed of the user’s internet connection.

This information is used to refine and improve the CHQ online service delivery and in turn the community’s online experience.
View a Google Analytics example report

Email correspondence, blog comments and information provided via webforms can constitute public records and can be retained as required by the Public Records Act 2002 and other relevant legislation.

We will only use personal information collected via our website for the purposes for which it was given to us and/or for related, internal management purposes.

We do not disclose your personal information to other government agencies, organisations or anyone else unless one of the following applies:

• you consented to the disclosure
• you would have a reasonable expectation that your personal information would be disclosed
• it is required or authorised by law
• it will prevent or lessen a serious threat to somebody’s life or health; and
• the disclosure is reasonably necessary for a law enforcement activity.

We take strong precautions to protect the personal information we hold concerning you from loss, unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure, and against other misuse. However, please be aware we do not provide a mechanism for securing the transmission of information across the Internet.

This website contains links to other websites. Children’s Health Queensland is not responsible for the content and privacy practices of other websites.

Queensland legislation which provides privacy and confidentiality protections for personal information include:

• Information Privacy Act 2009
• Information Privacy Regulation 2009
• Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011
• Hospital and Health Boards Regulation 2012

Applications for access and/or amendment of personal information may be sought under:

• Information Privacy Act 2009
• Information Privacy Regulation 2009
• Right to Information Act 2009
• Right to Information Regulation 2009
• Queensland Health’s ‘Health Information: Disclosure and Access Policy’

If there is information in your health record that is incorrect or which you do not agree with, you can apply for it to be amended under the Information Privacy Act 2009. You will need to provide details of why the information may be inaccurate, incomplete, out of date or misleading, For more information contact the Manager, Clinical Information Access Unit using the contact details below.