Next Practice Australia ABN 69 168 930 452 complies with laws protecting your privacy. The Next Practice Privacy Policy outlines how Next Practice complies with its confidentiality and privacy obligations, specifically detailing how we collect and disclose personal and sensitive information (including health information) within the business, and how a Next Practice patient can access their own personal and health information.
This Privacy Policy applies to the collection [and use] of information by Next Practice. This includes all associated entities, including each clinic in the Next Practice Network as may be created from time to time, (collectively referred to as “Next Practice”, “we” or “us”).
The Next Practice Privacy Policy relates to your interactions with the Next Practice website and any related mobile application (the “Website or App”).
Next Practice is committed to protecting your privacy, and respects and upholds your rights to privacy protection under applicable privacy laws. These laws regulate how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information (as defined in those laws) about you and other individuals.
In Australia, Next Practice complies with the Australian Privacy Principles and the other requirements of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) to ensure adherence to the regulations for the maintenance of privacy of personal and health information are upheld.
This Privacy Policy sets out the basis of how and when we collect your personal and health information, what that information is used for, who uses it, when it may be disclosed to other parties and to whom we may disclose it. This policy includes details on how you can access the personal and health information that Next Practice holds about you and how to correct your own personal information.
By contacting Next Practice to make an appointment or enquiry or by accessing the Next Practice website at www.nextpracticehealth.com or through a Next Practice App, you are deemed to have read and agreed to be bound by this Privacy Policy.
Our culture is one of trust, confidentiality, and professionalism. We recognise that the information we collect is of a highly sensitive nature. We have artfully created a new kind of general practice focusing on transforming the experience so that patients receive not only “Best Practice” care but “Next Practice” care. Our approach of “Next Practice” care applies to our ongoing compliance with privacy regulations and we have adopted the highest privacy compliance standards to ensure personal information is protected.
Personal information is any information or an opinion that can be used to identify you. This may include your name, address, telephone number, email address, profession, date of birth or occupation. If the information we collect personally identifies you, or you are reasonably identifiable from it, the information will be considered personal information.
Distinct from personal information, there is also personal health information. Personal health information is personal information about a person’s health, medical history, or medical care. Personal health information may be collected in the process of providing health services to you or may be about any health service provided to you.
For the purpose of this Privacy Policy, no distinction has been made between the handling of personal information and sensitive information (including health information), therefore all information will be referred to as ‘personal information’ throughout this document.
Examples of personal information which we may collect from you include, but are not limited to, your name, postal address, delivery and collection addresses, date of birth, phone number, ABN, e-mail address and any other information provided by you or your referees if you are applying for a position of employment or to be a licensee partner with us. If you provide financial information to us or our payment system providers, or establish a credit account with us, we collect some additional information, such as a billing address, credit card details, financial institution account details and tracking information for cheques or money orders.
We may also collect some information from you during the process of using a Next Practice App, this may include, Medicare number, health fund details, medications and treatments, lifestyle information, profession, ethnicity, family history, the name of any health services or providers which you see or to which you are referred.
Next Practice will endeavour to collect information directly from you whenever possible, however personal information may also be collected on our behalf by our agents. We collect personal information about you in a number of ways, including but not limited to:
We only collect personal information by lawful and fair means that is reasonably necessary for us to conduct our business and to meet our legal obligations or otherwise in accordance with any specific consent given by you.
Consent for the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information can be given by you at any time. The essential elements of consent are that it is based on sufficient information to make an informed choice, the person is competent to consent and that it is given freely and not obtained through coercion.
There are situations when health service providers may reasonably assume that implied consent has been provided to collect and handle personal information.
For example, when an individual presents to a medical practitioner for a consultation, if a medical practitioner collects a specimen to send a pathology laboratory for testing, it would be reasonable to consider that the individual is giving implied consent to the passing of necessary information to the laboratory.
The consent of a patient is not required where the use or disclosure of the Personal Information is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious and imminent threat to an individual’s life, health or safety or a serious threat to public health or safety.
Verifying a patient’s identity allows us to maintain patient safety and confidentiality. A failure to correctly identify a patient can have serious, potentially life-threatening consequences for patients.
Next Practice use three approved patient identifiers to reduce the risk of misidentifying patients and ensuring that the practitioner has the correct patient health record for each patient.
Next Practice may use any of the following identifiers to verify a patient’s identification:
The Medicare number is not an approved identifier as patients may not have a Medicare number.
When you apply for a job with us, most of the personal information that we collect about you is the information contained within your application, including your name, address, telephone number, education and employment history.
In considering your application, we may also collect personal information about you from third parties such as your previous employers or referees. We may also collect sensitive personal information about you, such as your criminal record. Where we do so, your consent will be sought first.
The information that we collect in the course of your employment application process will be used to assess your suitability for a position with us (or an entity associated with Next Practice), to assess your qualification to move forward in the recruitment process and/or to store your details for opportunities that may arise in the future.
Where you do not provide us with information that we request of you, we will not be able to assess your suitability for a position or any future openings.
During the course of your employment application process with us, we may disclose your information to:
When you apply to become a Next Practice Partner, most of the personal information that we collect about you is the information contained within your application, including your name, address, telephone number, education, employment history and financial history.
In considering your application, we may also collect personal information about you from third parties such as your previous employers and business or personal referees. We may also collect sensitive personal information about you, such as your criminal record. Where we do so, your consent will be sought first.
The information that we collect in the course of your partner application process will be used, to assess your suitability for owning a clinic with us (or another associated company), to assess your qualification to move forward in the partner recruitment process and/or to store your details for opportunities that may arise in the future.
Where you do not provide us with information that we request of you, we will not be able to assess your suitability to be a partner or for any future openings.
During the course of your partner application process with us, we may disclose your information to:
Next Practice uses your personal information so that we can improve and perform our business activities and functions and to provide you with any products or services which you may request, or to respond to any query or complaint that you may have. We may also use your personal information to, for example:
Next Practice may combine any information which it collects from you with information collected by its related companies. We will not sell or license any of your personal data to third parties for their direct marketing purposes unless we have your express consent to do so.
When collecting your personal information, we do so in accordance with relevant Australian laws and the Australian Privacy Principals. We may also use your personal information for other purposes not listed above.
If you do not provide us with the personal information described above, some or all of the following may happen:
In order to deliver the products and services you require; Next Practice may disclose your personal information to organisations outside of Next Practice. Your personal information may be disclosed to these organisations so that we can provide you with the required services or conduct the necessary administrative or marketing function required. These organisations include, but are not limited to, organisations and third-party service providers who we engage to carry out the following services:
We may disclose your personal information to:
Personal Information can be used or disclosed to others for some other purpose if:
Any disclosure should be limited to that which is either authorised or required in order to achieve the desired objective.
Next Practice will take reasonable steps to ensure that these organisations are bound by privacy obligations in relation to the continuing protection of your personal information.
In addition to holding your personal information in Australia we may hold your personal information in the cloud or on servers located outside of Australia. We take all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information which has been transferred outside of Australia will be held in jurisdictions whose privacy laws are equal to or better then Australia’s, and will not be held, used, or disclosed by the recipient of the information inconsistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.
Next Practice also collects your personal information for marketing purposes, including e-newsletters, promotions, and special offers. Our communications may be sent to you in various forms, including mail, SMS, in-app notifications, fax, and email in accordance with applicable laws. If you indicate a preference for a method of communication, we will endeavour to use that method whenever practical to do so.
If you have received marketing information from Next Practice and you wish to stop receiving it, you can contact us (either using the contact details below or the opt-out mechanism detailed in our marketing material) and ask us to stop sending the marketing information within a reasonable time after your request has been made. Next Practice will not charge you, or in any way disadvantage you, if you choose to opt out of receiving marketing material.
Next Practice may occasionally provide its marketing material to third parties to distribute material on Next Practice’s behalf.
Like many companies, Next Practice sometimes uses "cookie" technology on its website and other online mediums. A “cookie” is a small summary file containing a unique ID number which is stored on your computer by your browser. When you log in, the cookie tells Next Practice whether you've visited the Website before or if you are a new visitor. The cookie doesn't obtain any personal information about you or provide Next Practice with any way to contact you, and the cookie doesn't extract any information from your computer. Next Practice uses the cookie to help it identify the relevant Website features in which you have the greatest interest, so that it may better personalise your access to the Website and other online mediums you engage with.
If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can set your browser so that your computer does not accept them.
The Website and a Next Practice App may contain links to other sites. Next Practice makes no representations or warranties as to the privacy practices of any site operated by a third party and is not responsible for the privacy policies of such other sites.
As part of installation of a Next Practice App on your mobile device, you may receive “Push Notifications”, which may include alerts, badges, banners, and sounds, on your mobile device.
You may choose to stop receiving Push Notifications at any time by selecting option within the App’s settings menu or by deleting the App from your mobile device.
We will take all reasonable steps to secure your personal information. We recognise the importance of ensuring that personal information is accurate, and we will take all reasonable steps to make sure that the personal information collected, used or disclosed is complete and up to date.
Electronic information is protected by various security measures and access to information and databases is restricted to our staff and contractors that need access to the information in order to perform their duties.
Next Practice cares about protecting the security of your personal information, and we have implemented security procedures to protect the personal information which you provide to us.
Because of the sensitive nature of the information collected by Next Practice, extra precautions are taken to ensure the security of the information. Information may be stored electronically and / or hard copy. All electronically stored files are password protected on several levels, and regular backups performed.
You are entitled at any time to request details and a copy of your personal information held by us by contacting us in writing. To protect your privacy, Next Practice may require proof of your identity before acting upon your request. Access will be provided unless there is a legal or administrative reason for denying or limiting access, as permitted by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). We will advise you of the grounds of any refusal.
If an individual asks, they may be given access to the personal Information held about them unless particular circumstances apply that allow us to deny access.
Situations for denial of access include:
Where we hold information that you are entitled to access, we will endeavour to provide you with suitable means of accessing it (for example, by mailing or emailing it to you). Depending on the circumstances, Next Practice reserves the right to charge you a reasonable administrative fee for access to the personal information. We will not charge for simply making the request and will not charge for making any corrections to your personal information.
If you believe that personal information, we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request us to amend it. We will consider if the information requires amendment. If we do not agree that there are grounds for amendment, then we will add a note to the personal information stating that you disagree with it.
From time to time, it may be necessary for us to make updates or change this privacy policy without notice. The updated privacy policy will be always accessible on the website. Next Practice values your privacy, and we will ensure that any changes will not alter how we handle previously collected information.
If you would like to contact us or require more information concerning Next Practice’s approach to privacy or how Next Practice handles your personal information, you can write to us at the below address:
Attention: Next Practice Privacy Officer
Next Practice
Level 11, 1 Macquarie Place
Sydney NSW 2000
AUSTRALIA
Alternatively, you can email your privacy query directly to us by using the “Contact Us” page on our website.
You are entitled to contact us anonymously or by using a pseudonym if you prefer to do so. If you choose to remain anonymous this may limit our ability to assist you with any feedback or enquiry. We will tell you if we need to collect your name or any other personal information to help further.
If you wish to make a complaint to Next Practice about a possible breach of privacy, please provide full details of your complaint in writing, and send it to the Next Practice Privacy Officer (see contact details above). Please allow up to 30 days for your request or complaint to be processed.
If your complaint relates to our failure to provide access to or to correct any personal information that we hold about you, or if you are not satisfied with the manner in which we deal with your complaint (within 30 days), you may lodge or refer your complaint directly to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (for more information, please see www.oaic.gov.au).
If your complaint does not relate to these matters, you must first lodge a complaint with us in writing and provide us with details of the incident so that we can investigate. We will treat your complaint confidentially, investigate your complaint and aim to ensure that we contact you and your complaint is resolved within a reasonable time (and in any event within the time required by the relevant privacy legislation, if applicable). We may ask you to participate in a dispute resolution scheme (such as mediation) to resolve your complaint.
Individuals enquiring about their rights and remedies for breaches of privacy, can access detailed information at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner www.oaic.gov.au
If you wish to provide us with feedback, either positive or negative, you may contact our Privacy Officer on the details provided above. We take concerns and suggestions seriously and will endeavour to follow up any feedback with a reasonable timeframe.
If Next Practice delays or does not exercise any of its rights and remedies available to it under this Privacy Policy, that will not be a waiver of that right or remedy.
If any provision of this Privacy Policy is held to be invalid, void, unenforceable or illegal for any reason, such provision shall be deemed to be severed from this Privacy Policy and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
This Privacy Policy was last updated in November 2026
