Effective date: 15 November 2024

This is a privacy policy about your personal information which is protected by Australian law and how we manage it. It outlines the kinds of personal information we collect and hold, how we do so and the purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information. This policy also states how you may access the personal information about you that is held by us and seek correction of it, how you may complain about a breach of relevant privacy laws or regulations and how we will deal with such complaints. This policy also states whether we are likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients and, where practicable, specifies those recipients’ countries.

• SafetyNet PetAssist^TM is a trial program which is being conducted in various regions of Australia. This trial program involves services provided by VetChat and various participating veterinary clinics that have agreed to participate in the Trial which is being sponsored by PetSure.

• Any reference to “we”, “our” and “us” is a reference to the activities and operations being provided to you by participants in the SafetyNet PetAssist^TM Trial. This includes the providers of the free telehealth consultations with a registered Australian veterinarian through VetChat and the providers of subsidised in-clinic veterinary treatments at participating veterinary clinics.

We collect, hold and use the types of personal information outlined below. We do this for the reasons and in the ways indicated.

• We collect personal information about individuals when they contact us over the phone of via online communications seeking veterinary advice for their pet or when they are referred to us by VetChat. We do this in person, over the phone and via online communications, including our website and by email. This information may include names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, pet details, pet insurance information, information we request so as to comply with professional standards and laws governing the conduct of veterinary practices and records . This information may also be used for research.

• We collect personal information for research purposes so that other individuals may benefit from the experiences of yourself and others participating in the Trial so that we are able to improve services in the future and also use the information to continue research into the issues impacting on the health of pets.

• We allow cookies to be used to improve your experience with our online site, to evaluate online site performance and to record your behaviour and activities when you visit our online sites for the purpose of analytics and targeted online. Some third parties may set cookies on your device for the purpose of collecting your personal information for their purposes, which may include information about your interactions with our online sites. You can generally limit which online sites and which of your devices allow cookies to be used. You can do this by changing the settings on your devices (for example your browser settings) and you may also be able to change your third-party account settings.

Disclosure of personal information

We disclose personal information:

• to our service partners for their service provision to us such as VetChat, PetSure and VetPartners (and referral veterinary clinics of VetPartners). Examples are online veterinary medicine consultation providers and veterinary clinics – each of which may have their own privacy policies outlining how they handle personal information;

• for advisory services, to professional advisers, such as solicitors and accountants;

• for governance and management purposes, to our related bodies corporate;

• to authorised persons who may have been named when individuals are participating in the trial;

• as appropriate in connection with the conduct of veterinary services, for example under professional standards and laws governing the conduct of veterinary

It is our policy to consider the extent to which our service providers comply with privacy principles under applicable laws and to seek supporting contractual commitments from them.

Access and correction

• You may request access to personal information we hold about you by sending a written request to our Privacy Officer. We may charge a fee for providing access if it requires a significant amount of time to locate the information or to collate or present it in an appropriate form. We may decline to provide access to personal information where doing so may have an unreasonable impact upon the privacy of others or where we are not required by applicable privacy or other laws to give that access.

• Where your personal information is out-of-date or incorrect, you may inform us of this and request that we correct it.

Pseudonyms and anonymity

• Where it is practical to do so, you may choose not to identify yourself or provide personal information in your interactions with us. If you choose not to provide certain information about yourself, we may not be able to provide you with services you require.

Overseas transfers

We will not usually transfer any personal information but if we do so we will first receive your express consent for this transfer.

Complaints

• If you are not satisfied with how we handle your personal information, you can lodge a complaint in writing with our Privacy Officer. Our policy is to aim for a response time within 14 days to discuss your concerns and outline options about how they may be resolved. Our policy is to aim for your complaint to be resolved in an appropriate manner with which you are satisfied. You may contact our Privacy Officer to enquire about the progress of your complaint at any time.

• If you are not happy with how we have resolved your complaint, you may lodge a complaint with the relevant government’s privacy regulator contact details for the Australian privacy regulators of Australia is: Australian Information Commissioner www.oaic.gov.au

Amendments to policy

• We may amend this policy from time to time to ensure that it remains accurate in view of any alterations to our personal information handling practices due to new technologies and changed business circumstances. Any updated policy will be published on our website.

Further information

• Our Privacy Officer’s contact details for correspondence about our management of personal information is:

Privacy Officer SafetyNet PetAssist^TM
Ph: +61 (02) 9842 4800
Email: privacy@petsure.com.au 
You can also write to: Locked Bag No. 9021, Castle Hill NSW 1765, Australia