General Privacy Statement
The HNE Health website is maintained by HNE Health. This Privacy Policy applies to all the publicly accessible pages on the HNE Health site located at www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au. HNE Health does not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to the HNE Health site. If you have any questions about the HNE Health site, or the application of this Privacy Policy or a request for access to information held please contact:
Strategic Relations and Communication
HNE Health
Locked Bag 1
NEW LAMBTON NSW 2305
Tel: 4985 5522
Users of the HNE Health site are entitled to expect that any information as a result of that use will be treated within the terms of the New South Wales government's privacy responsibilities and obligations. The New South Wales government's privacy practices are regulated by the New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1988.
What information do we collect?
When you look at the pages on the HNE Health site, our computers automatically record information that identifies, for each page accessed:
- the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the machine which has accessed it;
- your top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .edu, .au, .uk etc.);
- the address of your server;
- the date and time of your visit to the site;
- the pages accessed and documents downloaded;
- the previous site visited; and
- the type of browser and operating system you have used.
Only sessional cookies are used from the HNE Health site to collect information. This information is unable to be retained once the user session has ceased.
How do we use the information collected?
The information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports in order for HNE Health to identify patterns of usage of the site. This will assist us in improving the HNE Health site and the services it offers.
HNE Health will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent or otherwise in accordance with the New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.
What exceptions are there to this rule?
HNE Health will collect, use and disclose more extensive information than stated above in the following circumstances:
- unauthorised attempts to access files which are not published HNE Health pages;
- unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on the HNE Health site;
- unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the HNE Health site by other sites;
- attempts to intercept messages of other users of the HNE Health site;
- communications which are defamatory, abusive, vilify individuals or groups or which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed; and
- attempts to otherwise compromise the security of the web server, breach the laws of the State of New South Wales or Commonwealth of Australia, or interfere with the enjoyment of the HNE Health site by other users.
HNE Health reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the HNE Health site raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed. In the event of an investigation, HNE Health will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs.
Is the information stored securely?
Yes. Information collected is stored in an appropriately secure format and held by the HNE Health for archival purposes. When the information is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected it is deleted.
What will we do with information provided in Feedback?
HNE Health provides a feedback facility on our site to allow users to provide input into the future development of the site and to comment on the provision of service by the HNE Health.
Providing personal details on feedback is optional. Users may provide personal details for the purpose of receiving a reply to their feedback. This information will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided. We will not add your email address or name to any mailing list. HNE Health may publish aggregated information about feedback on the site, to the extent that it does not identify or cannot be used to identify individual users.
Will this policy be updated over time?
Due to the developing nature of privacy principles for online communication, this policy may be modified or expanded in light of new developments or issues that may arise from time to time. The amended policy will be posted to this site and will operate from the time it is posted.
Privacy of patient information
NSW Health is committed to safeguarding the privacy of patient information and has implemented measures to comply with its obligations under the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.
See general Ministry contact details at
If you have a general privacy enquiry or complaint regarding the HNE Health, please contact:
The Privacy Officer
Legal Branch
NSW Ministry of Health
Locked Mail Bag 961
North Sydney NSW 2059