CareFlight is a registered charity. Started in 1986 as an emergency helicopter and medical retrieval service, we employ and train trauma specialists who work on helicopters, road ambulances and fixed wing air ambulances to provide a state-wide service. We work in partnership with the New South Wales Government, Ambulance Service of New South Wales and Motor Accidents Authority.
CareFlight’s services are provided to patients without cost or obligation, thanks to a combination of Motor Accidents Authority grants, community supporter donations, bequests, funds raised by staging events, funding from the NSW Government on a fee-for-service contract and surplus funds generated by our commercial activities.
The National Privacy Principles
The Australian Government introduced legislation in 2001 to protect the privacy of individuals. This legislation comprises ten privacy principles that apply to private sector organisations. You can find out more about these principles from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on 1300 363 992 or on the website www.privacy.gov.au.
CareFlight respects and upholds your rights to privacy protection under the National Privacy Principles in regulating how we collect, use, disclose and hold your personal information. We have a detailed policy and set of procedures to ensure that only authorised staff members have access to your personal information, that it remains confidential and that it is used for appropriate purposes in accordance with this policy. Your personal and sensitive information is only collected as is necessary for a function or activity to enable CareFlight to carry out its work and deliver services to the community.
Why we collect your personal information
CareFlight is very grateful to the thousands of people who provide the financial support which allows us to continue our important lifesaving work. When you give us personal information such as your name and address, we record it on our database and use it to contact you. We may use your personal information to send you information or to let you know about our events and fundraising programs. Each time we send you a direct marketing communication we will provide you with a simple way to stop receiving similar communications in the future. You can also let us know that you do not wish to receive any further mail by phoning CareFlight on (02) 9843 5100.
CareFlight will not collect sensitive personal information about health, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions or membership, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade association or union membership, sexual preferences or criminal record, unless you have consented to give this information and it is relevant to the work of CareFlight. We will always collect such information in a non-intrusive, lawful and fair manner.
Changing your information
If you want to change any information that you have previously given us, or if you do not want to receive further communication please contact:
How we collect your personal information
We collect your personal information when you provide it to CareFlight either through participation in one of CareFlight’s community fundraising or information events or by responding to one of our fundraising mail-outs. We may also collect your personal information from publicly available sources such as the telephone directory.
How we keep your personal information secure
If you provide us with your personal information, it is securely stored in our database, which is accessed only by authorised staff at CareFlight. Our computer system is kept secure by our internal network using domain authentication. Each user has security level access and must provide a username/password to gain access. In addition, our external access to email is SSL.
Disclosing your personal information
CareFlight will not provide your personal information to any other individuals or organisations except on a confidential basis to contractors who provide database management, printing and mailing services to CareFlight. In these cases, we ensure that our contractors are also bound by the National Privacy Principles to keep your personal information confidential.
CareFlight may at times allow third parties to contact you with information we believe may be of interest to you. These organisations generally allow us to do the same and this way we can reach more people with vital information. However, before allowing third parties to contact you with information we will give you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving such offers. We also do not give these organisations your details. Instead these communications are arranged through an independent party, which is strictly compliant with privacy legislation. However if you do take advantage of any offer from a third party organisation, they may send further offers to you directly.
CareFlight is very grateful to those people who are willing to share their personal stories of rescue with others through media stories and in our newsletter. We will only use your personal information for publicity purposes or as stories in community newsletters with your written permission. CareFlight will not provide your personal information to any overseas organisation without first asking your permission. In such a case, we will also ensure that such organisations are bound by privacy laws at least as strict as those in Australia.
Visiting our website
When you visit our website, you can browse at your leisure. CareFlight does not use "cookies" to track your movements through the information section of our website or your visits to other websites. CareFlight will only place a "cookie" on your computer for our e-commerce facility when you make an online donation to CareFlight or purchase a CareFlight product. Our third party credit card transaction processor, Blackbaud and VeriSign/Paypal, uses "cookies" for transaction integrity and anti-fraud purposes. This provider is compliant with the National Privacy Principles and will not use your details for any activity other than supporting the primary purpose of making a donation to CareFlight or purchasing a CareFlight product.
We will only record your email address if you provide it to us and your email address will not be used for any other purpose without your consent and will not be passed on to any other organisation. The CareFlight website contains links to other sites of interest. CareFlight does not control, and is not responsible for, the content or privacy practices of those websites. Please check the Privacy Statements on other websites before you provide them with your personal information. By using CareFlight's Internet site, you agree that the Internet is inherently insecure and accordingly, CareFlight cannot provide any definitive assurance regarding security or personal information. CareFlight will not be liable in any way in relation to any breach of security or any unintended loss or disclosure of that information.
Our Website Security
Donation forms used within this website are encrypted. We make every effort possible to make your donations and transactions within our site as secure and safe as possible. All information that leaves any form (including your credit card number) is encrypted automatically by your browser until it reaches our servers.
The Spam Act 2003
The Spam Act prohibits the sending of unsolicited emails and SMS messages for commercial purposes from or within Australia or to people in Australia, and bans the supply and use of software designed to harvest email addresses. While charities do have some exemptions from this Act, CareFlight will abide by the best practice guidelines, which will be developed on responsible electronic messaging practices by the Australian Communications Authority.
Changes to our Privacy Policy
CareFlight may, without notice, amend or modify its Privacy Policy by posting the amended Privacy Policy to CareFlight’s website.
How to access, correct or update your personal information
If you have any complaints, questions or concerns about what information CareFlight holds or about the accuracy of that information, please contact the CareFlight office on (02) 9843 5100 and ask to speak to the Privacy Officer.
If you would like to access the information that we hold about you, you can write to the Privacy Officer. We will endeavour to give you access to that information within two weeks. In order to maintain the confidentiality of your personal information, we will ask you to come into the CareFlight office and to bring with you specific identification before we give you access. If it is not practical for you to visit our office, we will arrange to check your identification before we mail the information out to you. If the information that we hold about you is incorrect or not up-to-date, we will update it as soon as possible after you have shown us how and why it is incorrect. In the unlikely event that we are unable to provide you with access to your personal information for legal reasons as specified in the Privacy Act, we will provide you with reasons for denying access.