The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (the department) collects personal information to help older people living in Australia access aged care services through My Aged Care.
Personal information includes things like your name, contact details, health needs and who supports you. The department collects this information by phone, online, email or in person. It’s used to answer questions, register you, check if you’re eligible for services, and help you get the care you need.
Your information may be shared with other government agencies and care providers. You can ask to see or fix your information, and you can make a complaint if needed. Collection of information is authorised under the Aged Care Act 2024.
This privacy notice describes how the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (department) collects and manages personal information when you make an enquiry or seek information about the aged care system through My Aged Care.
We collect your personal information to respond to your enquiry when you seek information about the aged care system by:
contacting us via the My Aged Care contact centre by phone or email, or
If you contact us by phone, we record the call for training and quality purposes, unless you ask us not to. Through the call recording, if we make one, we will collect the personal information you provide during the call.
Without your personal information, we can provide you with general information but will not be able to consider your circumstances or respond to you at a later stage.
The personal information we collect depends on your enquiry and whether you are registered with My Aged Care. For example:
If you are registered, we may collect your name, date of birth, email address, Aged Care ID or Medicare number to find your client record and assist you.
If we need to contact you again, we will collect your name, contact details and the information you provide about your enquiry, so that we can respond.
We may also collect other personal information, including sensitive information about your health and circumstances, so we can work out how best to assist you.
You do not have to identify yourself when you deal with My Aged Care. However, if you do not, we can only give you general information. You cannot apply for aged care services without identifying yourself.
The department is authorised to collect your information under the Aged Care Act 2024.
We may collect your personal information from another person with your consent. For example, this may happen if your family member or friend calls to ask about your eligibility for aged care.
We may disclose your personal information to an external survey provider to seek your feedback on our service. We will only do this with your consent.
We do not routinely disclose the personal information we collect through an enquiry to other people, but may do so with your consent or where permitted under the Aged Care Act 2024.
Generally, we will not disclose your personal information to overseas recipients.
If you need to access or correct your information, you can do this by:
For more information about access to personal information and how you can make a privacy complaint, see the My Aged Care privacy policy.
Registration for a My Aged Care client record: client
This privacy notice describes how the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (department) collects and manages your personal information when you are registered with My Aged Care in order to receive aged care services.
Registering for a personal record with My Aged Care allows you to apply for, and receive tailored information about, aged care services.
We need to collect your personal information to create your personal record and assign you a personalised Aged Care ID number.
Once registered, we may use information in your record to assess any application you make for aged care services and, if you are eligible, to support your receipt of aged care services.
lodging an online application for an aged care assessment.
Without your personal information, we cannot register you with My Aged Care, and can only give you general information about aged care. We will not be able to assess or approve you to receive funded aged care services.
We collect the following information:
Your name, date of birth, contact details, demographic information and relevant identifiers (e.g. a Medicare number)
Your preferences (e.g. your preferred language)
Other relevant information about your circumstances and care needs
If you have a supporter – your supporter’s details.
The Department is authorised to collect your information under the Aged Care Act 2024.
We may collect your personal information directly from you when you register with My Aged Care. Another person may register you with My Aged Care, with your consent. When that happens, we will collect your personal information from that person.
When something changes in relation to you or the aged care services you receive, we may collect your personal information and include it in your personal record. For example, we will do this when we collect details about your aged care assessment, if you have one, or if you start accessing aged care services.
The information in your personal record is protected under the Aged Care Act 2024. When permitted by the Aged Care Act, we may share the information in your record with parties in connection with the provision of aged care services. These parties include:
a supporter or legal representative, if you have one.
We may also disclose your personal information in accordance with the Aged Care Act 2024, when:
we provide information to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, where this is necessary for it to exercise its functions (e.g. in relation to a complaint)
you consent (e.g. where you agree to upload an assessment plan to your My Health Record).
We will generally only disclose your personal information outside of Australia if you or your supporter calls My Aged Care, accesses your information via a My Aged Care Online Account, or otherwise receives information from us via email or SMS while you or they are overseas.
Generally, we will not disclose your personal information to overseas recipients.
If you need to access or correct your information, you can do this by:
For more information about access to personal information and how you can make a privacy complaint, see the My Aged Care privacy policy.
Registration for My Aged Care: supporter
This privacy notice describes how the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (Department) collects and manages your personal information when you register for a record with My Aged Care, as a supporter of an older Australian (client).
Registering for a record with My Aged Care is one required step to complete your registration as a supporter for the client. A supporter can support a client to seek or access aged care services or otherwise support the client to do a thing under or for the purposes of the Aged Care Act 2024 (the Act), other than means testing. A supporter may also receive information or documents that may or must be given to the client under the Act, with the client’s consent or otherwise authorised under the Act.
We need to collect your personal information to create your personal record and assign you a personalised Aged Care ID number.
Once registered with My Aged Care, you can become a registered supporter for a client with their consent. You can then provide and receive information in accordance with their wishes.
We may use information in your record to assess any application for you to be registered as supporter. If you are registered, we will also use the information in your record to enable you to perform your role in supporting someone to access aged care services, and to make sure that you remain suitable to be a supporter.
as part of the process of assisting a client to lodge an online application for an aged care assessment
speaking with an aged care assessor
submitting a Registration of a Supporter form.
Without your personal information, we cannot register you with a My Aged Care record or register you as a supporter. In this case, we will only be able to give you general information about aged care. You will not be able to receive or communicate information for the client as a supporter.
We collect the following information:
your name, date of birth, contact details and relevant identifiers (e.g. a Medicare number)
client details
information about your relationship with the client
information about your suitability or legal capacity to be the client’s supporter.
The Department is authorised to collect your information under the Aged Care Act 2024.
We usually collect your personal information from you, when you register with My Aged Care. Another person may register you with My Aged Care, with your consent. When that happens, we will collect your personal information from that person.
We may collect information about your suitability or capacity to be a supporter from other people or organisations, both before and after any registration as a supporter.
We also collect your personal information when you update your record from time to time.
The information in your My Aged Care record is protected by the Aged Care Act 2024. We may only disclose your personal information when this is permitted by that Act, including when:
we disclose your personal information (the status of your registration as a supporter, name and contact details) to other supporters, the person you support, aged care assessors and aged care providers
if another person applies for you to become a supporter, when we disclose the outcome of the application to them
we provide information to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, where it is necessary for it to exercise its functions (e.g. in relation to a complaint)
you consent.
We will generally only disclose your personal information outside of Australia if you, your client or another supporter are overseas and access a My Aged Care Online Account containing your personal information. This may also happen if you or they call My Aged Care while you or they are overseas, or otherwise receive information from My Aged Care via email or SMS while overseas.
Generally, we will not disclose your personal information to overseas recipients.
If you need to access or correct your information, you can do this by:
For more information about access to personal information and how you can make a privacy complaint, see the My Aged Care privacy policy.
Application or referral for an aged care needs assessment
This privacy notice describes how the Department of Health Disability and Ageing (department) collects and manages personal information when an application or referral is made for an aged care needs assessment (or reassessment) for you.
We collect your personal information to:
determine if you are eligible for aged care services
determine your priority for aged care services
notify you if you are not eligible
refer you to an assessment organisation and support your access to aged care services if you are eligible.
An aged care assessor will use the information in your application or referral, as well as in your personal record, to work out your aged care needs, and make a decision on the services you need.
If we don’t collect your information, we will be unable to work out your needs and assess your eligibility for aged care.
The information we collect includes your:
name, date of birth, demographic and contact details
functional ability (ability to undertake daily activities)
psychosocial needs (mental health information)
current circumstances and supports
supporter or other relevant relationship information, if any
reason for referral, if relevant.
The Department is authorised to collect your information under the Aged Care Act 2024.
We collect your personal information if you apply for aged care services. With your consent, another person may apply on your behalf or refer you for aged care. When that happens, we will collect your personal information from that person.
When you apply or are referred for aged care, we store the information in your My Aged Care personal record. The information is protected under the Aged Care Act 2024.
When permitted by the Aged Care Act, we may share the information in your record with other parties in connection with the delivery of funded aged care services. These parties include:
your supporter or legal representative, if you have one.
We may also disclose your personal information:
with your consent
where otherwise permitted under the Aged Care Act 2024.
We will generally only disclose your personal information outside of Australia if you or your supporter calls My Aged Care, accesses your information via a My Aged Care Online Account, or otherwise receives information from us via email or SMS while you or they are overseas. Generally, we will not disclose your personal information to overseas recipients.
If you need to access or correct your information, you can do this by:
For more information about access to personal information and how you can make a privacy complaint, see the My Aged Care privacy policy.
Aged care needs assessment
This privacy notice describes how the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (department) collects your personal information through an assessment organisation. The department contracts the assessment organisation to undertake aged care needs assessments.
We collect your personal information when you provide information to an assessor at an assessment. We also collect your personal information from third parties, such as family members or health professionals, who the assessor speaks with about your needs.
The collection of this information is authorised by the Aged Care Act 2024.
The department collects personal information about your health, wellbeing, supports, financial and legal affairs, and home and personal safety for the purpose of undertaking an aged care needs assessment or aged care needs reassessment. We do this to work out what aged care services you need and how urgently you need these services. Also, we may use your personal information for other purposes such as managing any supports and aged care services you may need.
We may collect information about aged care services you receive from Services Australia in order to administer and deliver aged care to you.
If you do not or are unable to provide all of the required personal information, the assessor will not have an accurate picture of your needs and may be unable to work out the level, type or urgency of services you need. The assessor may be unable to proceed with an aged care needs assessment or aged care needs reassessment to determine the aged care services you need.
We may disclose your personal information to aged care or health providers, Services Australia and state and territory services. We will only disclose your personal information with your consent or where permitted under the Aged Care Act 2024.
When permitted by the Aged Care Act, we may share the information in your record with other parties in connection with the delivery of funded aged care services. These parties include:
your supporter or legal representative, if you have one.
We may also disclose your personal information:
with your consent
where otherwise permitted under the Aged Care Act 2024.
If you have a supporter who can access your online account from overseas, the protections of the Privacy Act and APPs may not apply. Supporters must only use your personal information to assist you with aged care. We will not disclose your personal information to any other overseas recipients.
You can access and correct some of your personal information that we hold through your My Aged Care online account. See the My Aged Care privacy policy for more information about:
how we handle personal information
how you can seek to access or correct your personal information
how you can make a privacy complaint.
Contact details
If you wish to contact the department about a privacy-related matter, including questions about this notice, please contact the department’s Privacy Officer by one of the following methods:
Post: Privacy Officer, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, 23 Furzer Street WODEN ACT 2606
