Privacy Policy

FERATA is a private audiology practice based in Melbourne. We provide hearing assessment and ongoing hearing care at a location of your choosing rather than from a clinic.

In this policy, "FERATA", "we", "us" and "our" mean Shari Benski trading as Ferata (ABN 19 203 284 848).

We are a health service provider. This means the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles apply to us regardless of our size, and that the small business exemption in that Act does not apply to us.

Because we operate in Victoria and hold health information, the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and the Health Privacy Principles also apply to us.

When you enquire. If you contact us through the website, by telephone or by email, we collect your name, email address, telephone number, your preferred appointment location, and whatever you choose to tell us in your note.

When we provide care. Once you become a client we collect the information we need in order to look after your hearing properly. Depending on the service, this may include your hearing history and current concerns, the results of diagnostic assessment, relevant medical history and medications, details of any devices fitted and their settings, correspondence with your general practitioner, ENT specialist or other treating practitioners, and the notes we make during appointments.

Health information is "sensitive information" under the Privacy Act and is given a higher level of protection than ordinary personal information. We collect it with your consent, and we collect only what we need in order to provide your care.

Administration. Appointment times and locations, billing records, and a record of our correspondence with you.

We do not lodge claims on your behalf. We do not claim through Medicare, the Department of Veterans' Affairs or the Hearing Services Program. If you claim a private health insurance benefit, you do so directly with your fund using our invoice or receipt, and we do not send your information to your fund.

You cannot book an appointment or make a payment through this website. Appointments are arranged with us directly, and we do not collect card or bank details through the website at any point.

When you visit ferata.com.au, some information about your visit is collected automatically. It is not linked to your name unless you choose to contact us.

Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics to understand how the website is used. It records the pages you visit, how long you spend on them, how you arrived at the site, your device and browser type, and an approximate location derived from your internet address. Google does not store your full internet address. This is aggregate information about visitor behaviour, and we use it to improve the site. We retain this analytics data for 14 months.

Meta Pixel. We use the Meta Pixel, a small piece of code provided by Meta Platforms, the company behind Facebook and Instagram. It records that a visit to our website took place and which pages were viewed, and sends that information to Meta. If you have a Facebook or Instagram account, Meta may be able to match that visit to your account. Meta uses this to measure the performance of our advertising and to allow us to show our advertising to people who have visited our website. We do not receive your Facebook or Instagram identity from Meta, and we do not send Meta the contents of anything you type into our contact form.

Cookies. Both of these tools use cookies, which are small files stored by your browser. You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. Blocking them will not prevent you from using this website or from contacting us.

Turning this off. You can opt out of Google Analytics across all websites using Google's browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. You can control how Meta uses your off-platform activity through the ad preferences and off-Meta activity settings in your Facebook or Instagram account. You can also use your browser's private browsing mode or tracking protection.

FERATA uses advertising and measurement technologies, including Google Ads and the Meta Pixel, to understand how visitors interact with our website and measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns. These technologies may collect information such as pages visited, website interactions, device and browser information, and advertising referral details.

Where required, optional advertising cookies and associated tracking operate only with the visitor's consent. Visitors can manage their preferences through Cookie Settings in the website footer or through their browser's privacy settings.

Further information about how Google and Meta process information is available in their respective privacy policies.

Some of our clients come to us through a partner, an adult son or daughter, a family member or a trusted friend who has noticed a change in someone's hearing. We welcome those enquiries, and we handle them carefully.

If you contact us about someone else, we will collect the details you give us about that person. We will use those details only to understand the situation and to help you consider an appropriate next step.

We will not open a client record, make an appointment or begin any assessment for a person who has not agreed to it. Where we hold information about someone that was given to us by another person, we will tell that individual what we hold and where it came from as soon as it is reasonable to do so, unless telling them would be unreasonable in the circumstances.

If you would prefer us not to contact the person you are enquiring about, tell us and we will not.

We collect personal information in order to respond to your enquiry, to arrange and deliver appointments, to assess and manage your hearing, to supply and support devices, to correspond with other practitioners involved in your care where you have agreed to it, to issue invoices and keep proper financial records, and to meet our legal and professional record keeping obligations.

If you do not give us the information we ask for, we may not be able to provide the service safely or at all.

We treat your information as confidential. We disclose it only in the following circumstances.

• Other practitioners involved in your care, such as your general practitioner or an ENT specialist, where you have agreed to it or where it is reasonably necessary for your care.
• Device manufacturers and suppliers, where a device is being ordered, fitted, programmed, repaired or claimed under warranty.
• The systems we use to run the practice. Your clinical record is held in Cliniko, our practice management system. Diagnostic testing and measurement is carried out using Auditdata Measure. Our email and calendar run on Microsoft 365. Enquiries submitted through the website are handled by Formspree. Our website is hosted by Lovable. Each of these providers is permitted to use your information only for the purpose of providing that service to us.
• Google and Meta, in the limited and automatic way described in section 4, for website analytics and advertising measurement.
• Where the law requires or permits it, including where there is a serious threat to someone's life, health or safety.

We do not sell your information, and we do not disclose your health information for anyone else's marketing.

Where your information is held depends on which system it sits in.

Held in Australia. Your clinical record is held in Cliniko. Cliniko stores data for Australian accounts on servers located in Australia, encrypted both in transit and at rest.

Held in Australia, with some processing elsewhere. Our email and calendar run on Microsoft 365. Microsoft stores data for Australian customers in Australian data centres, although some support and processing may take place in other countries.

Held outside Australia. Enquiries submitted through our website contact form are processed and stored by Formspree, which operates in the United States. Our website is hosted by Lovable. The website itself holds no client records, takes no bookings and processes no payments, so what reaches our host is limited to ordinary technical information about visits. Our analytics and advertising providers, Google and Meta, are based in the United States.

Diagnostic testing. Testing and measurement is carried out using Auditdata Measure. Auditdata is headquartered in Denmark. Depending on how the equipment is configured, test results may be held on the testing equipment itself or in Auditdata's systems.

Because our website contact form is processed in the United States, please keep your first enquiry brief. There is no need to include detailed health information in order to start a conversation with us.

Before disclosing personal information overseas we take reasonable steps to ensure it will be handled consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.

We hold records electronically, and we keep them secure with measures appropriate to how sensitive they are. These include password protection and encryption on the devices we use, access limited to those who need it in order to provide your care, secure transmission of correspondence, and secure destruction or de-identification of records once we are no longer required to keep them.

Because we come to you, records and equipment travel with us. We take particular care with material carried to appointments, and we do not leave client records unattended.

No system is completely secure. If something goes wrong, we will act on it, and section 12 explains what happens next.

We are required to keep health records for at least seven years from the date we last provided a service to you. Where a client was under 18 at the time, we must keep the record until they turn 25.

We may keep information for longer where the law requires it, or where it is needed for an insurance or legal matter. After that, we destroy it securely or permanently de-identify it.

We may send you information about our services and about hearing care. You can ask us to stop at any time, either by using the unsubscribe link or by telling us directly, and we will action it promptly.

As described in section 4, we may also show our advertising on Facebook and Instagram to people who have visited our website. Section 4 explains how to turn that off.

We will never use your health information to target marketing to you without your consent.

If personal information we hold is lost, or accessed or disclosed without authorisation, we will assess what has happened. Where a data breach is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify the individuals affected and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires.

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, and you can ask us to correct it if it is wrong, out of date or incomplete. Write to us using the details in section 15.

We will respond within 30 days. In most cases we will give you access without charge, although we may charge a reasonable fee where a request takes significant time to prepare. There are limited circumstances in which the law allows us to refuse access, and if that happens we will explain why in writing and tell you how to have the decision reviewed.

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your personal information, please tell us first, using the details in section 15. We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and respond within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can take the matter further.

• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, at oaic.gov.au or 1300 363 992.
• Health Complaints Commissioner (Victoria), at hcc.vic.gov.au or 1300 582 113.

Shari Benski trading as Ferata
ABN 19 203 284 848
Email: enquiries@ferata.com.au
Telephone: 0431 243 794

We review this policy from time to time. The current version is always available at ferata.com.au/privacy, and the date at the top shows when it was last updated.