Privacy Policy - Easy Read

People With disabilities WA wrote this document. When you see the word ‘we’, it means People With disabilities WA. 

We have written this information in an easy to read way.

We use pictures to explain some ideas.

We have written some words in bold. We explain what these words mean. There is a list of these words at the end of this page.

This Easy Read document is a summary of another document.

You can find the other document here:

PWdWA Individual Advocacy Policy and Procedure (PDF). 

You can ask for help to read this document. A friend, family member or support person may be able to help you.

This document explains how we treat our clients with respect and keep their information private and safe.

Respect is when you treat someone with care and understanding. You are polite.

This document is our policy for privacy, dignity and confidentiality.

A policy is a plan for how we will do things.

Dignity is when you treat someone well and show them respect.

Confidentiality means keeping information private and safe.

This policy is to make sure people with disabilities in Western Australia get advocacy services that:

• show them respect and treat them well

• keep their information private and safe.

An advocacy service supports people to stand up for their rights and have their say.

Having rights means you can expect to be treated fairly.

We want to:

• do everything that the law says we need to do to keep people’s information private

A law is a rule that we all must follow. Rules like these are made by the government and the courts.

• provide advocacy services that treat people with respect and protect their privacy

• keep safe all the information we have about people who use our services.

This policy is for:

• people who work for us
• our Committee of Management members.

All the information we have about people who use our services is private.

We only use this information for the reason that people have given it to us.

We only collect information that:

• helps us to advocate for someone

• we have to give to organisations or government departments who give us funding.

Funding is money that the government, or funding organisations, give us to do our work.

Any information that we write down must be true and fair.

Our staff need to choose words that show respect for the people they are writing about.

We keep all our information about people who use our services safe.

We keep our paper documents in a locked filing cabinet.

We keep our electronic files on our database system.

We use a password to log on to our computers.

We keep information about people who use our services for 7 years.

Sometimes we keep them for longer.

We may sometimes need to collect information about the types of problems people who uses our services have.

This information doesn’t include people’s names or contact details.

We use this information:

• to help plan our services
• for systemic advocacy.

Systemic advocacy works to solve a problem that a large group of people share. We use it when a lot of people have the same problem.

All the people who work for us have to sign a confidentiality agreement.

A confidentiality agreement is a document. It shows that the person who signs it agrees to keep information private and safe.

You can access any information we have about you or your case.

We will keep and store the documents about you.

But you can ask for a copy of any of these documents.

We will take out the names of any other people included in your documents. We will do this before we give you your copy.

If any person or organisation asks us for your name or contact details, we will talk to you.

We won’t give anyone your details unless you tell us this is ok.

This includes someone asking for information about a complaint.

Even if the person asking is from:

• Health and Disability Services Complaints Office
• Complaints Resolution and Referral Services.

If you say it is ok to give your information to someone else, we will give you a consent form.

If you sign this form, it means that you agree that we can share your information.

We will talk to you about what the consent form means.

You can then decide if you want to sign it.

You will need to agree on what is included in the form before you sign it.

If another organisation wants to contact you, we will:

• ask you to contact the organisation, or

• ask you if it is ok for us to give them your contact details.

If we get a subpoena asking for information we have about you, we will tell you as soon as we can.

A subpoena is a legal document sent by the Court. It means that we have to give them the information they ask for. It is against the law to not do what the subpoena says.

We will only give them the information they ask for.

We will copy the information and send it to them.

There is one other situation where we might share your private information.

We might share your information if we think that this could stop:

• you being in danger or badly hurt

• other people from being in danger or badly hurt.

The Executive Director, or someone working for them, will make this decision.

If you make a complaint about us, a senior manager or a member of the Committee of Management may look at your information.

This will only be to try and solve the complaint.

We may ask you if we can give your information to government funding organisations.

We will only need to do this if they ask for it in the agreement we have with them.

If you don’t want us to share your information with them, you can say no.

We want all the people who work for us to respect the needs and backgrounds of the people who use our services.

To do this we train our staff, volunteers and Committee of Management to respect each persons:

• situation
• abilities
• culture
• religion.

Culture is a way of life. There are many different cultures in Australia and around the world. You may think or act in a certain way because of the culture you have grown up with.

All the people who work with us should show respect for people with disabilities and treat them well.

They should show this in the way they talk to people with disabilities and how they talk about them.

There are 5 other documents connected to this policy, our:

• Individual Advocacy Team Induction Package
• Employees Induction Package
• People with disabilities (WA) consent form
• Public Relations and Media policy
• Employee and Volunteer code of conduct.

Advocacy service

A service that supports people to stand up for their rights and have their say.

Advocate

An advocate is a person who supports you. They help you have your say. They can also give you information and advice.

Confidentiality

 This means keeping information private and safe.

Confidentiality agreement

Is a document that shows that the person who signs it agrees to keep information private and safe.

Consent form

If you sign a consent form, it means that you agree with what is being asked in the form.

Culture

Culture is a way of life. There are many different cultures in Australia and around the world. You may think or act in a certain way because of the culture you have grown up with.

Dignity

When you treat someone with dignity you treat them well and show them respect.

Funding

Money that government, or funding organisations, provides for support.

Law

A law is a rule that we all must follow. A rule like this is made by the government and the courts.

Policy

A plan for how we will do things.

Respect

Respect is when you treat someone with care and understanding. You are polite.

Rights

Having rights means you can expect to be treated fairly.

Subpoena

This is a legal document sent by the Court. It means that we have to give them what they ask for. A subpoena will ask for a person to come to Court or for some information.

It is against the law to not do what the subpoena says.

Systemic advocacy

Systemic advocacy works to solve a problem that a large group of people share. We use it when a lot of people have the same problem.

You can contact us on:

08 9485 8900

Country Callers 1800 193 331

[email protected]

Suite 1 Oasis Lotteries House

37 Hampden Road

Nedlands WA 6009

www.pwdwa.org