Last updated: 31/08/2026
Williamstown Family Dental Group (“we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. As a provider of dental (health) services in Victoria, we are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles, and by the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic).
What We Collect
Contact and identity details — name, date of birth, address, phone, email, emergency contact.
Health information — dental and relevant medical history, clinical notes, X-rays, medications and allergies. This is “sensitive information” with extra legal protection.
Billing and rebate details — Medicare, DVA, private health fund and payment information.
Website information — IP address, device and browsing data, and information from cookies and online advertising tags (see below).
How We Collect It
Directly from you — in person, by phone, email, our website forms, and when you book.
Through our website — via forms and through cookies and tracking technologies.
From third parties where necessary — such as referrals from other practitioners, or your health fund, Medicare or DVA.
Why We Use and Disclose It
We use your information to provide dental care, manage appointments and reminders, process payments and claim rebates (health funds, Medicare, DVA, HICAPS), communicate with you, run website analytics and advertising, and meet our legal obligations.
We may disclose it to: other treating practitioners and specialists; health funds, Medicare, DVA and HICAPS; our online booking provider (dentalhub.online); our practice management, email, IT, website and advertising providers; [our debt recovery agency where an account remains unpaid;] and regulators or others where required or authorised by law. We do not sell your personal information.
Health Information and Consent
We collect health (sensitive) information with your consent and where reasonably necessary to provide your care, or where otherwise permitted by law. If you choose not to provide certain information, we may be unable to provide appropriate treatment.
Anonymity and Pseudonymity
You may deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym for general enquiries. We cannot provide dental treatment anonymously — we are required to keep accurate, identified clinical records, and identification is needed to claim health fund, Medicare or DVA rebates.
Marketing and Communications
We send appointment confirmations, reminders and clinical recall notices as part of providing your care. These are not marketing and are sent to all active patients.
Overseas Disclosure
Some providers store or process information outside Australia — Google (advertising and analytics) and Squarespace (our website platform), both in the United States, and dentalhub.online (online booking, operated by Henry Schein One Australia), information may be transferred to or accessed from New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States. We take reasonable steps to ensure your information is handled consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.
Cookies and Online Advertising
Our website uses cookies and Google advertising tags to measure and improve our advertising. You can opt out by adjusting your ad settings at myadcenter.google.com or by managing cookies in your browser. These tools do not collect your health information.
Security, Retention and Destruction
We take reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. This includes access controls, secure storage, and staff privacy training.
We retain health records for the minimum periods required by law — in Victoria, generally at least 7 years from the date we last provided a health service to you, and for patients who were under 18 at the time the service was provided, until they turn 25.
Once we are no longer required to retain your information and it is no longer needed for any purpose for which it may lawfully be used, we destroy it securely or de-identify it.
Data Breaches
If we experience a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, and take steps to contain and remediate the breach.
Access, Correction and Complaints
You may ask to access or correct the information we hold about you by contacting us below. We will ask you to verify your identity before releasing any records. If you have a privacy concern, please contact our Privacy Officer first. If you are not satisfied, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au) or, for health information in Victoria, the Health Complaints Commissioner (hcc.vic.gov.au).
Contact Us
Privacy Officer: Dr Leslie Tu
Williamstown Family Dental Group
87 Douglas Parade, Williamstown, Victoria 3016
Phone: (03) 9397 6079 | Email: admin@wfdg.com.au
We may update this policy from time to time; the current version is always on our website.