SMA Privacy Policy Contents

  1. About Sports Medicine Australia
  2. Sports Medicine Australia Structure
  3. Privacy Officer
  4. Information Covered by the Policy
  5. Reasons SMA Collects the Information
  6. Complaints Handling Process
  7. Staff Training Program
  8. Openness
  9. Access and Correction
  10. Security
  11. Contractors

Sports Medicine Australia

Sports Medicine Australia through its organisational and individual members is Australia’s peak advisory body on all medical and health issues for active people – from weekend enthusiasts of all ages through to elite level competition.

The safe participation of Australians in sport and healthy physical activity at all stages of life is the primary concern for all involved with Sports Medicine Australia.

Sports Medicine Australia provides expert information, advice and commentary on a diverse range of issues. These range from government policy and funding for Sports Medicine and community activity through to sports health, gender equity, participation of the aged in sport, safe sport for children, to drugs in sport problems.

Sports Medicine Australia plays an active role in educating professionals and sports-minded community members and in assisting all active people to achieve optimal benefits from their exercise, activity and competition.

Sports Medicine Australia draws together all sports science and sports medicine professionals. These groups include members of all the health professions.

At a community level Sports Medicine Australia is responsible for creating a safe playing field in which all Australians can actively and freely participate. The delivery of the Safer Sport message throughout Australia is achieved through the development and design of courses and educational resources for coaches, trainers, teachers and participants.

Sports Medicine Australia works to ensure the safety of all active Australians, and the continued professional development of persons interested in sports science, sports medicine and healthy activity. More information is available from www.sma.org.au.

Sports Medicine Australia Structure

SMA is a national organisation with a federal structure made up of a National Office and separate State Offices. Each Office is separately incorporated in its own state and territory, is responsible for its own staffing and finances and will produce its own privacy policy. Not all branches collect or hold information that requires a privacy policy.

Privacy Officer

  • Mr Nello Marino (CEO)

Role of the Privacy Officer:

  • Conducting and coordinating an on-going privacy audit in SMA
  • Up-dating the SMA Privacy Policy Plan
  • Coordinating and implementing the privacy policy plan and
  • Promoting the plan to all relevant parties.

Information Covered by the Policy

There are four types of information collected by SMA that are covered by the Privacy Policy:

  1. Information collected about SMA members
  2. Information collected about SMA accredited Sports Trainers
  3. Information collected about delegates attending SMA Conferences and Workshops
  4. Information collected by State Branches in relation to sporting injuries

Reasons SMA collects the Information

1. Members

Information collected from members includes:

  • Contact details
  • Title
  • Date of birth
  • Profession
  • Qualifications
  • Category of membership sought
  • Whether a member of a sports medicine discipline group
  • Name of discipline group
  • Sporting Interests
  • Teaching interests and availability
  • Preferred payment options – if credit card, then credit card details

NB. On joining and annually, each member is asked whether they wish to be included in a publicly available SMA Membership Directory and what variations to supplied details should be made for that Directory.

This information is collected so that SMA can efficiently and appropriately service the needs of members.

2. Sports Trainers

Information collected from accredited Sports Trainers includes:

  • Contact details
  • Title
  • Gender
  • Date of birth
  • Current accreditation details (if any)
  • Preferred payment options – if credit card, then credit card details
  • Sport involvement
  • Level of sport involvement

This information is collected so that SMA can provide some assurance to sporting and other organisations that persons representing themselves as SMA Sports Trainers have received the appropriate level of training and are currently accredited. It also enables SMA State Branches to act as an intermediary organising medical coverage for sporting events.

3. Conference Delegates

Supply the same information as members joining SMA with the addition of:

  • Name of any accompanying person
  • Areas of interest in the program
  • Type of registration sought
  • Social program preferences

Delegates making presentations at Conferences also supply information regarding:

  • Type of presentation
  • AV requirements
  • Preferred scientific or medical category
  • Presentation details
  • Co-authors

This information is collected to ensure the efficient operation of the Conferences or Workshops.

4. Sporting Injury Information

Sporting Injury Information is not collected by the National Office but where appropriate is dealt with in individual State Privacy Policies.

Complaints Handling Process

All complaints regarding privacy will be handled at a National level by a sub-committee composed of the Privacy Officer, the CEO and the National Database Manager.

All complaints must be submitted in writing to the Privacy Officer.

Complaints regarding electronic data may be made electronically.

Staff Training Policy

All National Office Staff undertake an annual privacy workshop conducted by the Privacy Officer and the National Database Manager.

Privacy Procedures are reviewed annually by the Executive Management Group (EMG) composed of the National CEO, all State and Territory Executive Officers and the Privacy Officer.

Openness

The SMA Privacy Policy will be made available to all SMA members in the December 2002 edition of SMA’s magazine, Sport Health.

Details of the Policy will also be available from the SMA Website: http://www.sma.org.au

This information will include:

  • The kinds of personal information SMA holds
  • The main purposes for which SMA holds the information
  • Information on contractors who may have access to personal information
  • How an individual can complain about a breach of privacy including a contact number for the SMA Privacy Officer
  • SMA’s contact details and
  • How SMA handles requests for access to personal information.

Access and Correction

SMA members are contacted twice annually to verify personal information:

  1. By the National Office at the time of membership renewal
  2. By the State Office at the time of Membership Directory preparation

Additional verification occurs with the scrutiny of return mail.

Identity Verification Procedure:

  • Requests for individual member information must be in writing and the signature and member number verified against SMA records.
  • Electronic requests must be accompanied by the members PIN verification number.

Procedural steps for information correction include consideration of the following:

  • Allowing poor quality information to remain on a record may have adverse consequences for the individual or for SMA.
  • Correction is not necessary if the information is inaccessible and not used. However if this is the case, SMA may then consider destroying or de-identifying information it no longer needs for any organisational or lawful purpose.
  • SMA may discuss with the individual concerned the reasons SMA thinks it is inappropriate to delete or alter the original information and the alternative ways of correcting the information that satisfies the needs of both parties.

If agreement on a correction cannot be reached about whether information is accurate, up-to-date and complete, SMA may agree to the attaching of a correction statement to a record.

Security

Paper records are protected by:

  • External door locks
  • Intruder alarms with 24 hour monitoring
  • Internal cabinet locks
  • Access restricted to trained, “need-to-know” staff under the direction of the Data Manager and the Privacy Officer
  • Encouraging a “clean desk” policy
  • Destruction of out-of-date records.

Electronic records are protected by:

  • Restricted access computer passwords and screensaver passwords
  • Virus Checking
  • Contracted IT support
  • Complexity of database operation requiring staff training to operate.

Communications Security:

Other communications security in relation to personal information is reinforced by:

  • Checking facsimile numbers before sending personal information, and confirming receipt
  • Checking identity before giving out personal information over the telephone

Contractors

SMA uses contactors who may from time to time have access to personal information.
These include:

  • Mail houses
  • IT consultants
  • Professional Conference Organisers.

All contractors are made aware of SMA’s Privacy policy and must supply assurances of compliance with the SMA Privacy Policy before services are contracted.