Confidentiality Policy

Confidentiality Policy

POLICY STATEMENT 

Nelson Tasman Pasifika Community Trust will have explicit procedures for complying with the requirements of the Privacy Act and ensuring the confidentiality of client family / whanau and staff information 

PURPOSE 

To provide a framework for Nelson Tasman Pasifika Community Trust in dealing with confidentiality considerations regarding the collection, use, protection and sharing of personal information. 

SCOPE 

 Board of Trustees and all staff, volunteers, clients.  All data, information collected either directly or indirectly. 

RESPONSIBILITIES 

Management:  

  • To ensure legal obligations are met in all Nelson Tasman Pasifika Community Trust operations. 
  • To manage compliance with Privacy legislation. 
  • To ensure confidentiality requests and complaints are investigated / responded to within appropriate timeframes. 
  • To undertake, encourage training and education programmes for employees. 
  • To report on relevant issues  
  • To maintain secure storage systems for the retention of sensitive data where required. 

Staff & Volunteers: 

  • To complete a confidentiality agreement upon commencement of service 
  • To maintain the privacy of client and staff information in the course of their duties. 
  • To understand legal and organisational requirements for maintaining privacy and dealing with privacy complaints 

Trustees:  

  • To ensure legal obligations are met  

SUPPORTING STATEMENTS 

Nelson Tasman Pasifika Community Trust collects and administers a range of information for a variety of purposes. Some of this information is restricted in its circulation for commercial, privacy, or ethical reasons.  

 

Nelson Tasman Pasifika Community Trust will place the minimum of restrictions on the information it holds, but will ensure that such restrictions as are considered necessary are observed by its staff and volunteers. 

 

GUIDELINES 

 The records management processes of the organisation shall incorporate procedures for designating information confidential. 

 

Restriction 

Nelson Tasman Pasifika Community Trust will place restrictions on the information it holds when the information: 

  • is commercial in confidence; 
  • concerns the privacy of its staff, volunteers, clients or customers; 
  • requires protection to safeguard the intellectual property of the organisation. 

Staff dealing with restricted material will be instructed in the recognition of material falling under these headings. 

  

Identification 

Any information on which restrictions have been placed shall be as far as possible clearly identified on the document or file. Where categories of information, rather than individual documents, are restricted this restriction will be conveyed to staff and volunteers dealing with this information.  

 

Protection 

Staff of the organisation, and volunteers dealing with restricted information, shall be required to sign a confidentiality agreement. 

 

Training 

All staff will be instructed in the requirements of this policy. 

 

Consent 

 Where required, consent will be obtained in writing in order for sensitive data to be collected and held. If the data is relating to a minor, then the consent of the parent or caregiver must be obtained.  

 

Referral 

Where client information is referred to another agency, the client must give informed consent. 

 

DEFINITIONS 

Confidentiality: refers to data collected about an individual; how it will be collected, managed and handled. 

Privacy: refers to the freedoms of an individual; what they choose to do or not do.  

Informed consent: agreement that is given after an individual has had access to all the information required to make a good decision. 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS 

Document Retention Policy  

Refer to and specific document retention requirements as outlined in other policies 

REFERENCES 

Privacy Act 1993 

 

Date Developed:   

Last Approved:   

Developed by:  JB 

Next Review Due:   

Approved By: Board of Trustees 

Version Number:  0.1 

 

CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT 

I agree to hold confidential all information that Nelson Tasman Pasifika Community Trust has placed restrictions on, and to release it to persons outside Nelson Tasman Pasifika Community Trust only when authorised by Nelson Tasman Pasifika Community Trust and subject to any conditions set by the Nelson Tasman Pasifika Community Trust  

I undertake to: 

  1. Access information held by the Nelson Tasman Pasifika Community Trust only when necessary to the performance of my assigned duties; 
  1. Make copies of restricted information only when necessary to the performance of my assigned duties; 
  1. Oversee the storage and handling of restricted information to minimise the risk of its diversion into unauthorised channels; 
  1. Take reasonable care to properly secure confidential information on my computer and will take steps to ensure that others cannot view or access such information; 
  1. Not disclose my personal password(s) to anyone without the express written permission of my department head, or record or post it in an accessible location, and will refrain from performing any tasks using another's password; and  
  1. Notify Management if I have reason to believe that my access codes and passwords have been compromised. 

 

Signed ________________________________  Date______________________________