Effective date: 1 March 2024

About this policy

This is a privacy policy about the personal information of individuals which is protected by the Australian, New Zealand or Singapore law which applies to them, and how we manage it. It outlines the kinds of personal information we collect and hold, how we do so and the purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information. This policy also states how individuals may access personal information about them that is held by us and seek correction of it, how individuals may complain about a breach of relevant privacy laws or regulations and how we will deal with such complaints. This policy also states whether we are likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients and, where practicable, specifies those recipients’ countries.

We do business in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Different policies and laws may apply to our personal information management practices elsewhere.

Who are we?

We operate various veterinary clinics and specialty and emergency hospitals (a list of which is at https://bestforpet.com.au/find-a-vet/), and also the businesses known as United Veterinary Group, Veterinary Training Centre, Vet Nurse Plus and Bamganie Pets Cremation Service. Any reference to “we”, “our” and “us” is a reference to the activities and operations, in any or all of Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, of one or more related bodies corporate of NVA Australia Parent Pty Ltd ABN 21 609 622 640 and its subsidiaries.

Collection, holding and use of personal information

We collect, hold and use the types of personal information outlined below. We do this for the reasons and in the ways indicated.

We may collect other personal information appropriate for purposes primarily related to our carrying on of business, such purposes being governance, management, audits, risk management, compliance, staff training, product development and incident responses.

If you provide us with the personal information of other individuals (such as an emergency contact, a referee or a joint pet owner) for purposes connected with any of our uses and disclosures of personal information as referred to in this policy, we are relying on you first having obtained their consent to do so rather than on our own separate communications.

From time to time, we acquire other businesses. Such transactions generally involve the disclosure of personal information from the vendor organisation to us, either as part of the due diligence process or as a result of a transfer of assets or company ownership. It may also be collected from our Internet searches. In such cases, we collect the personal information already held by the newly acquired business.

We generally hold personal information collected by us in individual clinics’ and hospitals’ personal information systems and in our enterprise data warehouse. In addition, our personal information security measures involve:

Disclosure of personal information

We disclose personal information:

It is our policy to consider the extent to which our service providers comply with privacy principles under applicable laws and to seek supporting contractual commitments from them.

Marketing communications

We communicate details about our products and services to past, existing and potential clinic clients and other customers and Best For Pet members. These communications are sent in various forms, including mail, SMS, email and social media. Individuals can opt-out of receiving direct marketing communications at any time by lodging a request with our Privacy Officer or by using opt-out facilities provided in direct marketing communications.

Access and correction

Individuals may request access to personal information we hold about them by sending a written request to our Privacy Officer. We may charge a fee for providing access if it requires a significant amount of time to locate the information or to collate or present it in an appropriate form. We may decline to provide access to personal information where doing so may have an unreasonable impact upon the privacy of others or where we are not required by applicable privacy or other laws to give that access.

Where their personal information is out-of-date or incorrect, individuals may inform us of this and request that we correct it.

Pseudonyms and anonymity

Individuals may, where it is practical to do so, choose not to identify themselves or provide personal information in their interactions with us. If you choose not to provide certain information about yourself, we may not be able to provide you with the products or services you require.

Overseas transfers

We are likely to disclose personal information outside Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Our reasons are generally:

Complaints

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your personal information, you can lodge a complaint in writing with our Privacy Officer. Our policy is to aim for a response time within 14 days to discuss your concerns and outline options about how they may be resolved. Our policy is to aim for your complaint to be resolved in an appropriate manner with which you are satisfied. You may contact our Privacy Officer to enquire about the progress of your complaint at any time.

If you are not happy with how we have resolved your complaint, you may lodge a complaint with the relevant government’s privacy regulator contact details for the privacy regulators of Australia, New Zealand and Singapore are:

Australian Information Commissioner www.oaic.gov.au
Telephone +61 1300 363 992

New Zealand Privacy Commissioner www.privacy.org.nz
Telephone: +64 0800 803 909

Singapore Personal Data Protection Commissioner https://www.pdpc.gov.sg/
Telephone: +65 6377 3131

Other privacy terms

This privacy policy is in addition to some other provisions which may be relevant to our management of your personal information, depending on your dealings with us and on our particular businesses. Examples are terms of use of our websites and specific consents you may give us under terms relevant to the Best For Pet loyalty and wellness program.

Amendments to policy

We may amend this policy from time to time to ensure that it remains accurate in view of any alterations to our personal information handling practices due to new technologies and changed business circumstances. Any updated policy will be published on our website.

Further information

Our Privacy Officer’s contact details for correspondence about our management of personal information is:

Privacy Officer VetPartners

Level 2, Building A, The Park Estate, 5 Talavera Road, Macquarie Park, NSW 2113, Australia
Telephone: (calling from Australia) 1800 881 864 or (calling outside Australia) +61 1800 881 864

e-mail: privacy@vetpartners.com.au