Privacy policy and terms of use

Privacy policy

We aim to handle personal information openly, carefully and only for purposes connected with operating GTK. Where the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles apply to us, we will handle personal information in accordance with those requirements.

Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified person or a person who is reasonably identifiable. Some information about health, care needs or personal circumstances may also be sensitive information.

Information we collect

Account and profile information

Depending on how you use GTK, we may collect:

• your email address and account identifier
• your display name and optional profile photo
• optional profile details such as your relationship to aged care, current program, Support at Home classification, provider, state, postcode, topics of interest and helpful context
• your email preferences, consent history and unsubscribe choices

Questions, answers and follow-ups

We collect the questions and follow-ups you submit, related administrative notes and the answers prepared for GTK. A submission may include information about your circumstances or another person’s circumstances.

Website and activity information

We may collect information about how GTK is used, including:

• page views, question views, dates and times of activity
• login requests, successful logins, profile activity and submissions
• browser, device type, referring page and campaign information
• sponsor advertisement impressions and clicks
• email sending, delivery, delay, bounce, complaint, open and click events where tracking is enabled

How we collect information

We collect information directly from you, automatically when you use GTK and from service providers that help us operate the platform. We may also receive information from an authorised representative acting for you.

How we use information

We may use personal information to:

• create, secure and manage your GTK account
• receive, review, edit, categorise, answer and publish questions and follow-ups
• notify you about your account, questions, answers and follow-ups
• provide member features such as saved questions, followed topics and profile settings
• manage email preferences, newsletter consent and unsubscribe requests
• operate sponsor campaigns and measure advertisement performance without giving sponsors your member details
• understand platform use, improve GTK and identify emerging question themes
• prevent misuse, investigate errors and protect the security of GTK
• comply with legal obligations or respond to lawful requests

We do not sell member names, email addresses or profile information to sponsors or data brokers.

Questions, answers and public content

Questions and answers may be displayed to registered GTK members and may be used in GTK articles, summaries, events or educational material where appropriate.

We may edit, shorten, categorise or de-identify a submission before publishing it. We may remove names, locations, provider details, medical details or other information where we consider this necessary for privacy, clarity or safety.

Do not include a full name, contact details, private medical information, identifying provider details or anything else that you do not want shared. If you provide information about another person, you should keep it to the minimum necessary and have an appropriate basis to provide it.

You may ask us to correct or remove published content. We will consider the request, but limited copies may remain in secure backups, records required by law or material already lawfully shared outside our control.

Cookies, browser storage and analytics

GTK uses cookies, browser storage and similar technology to keep you signed in, remember preferences, protect the service, count visitors and understand how pages and sponsor placements are used.

You can control cookies through your browser. Blocking essential cookies or browser storage may prevent login, saved preferences or other member features from working correctly.

Analytics may use a member identifier for logged-in activity and a browser-based identifier for other activity. We use this information for reporting, security and service improvement.

Emails, newsletters and sponsored content

We may send secure login links and other messages needed to operate your account. These service messages may still be sent when optional email preferences are turned off.

You can choose whether to receive optional question, answer, follow-up, reminder and newsletter emails through your profile settings. Newsletter emails are only sent where the required consent has been recorded.

Some member emails may contain clearly identified sponsored content. Sponsor inclusion does not give the sponsor access to your name, email address, profile or question.

You can turn off optional emails through GTK’s notification settings or use the unsubscribe option included in the message. We may retain a suppression record so that your request continues to be respected.

When we share information

We may disclose personal information to:

• staff, administrators, experts and contractors who need it to operate or moderate GTK
• technology providers that supply website hosting, databases, authentication, storage, email delivery, analytics, security and business systems
• professional advisers, insurers, regulators, courts or authorities where reasonably necessary or legally required
• a successor or purchaser involved in a genuine sale, restructure or transfer of the GTK business, subject to appropriate confidentiality and privacy protections

Sponsors may receive aggregated campaign results such as impressions, clicks and sponsored email counts. We do not provide sponsors with member names, member email addresses, private profile details or the identity of people who viewed an advertisement.

Overseas processing and storage

GTK uses technology providers that operate internationally. Personal information may therefore be stored or processed outside Australia through global cloud infrastructure.

The countries involved can change as service providers update their systems. Where Australian privacy law requires it, we take reasonable steps to ensure overseas handling is consistent with applicable privacy obligations.

Security, retention and data breaches

We use access controls, role restrictions, authentication, secure service credentials, logging and other reasonable safeguards to protect personal information. No internet service or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

We retain information for as long as reasonably needed to operate GTK, answer questions, maintain records, manage consent, prevent misuse, meet legal obligations and resolve disputes. We may retain de-identified analytics and reporting information after identifiable records are removed.

Where the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme applies, we will assess suspected eligible data breaches and notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner when legally required.

Your privacy rights and choices

You may contact us to:

• request access to personal information we hold about you
• ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date
• ask us to delete your account or information, subject to legal and operational retention requirements
• change your email preferences or withdraw newsletter consent
• raise a privacy concern or complaint

We may need to verify your identity before providing access, making a correction or deleting information. In some cases, the law permits or requires us to refuse a request. If that happens, we will explain the reason where we are able to do so.

Terms of use

1. Using GTK

GTK is intended for adults seeking general information about aged care at home and related topics. You must provide accurate account information, keep access to your email secure and use your own account.

People under 18 should use GTK only with the involvement of a parent or legal guardian.

2. General information only

GTK answers are general and educational. They do not take into account all facts about your circumstances and do not create a doctor-patient, lawyer-client, financial adviser-client or other professional relationship.

You remain responsible for decisions made using information on GTK. Seek advice from an appropriately qualified professional before acting on information that may affect health, safety, rights, care arrangements, finances or legal obligations.

3. Emergencies and urgent concerns

GTK is not monitored as an emergency service. Call 000 for an emergency. For urgent health, safety, abuse, neglect or financial exploitation concerns, contact the appropriate emergency service, health professional, police, regulator or support service.

4. Your submissions

When submitting content, you confirm that:

• you have the right to submit it
• it is not deliberately false, unlawful, threatening, abusive, discriminatory, defamatory or misleading
• it does not infringe another person’s privacy, confidentiality or intellectual property rights
• you have removed unnecessary identifying or sensitive information

You retain ownership of content you submit. You give us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to store, review, edit, de-identify, publish, reproduce and use that content for operating, promoting and improving GTK and related educational material. This licence continues for material already published or incorporated into de-identified resources.

5. Moderation

We may edit, refuse, delay, hide or remove any question, answer, follow-up, profile or account. We may do this for privacy, clarity, relevance, safety, legal risk, platform integrity or any other reasonable operational reason.

We do not guarantee that every question will be answered, published or answered within a particular period.

6. Acceptable use

You must not:

• attempt to access another person’s account or restricted administration areas
• scrape, harvest or systematically copy GTK member content without written permission
• upload malicious code or interfere with the operation or security of GTK
• use GTK to advertise, solicit business, impersonate another person or collect personal information
• use automated tools in a way that places an unreasonable load on GTK

7. Sponsors and external links

GTK may display sponsored content and links to third-party websites. Sponsorship helps support the platform but does not mean GTK guarantees, recommends or accepts responsibility for a sponsor, product or service.

External websites have their own terms and privacy practices. You should review them before providing information, purchasing anything or relying on their content.

8. Intellectual property

GTK’s branding, design, software, original answers, articles, graphics and other platform material are owned by us or used with permission. You may use GTK content for personal, non-commercial information purposes. Other reproduction, publication or commercial use requires written permission unless permitted by law.

9. Availability and changes

We may update, suspend, withdraw or change GTK at any time. We do not promise uninterrupted access, permanent storage of content or continued availability of any feature.

10. Account suspension or closure

We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms, creates risk for members or GTK, misuses the platform or is required to be restricted by law. You may ask us to close your account by contacting us.

11. Liability

Nothing in these terms excludes rights or guarantees that cannot lawfully be excluded, including applicable rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss arising from use of GTK, reliance on general information, third-party content, sponsor services, external websites, outages or unauthorised access outside our reasonable control.

12. Changes to these terms

We may update this page as GTK, technology or legal requirements change. The updated version applies from the date shown at the top. We may provide additional notice for material changes.

13. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia. The courts of Victoria and applicable Commonwealth courts have non-exclusive jurisdiction.

Contact, access requests and complaints

Contact us first if you have a question, want to access or correct information, want your account reviewed or believe your privacy has been mishandled.

Please include enough information for us to understand the issue and contact you. We aim to acknowledge and deal with complaints within a reasonable period.

If a privacy complaint is not resolved, you may be able to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Complaints about unwanted commercial electronic messages may be made to the Australian Communications and Media Authority.