How we look after your information.

This policy explains what personal information Lava Street Dental collects, why we collect it, how we keep it safe, and how you can see or correct it.

Last updated: November 2026

Who we are

Lava Street Dental is a dental practice at 116 Lava Street, Warrnambool VIC 3280, Australia, opening in December 2026. In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Lava Street Dental.

As a health service provider, we must follow the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including the Australian Privacy Principles, and the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic), including the Health Privacy Principles. These laws apply to us whatever our size.

Privacy contact
Email: info@lavastreetdental.com.au
Phone: 03 5208 9006
Post: Privacy Officer, Lava Street Dental, 116 Lava Street, Warrnambool VIC 3280

What we collect

Before we open. When you join our waitlist we collect your first and last name, email address, mobile number if you choose to give it, and your agreement to be contacted. When you use our contact form we also collect your message. Please do not include health information in website forms; we will talk to you about anything clinical directly.

Once we open. To provide dental care we collect:

contact details, date of birth and an emergency contact
health information, such as your medical and dental history, medications, allergies, clinical notes, X-rays, scans, photographs and treatment plans
Medicare, Department of Veterans’ Affairs and private health fund details, and Child Dental Benefits Schedule eligibility
billing and payment information

You can make a general enquiry without giving your name. We cannot provide treatment anonymously, because we need to keep accurate clinical records.

How we collect it

Usually directly from you: through our website forms, in person, by phone or by email. Sometimes we receive information from other people, such as a referring dentist or doctor, a specialist, a parent or guardian, your health fund, Medicare or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. We only do this with your consent or where the law allows it.

When you visit our website, our hosting provider automatically records basic technical information, such as your IP address, browser type and the pages requested. See Cookies and analytics below.

Why we use it

to keep you updated about our opening if you have joined the waitlist
to reply to your enquiries
to assess, diagnose and treat you, and to keep accurate clinical records
to send appointment reminders and recall notices
to process payments and claims with Medicare, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and health funds
to run the practice, including quality, safety and staff training
to meet our legal and professional obligations

We only use your information for another purpose if you agree, or if it is a related purpose you would reasonably expect, or if the law requires or allows it.

We only share what is needed, with:

specialists, doctors and other health practitioners involved in your care, including when we refer you
dental laboratories that make crowns, bridges, dentures and appliances for you
Medicare, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and your health fund, to process claims
payment providers you choose to use, such as our card terminal provider (Tyro), Afterpay and humm
service providers who help us run the practice, such as our practice management software provider, IT support, our website host (Vercel) and our email delivery service for website forms (SMTP2GO)
anyone we are required or authorised by law to tell, for example under a court order, to a regulator, or to lessen a serious threat to someone’s life, health or safety

We do not sell or rent your personal information.

Information stored outside Australia

Some of our service providers store or process information outside Australia:

our website is hosted by Vercel, which uses servers in the United States and other countries
waitlist and contact form submissions are sent by email through our email delivery service, SMTP2GO, which may store or process data outside Australia
Google provides the fonts and maps on our website, from servers in the United States and elsewhere
patient records are managed by our practice at 116 Lava Street, Warrnambool VIC 3280, using practice management software; ask our privacy contact if you would like to know where that software stores data

We take reasonable steps to make sure these providers protect your information in line with Australian privacy law.

Marketing and how to unsubscribe

We only send waitlist updates and practice news if you have agreed to receive them. Every email tells you how to stop them: reply with “remove”, or contact us using the details above. Appointment reminders and messages about your treatment are not marketing, and continue while you are a patient.

Cookies and analytics

Our website does not set its own cookies and does not use analytics or advertising tracking. A few third-party services are involved:

our fonts load from Google Fonts, so Google receives your IP address; Google Fonts does not set cookies
the maps on our contact and location pages are embedded from Google Maps, and Google may set cookies when a map loads
our website host keeps short-term server logs (IP address, browser and pages visited) for security and to keep the site running

If we add analytics in the future, we will update this policy first.

Keeping it safe, and how long we keep it

We store information in secure systems with access limited to staff who need it, protected by passwords and other safeguards. Our team is bound by confidentiality. Paper records, if any, are kept secured. When information is no longer needed, we destroy it securely or de-identify it.

We keep health records for as long as Victorian law requires: at least seven years after your last visit or, if you were under 18 at your last visit, at least until you turn 25. We keep waitlist details until we have contacted you about opening, or until you ask us to remove them.

Seeing and correcting your information

You can ask to see the information we hold about you, or ask us to correct it, by contacting our privacy contact. We will respond within 30 days. There is no fee to make a request. We may charge a reasonable fee for providing copies of records, as the law allows, and we will tell you the cost first. In limited circumstances the law allows us to refuse access; if so, we will explain why in writing.

Data breaches

If a data breach involving your information is likely to cause you serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

Questions and complaints

If you have a question or a concern about how we have handled your information, please contact our privacy contact first. We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and aim to resolve it within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact:

the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC): www.oaic.gov.au, 1300 363 992
the Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner: hcc.vic.gov.au, 1300 582 113

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version is always on this page.