Privacy Policy Statement

You may be aware that there were changes to the Privacy Act in 2020 which require organisations to fulfil various new obligations. The new Privacy Act came into effect on 1 December 2020 and sets the boundaries in relation to the collection and disclosure of personal information. The act has 13 principles that stipulate how information can be collected and used, and people’s rights to gain access to that information and ask for it to be corrected.

A full explanation can be accessed here

Your privacy has always been important to us and will remain so. The Wellington Multiple Sclerosis Society has adopted an appropriate privacy policy and updated our client forms to reflect the additional requirements under the updated Act.

The attached privacy statement outlines why we collect information from clients and members, what we do with it and how we manage the information we collect.

So what’s changed?

We now need an authority to collect information from our clients as well as consent to release/share information (used for when we make referrals for example to Community Physiotherapy or to liaise with Neurology on your behalf). Please see attached form.

We need to have a Privacy Officer where if you feel your Privacy has been breached you can contact them to discuss or make a complaint. The Privacy Officer for Wellington MS can be contacted at info@mswellington.org.nz . Details of our Privacy Policy and process for making a complaint will be loaded on our website.

What do I need to do?

  1. You can do nothing and your MS Community Advisor can update the forms with you when they are next in touch or
  2. You can complete, sign, scan and email the attached “Authority to Collect and Release Information” form back to your MS Community Advisor

Wellington, Porirua and Kapiti MS Community Advisor Lacey Reedy lacey@mswellington.org.nz
Hutt Valley and Wairarapa– MS Community Advisor Jo Dean jo@mswellington.org.nz

Download – Authority to Collect and Release Information Form