Privacy policy

1. About this policy

Vital Ease (“we”, “us”, “our”) provides home modification and accessibility services across Melbourne and Victoria. We understand that arranging modifications for yourself or a family member often means sharing personal — and sometimes health-related — information with us. We take that seriously.

This policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, and how you can access or correct it. We handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

If anything here is unclear, please call us on +61 3 8658 1358 — we’re happy to explain it in plain language.

2. What we collect

Contact details — your name, phone number, email address, and postal or site address.

Enquiry details — the information you provide when you contact us, including what you’re looking for and details about your property.

Health and disability information — where it’s relevant to the work, we may receive information about mobility needs, disability, functional capacity, occupational therapy assessments, NDIS plans, or Home Care Package details. This is sensitive information and we collect it only where it’s reasonably necessary to design, quote for, or carry out your modifications — and only with your consent, or where the law otherwise permits.

Job records — quotes, plans, drawings, invoices, correspondence, and photographs of the work.

Website information — when you visit our website we automatically collect your IP address, browser type and device information, the pages you visit, and the date and time. If analytics are enabled, we also collect anonymised usage statistics.

We do not collect payment card details through our website.

3. How we collect it

We collect information:

• directly from you — by phone, email, our contact form, or in person during a site visit;
• from people acting on your behalf — a family member, carer, guardian, or nominee;
• from referring professionals — occupational therapists, case managers, discharge planners, plan managers, and Home Care Package or SWEP providers, where they have your consent to share it with us;
• automatically, when you use our website.

Where practical we collect information directly from you. Where we receive it from a referrer, we rely on that professional having obtained your consent — and we’ll tell you what we hold if you ask.

4. Why we collect it

We use your information to:

• respond to your enquiry and arrange a consultation or site visit;
• assess your needs and prepare quotes, designs, and documentation;
• carry out the modification work safely and to the relevant standards, including AS 1428.1;
• coordinate with your occupational therapist, case manager, or funding provider;
• meet requirements under the NDIS, Home Care Packages, or the State-wide Equipment Program;
• issue invoices and process payments;
• comply with our legal, building, insurance, and warranty obligations;
• improve our website and services.

We will only use your information for the purpose we collected it for, a directly related purpose you’d reasonably expect, or where you’ve consented or the law requires it.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not disclose it for another organisation’s marketing.

5. Marketing

If you’ve enquired with us, we may occasionally contact you about our services. You can opt out at any time by replying “unsubscribe”, emailing admin@vitalease.com.au, or calling us. We’ll action it promptly and it won’t affect the service you receive.

6. Who we share it with

We may disclose your information to:

• Referring professionals — your occupational therapist, case manager, plan manager, or support coordinator, where relevant to your job;
• Funding bodies — the NDIS, your Home Care Package provider, or SWEP, where they’re funding the work;
• Subcontractors and suppliers — licensed tradespeople and suppliers who need it to complete your job. They’re required to protect it and use it only for that purpose;
• Professional advisers — our insurers, accountants, and lawyers where necessary;
• Regulators and authorities — including the Victorian Building Authority, or where disclosure is required by law.

We only share what’s necessary for the purpose.

7. Photographs

We often photograph our work to show what’s possible to future clients. We will always ask for your written consent before using any photograph of your home in our portfolio, website, or marketing, and you can decline or withdraw consent at any time without it affecting your service. Photographs taken purely for internal records — such as quoting, compliance, or warranty purposes — are not published.

8. Overseas disclosure

Some of our service providers store data outside Australia:

• our website and email hosting provider operates data centres in Europe and the United States;
• our website analytics provider processes data in the United States.

We take reasonable steps to ensure these providers handle your information consistently with the APPs. By providing your information, you acknowledge it may be stored or processed overseas.

9. How we protect it

We take reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access. These include encrypted connections (HTTPS) across our website, access controls and strong authentication on our systems, restricting access to staff who need it, secure backups, and secure destruction when information is no longer needed.

No system is completely secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to cause you serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

10. How long we keep it

We keep your information only as long as necessary:

• Enquiries that don’t proceed — up to 2 years, then deleted;
• Job records — at least 7 years, to meet tax, building warranty, and insurance requirements;
• Health and disability information — as long as needed for the work and any related obligations, then securely destroyed;
• Website analytics — retained per our analytics provider’s settings.

11. Cookies and website analytics

Our website uses cookies — small files stored on your device — to make the site work properly and to understand how it’s used.

We use essential cookies (required for the site to function) and, where enabled, analytics cookies that help us see which pages are useful. Analytics data is aggregated and doesn’t identify you personally.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Essential cookies are required for parts of the site — including our contact form — to work.

We do not use our website to collect sensitive information through tracking, and we do not run third-party advertising cookies without telling you.

12. Accessing and correcting your information

You can ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it if it’s wrong, out of date, or incomplete.

Contact us using the details in section 14. We’ll usually respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity first. There’s no fee to make a request, though we may charge a reasonable cost for providing a copy in some cases — we’ll tell you before we do.

If we can’t give you access or make a correction, we’ll explain why in writing.

13. Complaints

If you think we’ve mishandled your personal information, please tell us first — contact us using the details below and we’ll investigate and respond within 30 days.

If you’re not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):

• Website: oaic.gov.au
• Phone: 1300 363 992
• Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001

14. Contact us

Vital Ease — Privacy Officer

• 9/417–431 Ferntree Gully Road, Mount Waverley VIC 3149
• Phone: +61 3 8658 1358
• Email: admin@vitalease.com.au

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is always available at this address, with the “last updated” date at the top. Significant changes will be communicated to you directly where appropriate.