Privacy Policy

Last reviewed: 15 June 2026 · Version 2

1. About this Privacy Policy and how it applies to you

Your privacy and maintaining the confidentiality of your personal information is important to us. We are committed to safeguarding your personal information. This privacy policy explains what information we collect, how information is collected, stored, used and handled, when information may be disclosed to third parties with your consent, your rights for requesting access to or amending your personal information, as well as how you can provide us with feedback or make a complaint.

When you access our service, or make an enquiry about our services, you agree to us handling your personal information (including any use or disclosure) as outlined in this policy. We may change this policy from time to time by making the updated version of this policy available.

This policy applies to you in addition to any agreement, terms or condition applicable to the Dementia NZ services that you obtain from us.

2. Definitions

  • Applicable Privacy Laws means the Privacy Act 2020 and Health Information Privacy Code 2020.
  • Consent means your permission. Your consent can be express or implied. Express consent can be written (e.g. when you sign a form or send us correspondence) or verbal (e.g. when you give us your permission over the phone or in face-to-face conversations). Your consent will be implied when we can reasonably form a conclusion (for instance, from our pre-existing relationship with you) that you have given consent by either taking action or deciding not to take action.
  • Personal information means information about an identifiable individual.

3. Information we collect

We will only collect information that is necessary for the purposes of:

  • maintaining and administering your file/record;
  • assessing your requirements and needs and how we can best provide you with our services;
  • providing you with or facilitating the provision of services;
  • ensuring the integrity and safety of our operations;
  • providing our services to you;
  • communicating with you in relation to any matter relating to you or any of the services provided to you;
  • resolving complaints and reporting on complaints internally for management reporting purposes;
  • complying with our contractual obligations.

We will only collect your personal information by lawful and fair means and not in a way that may be unreasonably intrusive.

The amount and type of personal information we collect from you and hold about you will vary depending on whether you are currently receiving services, have made enquiries about our services and the extent to which you have used our services in the past.

If you have accessed services from Dementia NZ, the personal information that we hold about you may include:

  • your name, address, telephone and email contact details;
    • On entry to the service, you will be asked for your communication preferences including phone, text, email and/or physical mail. This is to clarify if your email address is shared with someone else and, if so, that you are happy to receive communications to it. We will do our best to meet your communication preferences; however, if we are unable to reach you, a letter will need to be sent to the last known address.
  • personal details such as age and gender;
  • your National Health Index (NHI) number (where this information is required for the purposes for which the NHI number was assigned);
  • records of services provided and activities you’ve had with us;
  • information for purposes including risk assessment;
  • health information; and
  • contact details of your next of kin, representative(s) or others acting on your behalf.

4. How Dementia NZ collects your information

We may collect personal information directly from you in a number of ways, including:

  • when you first refer to our services;
  • when you provide information through the contact forms on our website;
  • you may complete forms, send us an email, provide information during a visit to a Dementia NZ office or by phone;
  • when your health status is assessed; or
  • when we provide services to you during your referral.

We will always try to collect information from you directly. But in some circumstances, we may also collect your information from third parties, including from:

  • your representative, or any person you have authorised to act on your behalf; or
  • healthcare practitioners who are involved in your care (with your consent).

If you have provided us with information about another person, then you must comply with your obligations under Applicable Privacy Laws, for instance, you may need to tell that other person that you have done so, that they have a right to access their information and that we will handle their personal information in accordance with this policy.

If you do not provide us with the personal information we reasonably request, we may be unable to provide you with the services that you are requesting.

5. How Dementia NZ uses or discloses your personal information

Use or disclosure of personal information. Before we use or disclose your personal information in accordance with the purposes of this Privacy Policy, we will take all reasonable steps (if any) to ensure that the information is accurate, up to date, relevant and not misleading.

Disclosure of personal information. As part of operating our business, Dementia NZ may disclose your personal information on a confidential basis to our related companies within Dementia NZ.

During our operations, we may also disclose your personal information to third parties, in a manner consistent with the purposes for which it was collected, including to:

  • your authorised nominated representative(s) or any person acting on your behalf;
  • government, statutory supervisors and regulatory bodies including District Health Boards, the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Health;
  • healthcare providers involved in your support; and
  • any court, government agency, tribunal or other person or entity where disclosure is required or permitted by law, including in legal proceedings.

If we send your personal information outside of New Zealand, we require that the recipient of the information comply with privacy laws and contractual obligations that are at least the same as any Applicable Privacy Laws to maintain the privacy and security of your information.

6. Marketing, donations and website

Marketing. From time to time, we may email you internal newsletters to provide you with information about other services offered by us, that may be of benefit to you and your family. We will obtain your consent before we contact you using an electronic message.

If you contact us to make an enquiry, we may store your personal information to contact you in the future in relation to your enquiry.

Personal information. We only collect email addresses and other personal contact information when it is provided by you. If you are under 16 years old, we suggest that you ask your parents or guardian before doing so. This information is stored on a secure database. Every effort is made to ensure personal or identifiable information is kept secure.

It is required that when entering information on behalf of another individual, you have the permission or the legal right to do so.

If you would not like to receive future emails from us, please use the ‘unsubscribe’ link located at the bottom of our email communications.

7. Storage and security of your information

We will protect the security of your personal information using such security safeguards as are reasonable in the circumstances in relation to the security and storage of your information, and to prevent unauthorised use or disclosure of your information. We maintain data security standards, policies and procedures.

We keep your personal information for as long as it is required to provide you with the services you requested from us and to comply with legal requirements.

If we no longer require your personal information for any purpose, including legal purposes, we will take reasonable steps to securely destroy or de-identify your personal information except in circumstances where we are permitted or required by law to keep it. In the case of health information, we will retain your information for a minimum of 10 years from the most recent time we provided health services to you.

8. Accessing, updating and correcting your information

Access to personal information. You have the right to ask what personal information Dementia NZ holds about you and to request access to that information. You can ask us for access to the information that we hold about you at any time. Simply contact us (our contact details are listed below) to make your request.

We will always endeavour to meet your request for access within 10 working days and in the manner requested by you if it is reasonable to do so. However, in some circumstances, access to certain information may be declined, as permitted by Applicable Privacy Laws. For example, this includes, but is not limited to, circumstances where:

  • we no longer hold the information;
  • disclosing the information would involve the unwarranted disclosure of the affairs of another individual; and
  • disclosure would be likely to endanger the safety of any individual.

If we are unable to give you access to the information you have requested, we will give you written reasons for this decision when we respond to your request. We will not charge you to make a request to access your information.

Correcting or updating your personal information. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete, up-to-date and not misleading at the time of using it. If you believe any information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete, out-of-date or misleading, you should contact us to let us know. We will endeavour to meet your request within 10 working days and will take reasonable steps to amend your records if appropriate. If we decline to or are unable to provide you with the requested correction, we will notify you of our reasons for declining to do so and, at your request, take reasonable steps to attach a statement to your personal information setting out that you have requested that the information be corrected.

9. Donations and fundraising

We know privacy is important to you. As a donor or supporter of Dementia New Zealand and/or its affiliates, your information is used for fundraising purposes and to enable us to communicate effectively with you. The information you give to us is held in a secure database which is accessed and managed only by those with authority to do so.

Your full name, address, email address and phone number may be collected in order to acknowledge receipt of your donation for tax purposes and to include you on our Dementia New Zealand mailing list. We do not keep a record of any financial or credit card details.

We keep your personal information in electronic form and take reasonable steps to ensure that information is protected from misuse and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Donations made via this website are processed by Stripe, which adheres to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Read the Stripe Privacy Policy.

We make every effort to keep your details up to date, and you may ask us to correct those details at any time. If you no longer wish to receive correspondence from us, we will remove your details from our mailing list. You can email us at info@dementia.nz.

Telemarketing. Dementia NZ will never use telemarketing or cold calling to elicit donations.

10. Website cookies and security

While we take reasonable steps to maintain secure internet connections through means such as maintaining a Secure Socket Layer (SSL), if you provide us with personal information over the internet, the provision of that information is at your own risk.

We may use cookies (small pieces of information that can be stored on your computer’s hard drive or its memory). Cookies help us understand which parts of our website are the most popular, where our visitors are going, and how long they spend there. We use cookies to learn how we can make our website more useful and interesting for you.

We also use third party website trackers, such as Google, to collect information on how you use our website. These services are used to aggregate website statistics anonymously, such as number of page views, the number of unique visitors, time spent on our site, and to determine advertising effectiveness.

11. General

Any information provided to Dementia New Zealand and its affiliates is held with the utmost care and security and will not be used in ways other than as set forth in this privacy policy, or in ways to which you have explicitly consented.

Dementia New Zealand and its affiliates employ a range of techniques and security measures to protect the information maintained on our system from loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

We accept no liability for any failure to comply with the terms and conditions presented in this website where such failure is due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

Users should be aware that there is a residual risk in transmitting any data electronically, and this risk is inherent in all internet dealings.

12. External websites

Where appropriate, we have provided links to external sites. Dementia New Zealand is not responsible for the content or condition of any external links on the site.

If you follow a link on our website to another site, the owner of that site will have its own privacy policy relating to your personal information. We suggest you review that site’s privacy policy before you provide personal information.

13. How to contact us

You can contact us at any time if you have any questions or concerns about this policy, about how your personal information has been handled, or if you would like to request access to any personal information we hold about you.

You can contact us through our website or via email info@dementia.nz. If your query relates to the handling of your personal information by a Dementia NZ employee, you should contact the Privacy Officer.

If you are not happy with our response, or if you do not feel your complaint has been resolved, you are able to seek advice from the New Zealand Office of the Privacy Commissioner on 0800 803 909 or by visiting www.privacy.org.nz.