HUNTER AREA HEALTH SERVICE

POLICY

SUBJECT: EMAIL AND INTERNET ACCESS

POLICY NUMBER: 99/19

DATE OF POLICY: JULY 1999
AMENDED: JULY 2003

POLICY AIM/OBJECTIVES:

To provide a framework for the management of Email and the management of

Internet access within Hunter Health

RELATED LEGISLATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CIRCULARS, AREA

POLICIES:

- Protocol for the Acceptable Use of the internet and Electronic Mail - Premier's
Department Circular 99/09 - March 1999
- Principles and Minimum Standards for the Development of Health Services
Codes of Conduct - NSW Department of Health Circular 98/79
- Codes of Conduct - Hunter Health Policy 92/02
- Electronic Messaging Policy - NSW Health Circular 99/99 (December 99)

DISTRIBUTION:

- Directors
- General Managers

REVIEW:

Two years

AREA EXECUTIVE RESPONSBILE FOR POLICY MONITORING AND REVIEW:

Director, Corporate Services

POLICY APPROVAL:

Area Executive Team – August 2003

© This document is copyrighted by the NSW Department of Health.

Text may be reproduced by other units of the NSW Public Health Service without permission providing acknowledgement is given to this
document and the NSW Department of Health.
 E-MAIL POLICY Error! Reference source not found.

Section 6 - Contacts

E-mail and Internet Access Policy

produced for

Hunter Area Health Service

by

Information Services & Telecommunications

10 Jul 2003 Page2 of 11

Table of contents
Policies on Use....................................................................................................4
Use .............................................................................................................4
Personal Use ..............................................................................................4
Representing the Department or Area .......................................................4
Harassment and discrimination..................................................................5
Pornography and other offensive material.................................................5
Chain Letters..............................................................................................5
Overloading the network ...........................................................................5
Very Large Attachments ............................................................................6
Hacking......................................................................................................6
On-line purchasing.....................................................................................6
Impersonating others..................................................................................6
Political organisations................................................................................6
Australian and State laws and regulations .................................................6
Policies on Access, Monitoring and Privacy ...................................................7
Permission to Access .................................................................................7
Monitoring of Information and Personal privacy ......................................7
Privacy of information ...............................................................................7
Monitoring Internet access.........................................................................8
Your password ...........................................................................................8
Policy Breaches and how they are dealt with .................................................9
Consequences of improper use ..................................................................9
Duty to report.............................................................................................9
Breaches which break the law ...................................................................9
Enforcement of policy ...............................................................................9
Glossary............................................................................................................10
Terms .......................................................................................................10
Relevant Acts, Protocols and Hunter Health’s Policies ...............................11
Acts ..........................................................................................................11
Premier's Department Protocol ................................................................11
Conduct Guidelines..................................................................................11
NSW Department of Health Circulars .....................................................11

10 Jul 2003 Page3 of 11

Policies on Use

Use E-mail and access to the Internet are provided to support official business.

Accredited Trade Union delegates may use E-mail and Internet for
authorised union activities.

Use must be appropriate - lawful, efficient, proper and ethical.

It is not acceptable to intentionally create, send or access information that

could damage the reputation of the Area Health Service, be misleading or
deceptive, result in victimisation, or harassment, lead to criminal penalty or
civil liability, or be reasonably found to be offensive, obscene, threatening,
abusive or defamatory.

Use of E-mail and the Internet should conform to relevant Australian

legislation. A list of relevant legislation appears at the back of this
document.

Personal Use Reasonable personal use is a privilege and is only allowed as outlined in
Circular 98/79 - Principles and Minimum Standards for the Development of
Health Service Codes of Conduct).

Reasonable personal use includes two way communication on Trade Union

matters.

Representing It is not acceptable to intentionally create or send communications that

the Department purports incorrectly to represent the official view of the Area Health Service
or Area or any other organisation.

Include an Authority Disclaimer in any electronic message that the recipient

could mistakenly take as representing the Area Health Service.

Official Hunter Health’s material may only be transmitted if the user has
obtained appropriate clearances.

Example Authority Disclaimer:

Any views expressed herein are those of the author and do not
necessarily represent those of the Hunter Area Health Service.

10 Jul 2003 Page4 of 11

Policies on Use, Continued

Harassment You must not use equipment and services supplied by the Area to transmit,
and communicate or access any material which may discriminate against, harass
discrimination or vilify colleagues or any member of the public on any grounds, including
but not limited to:
• sex; • marital status;
• pregnancy; • disability;
• age; • HIV/AIDS; and
• race (including colour), nationality, • homosexuality or transgender.
descent or ethnic background;
• religious background;

You may be individually liable if you aid and abet others who discriminate
against, harass or vilify colleagues or any member of the public. (Harassment
will be treated in accordance with existing grievance and harassment
procedures and may result in disciplinary action.)

Pornography Hunter Health’s E-mail systems, and access to the Internet must not be used
and other for intentionally transmitting, communicating or accessing pornographic or
offensive sexually explicit material, images, text or other offensive material.
material

Chain Letters E-mail is not to be intentionally used for chain letters.

Overloading It is not acceptable to use Internet access provided by the Area Health
the network Service to intentionally download unauthorised software, lengthy files
containing picture images, live pictures or graphics. This includes computer
games, music files and the accessing of radio or television stations
broadcasting via the Internet. Downloading of such files increases the load
on the network and could degrade the service to other staff with a genuine
business need to use the Internet. Such files should also not be e-mailed to
others.

10 Jul 2003 Page5 of 11

Policies on Use, Continued

Very Large E-mail systems are not designed for the transfer of very large files.
Attachments Alternatives exist for transfer of very large files e.g. FTP.
Maximum message size (message and attachments)

• 2 Mb inbound
• 2 Mb outbound

This file size limit only applies to the sending and receiving of “External”
messages

Hacking No form of computer hacking (illegally accessing other computers) is

allowed.

On-line Unauthorised use of the Internet to purchase any item is not permitted.
purchasing Proper authorisation must be obtained if entering into on-line purchasing
agreements.

On-line purchases normally involve the use of credit or charge cards and due
regard must be paid to conditions regulating their use.

Impersonating You may not use Area services or equipment to send anonymous mailings or
others mailings which impersonate another individual.

It is unacceptable to allow any one else to send mail from your mailbox.

Political It is not acceptable to use services or equipment provided by the Area Health
organisations Service to transmit any unauthorised material to political organisations.

Australian and You may not intentionally create, transmit, distribute, or store any offensive
State laws and information data or material that violates Australia or State regulations or
regulations laws. The Area Health Service reserves the right to audit and remove any
illegal material from its computer resources without notice.

10 Jul 2003 Page6 of 11

Policies on Access, Monitoring and Privacy

Permission to E-mail is available to staff in the Health system who have not currently been
Access refused access for some reason.

Access to the Internet is available to staff in the Health system with legitimate
reason for access. Access to the Internet must be via officially approved
mechanisms only. Access using stand-alone modems must be authorised on a
case-by-case basis.

Staff who have been nominated for access must complete an Area Information
Services User Access Form and it must be signed by the Sector General
Manager or Service Director.

Monitoring of The Area may monitor, copy, access or disclose any information or files that
Information a user creates, stores, accesses, or transmits using Hunter Health’s
and Personal technology and services.
privacy
Monitoring may be periodic, random or continuous and may be done for the
following purposes:
• to prevent de-standardisation of the computer network because of the
downloading of unauthorised software;
• to assure compliance with Hunter Health’s policies;
• to investigate conduct that may be illegal or adversely affect the Area or its
employees; and
• to prevent inappropriate or excessive personal use of Hunter Health’s
property.

Electronic messages are official documents that are subject to the same law
as any other form of correspondence, and as such may be used as evidence.
This means they can be subpoenaed or "discovered" during legal
proceedings.

Privacy of Messages transmitted via e-mail or on the Internet can be intercepted, traced
information or recorded by others.

Although such practices may be illegal they do occur, and you should not
have an expectation of privacy when using e-mail or the Internet for
transmission of any material including confidential documents.

10 Jul 2003 Page7 of 11

Policies on Access, Monitoring and Privacy, Continued

Monitoring Access to the Internet by the NSW Health Department is through the
Internet access Department’s proxy server and an Area Proxy Server.

The Department and Area maintains a log of all files that have been down-
loaded from the Internet and all requests for information using search engines.

Monthly reports of usage are produced from this log. Officers within the
Department and Area Health Service are authorised to analyse the reports and
identify any possible breaches of Internet usage polices.

Note:
Where a genuine business reason exists that requires access to sites that
would normally be regarded as inappropriate, the authorisation of the CEO is
required.

Your password The use of your computer, including your e-mail and Internet sites accessed
from your computer, is monitored through User ID.

Do not divulge your password to others because you could be held

responsible for their actions.

10 Jul 2003 Page8 of 11

Policy Breaches and how they are dealt with

Consequences of Any use of equipment or services that is thought to be inconsistent with the
improper use Hunter Health’s ownership interests may be investigated. Improper use will
be subject to disciplinary action, with a range of penalties including revoking
a user's rights to use the Area's E-mail technology and systems, termination
of employment, civil litigation and/or criminal prosecution, applied
according to the serious nature of the breach. In particular, pornography and
other offensive material accessed, transmitted or communicated will be
considered as grounds for dismissal.

The processes for taking disciplinary action will be updated and ratified from
time to time. Disciplinary action will only be undertaken after due
consultation and appropriate legal advice.

Duty to report Employees have a duty to report breaches of these policies.

Any suspected improper use of Internet in the Hunter Area Health Service
should be immediately reported to the Director, Information Services &
Telecommunications.

Note:
Receipt of offensive messages and unsolicited exposure to inappropriate
images or other offensive material are forms of harassment and will be
viewed as such.

Breaches which Any suspected breach of these policies within the Area which would violate
break the law Australian or State laws or regulations will be forwarded by the Director,
Information Services & Telecommunications to the Director Corporate
Services.

Enforcement of Any user engaging in any activity that is deemed by local management to be
policy in breach of this policy may have their access to the Internet or to E-mail
services revoked.

10 Jul 2003 Page9 of 11

Glossary

Terms

Term Definition
Area Hunter Area Health Service
Authorised User An authorised user of the E-mail system must fit the
following criteria:
• be a legitimate and authorised user of the Area’s
computer network
• have approval to use the Area's E-mail system.
Department NSW Health Department
Extra-Hunter any e-mail that is sent to a recipient outside the Area’s
Health’s electronic mail system.
e-mail Example:
Sending electronic mail to another Government
Department or an Area Health Service.
Intra-Hunter where the sender and recipient(s) are within the Area’s
Health’s electronic mail system the e-mail is defined as
e-mail Example:
Sending electronic mail to Hunter Health’s colleagues in
your building or elsewhere in the State.
Search engines A program that receives a user search request, compares
it to entries in an index of web pages, and returns results
to the user.

10 Jul 2003 Page10 of 11

Relevant Acts, Protocols and Hunter Health’s Policies

Acts Use of internal and external E-mail and the Internet should adhere to the
following Acts:
• Australian Commonwealth Government Telecommunications Act (1989)
(Cwlth);
• Freedom of Information (FOI) Act (1989);
• Public Finance and Audit Act (1983);
• Public Health Act (1991);
• Health Administration Act (1982);
• Anti-Discrimination Act (1977);
• Public Sector Management Act (1988) and other relevant legislation.

Where this policy is to be used in Hunter Area Health Service, the following
act also applies:

• Health Services Act (1997) No 154 "Criminal and disciplinary matters

concerning employees in NSW Health Services".

The list is not exhaustive but gives an indication of the range of guidance
available.

Premier's The NSW Premier's Department developed and released a Protocol for
Department Acceptable use of the Internet and Electronic Mail Use in March 1999 in
Protocol association with Circular number 99-9 (to all CEOs and Ministers) entitled
Use of Employer Communication Devices.

The Health Department, along with other State government agencies,

participated in the development of the Premier's Department protocol.

Recommendations in the Premier's Department protocol have been

incorporated into this E-mail and Internet Access Policy.

Conduct • The policy document Public Service and Merit Protection Commission
Guidelines Conduct Guidelines is also relevant.
• Hunter Health Code of Conduct - Policy 92/02

NSW • Accessing the Internet by Area Health Service employees is subject to the
Department of Health Service Codes of Conduct as described in Circular 98/79 -
Health Principles and Minimum Standards for the Development of Health Service
Circulars Codes of Conduct.
• Electronic messaging Policy - NSW Health Department Circular 99/99
(December 1999)

10 Jul 2003 Page11 of 11