Privacy Policy

Last reviewed January 2018

This Privacy Policy explains how AbSec (ABN 22 477 168 898) collects, uses, discloses and otherwise handles personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) which are contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).

For the purposes of this policy, ‘personal information’ means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

If you have any questions or feedback about this policy or the way in which AbSec handles personal information, you can contact us on the details below. You can also request a hard copy of this policy using the details below.

Contacting us

Mail: PO Box 604, Marrickville NSW 1475
Email: admin@absec.org.au
Phone: (02) 9559 5299

What types of personal information do we collect?

The types of personal information that we collect about you will depend on the type of dealings you have with us. For example, if you:

• become a supporter of AbSec (for example by joining our email newsletter or signing up to one of our campaigns), we may collect your name, organisation and contact details. We may track your engagement with our emails such as number of opens and link clicks.
• make a donation to AbSec, we may collect your name, organisation (if provided), contact details, and payment details. We may also keep a record of the amount and frequency of your donation(s).
• make a purchase from AbSec, we may collect your name, organisation (if provided), contact details, and payment details.
• seek assistance with a child protection or foster care issue/complaint, we may collect your name, contact details, information about your circumstances, and information about the matter you are seeking assistance with.
• attend a professional development or training program or attend another AbSec event, we may collect your name, organisation, contact details, payment details (if applicable) and any dietary and accessibility requirements.
• send us an enquiry, we may collect your name, contact details, information about your circumstances and details of your query.
• make a complaint, we may collect your name, contact details, the details of your complaint, information collected in any investigation of the matter and details of the resolution of the complaint.
• apply for a role at AbSec, we may collect the information you include in your application, including your cover letter, resume, contact details and referee reports.

Sensitive information

Some personal information, such as information relating to Aboriginality and information related to child protection matters, is sensitive and requires a higher level of protection under the Privacy Act. We will only collect sensitive information when we have your consent and when it is necessary for us to carry out our activities.

Your right to remain anonymous

In some circumstances we allow individuals the option of not identifying themselves (for example, when viewing our website or making a query over the phone).

How do we collect personal information?

We collect personal information in a number of ways, including:

• through our websites (which include absec.org.au, absecldc.org.au, strongerfuture.org.au, and third-party sites occasionally used such as Survey Monkey)
• through our social media accounts (including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn)
• when you correspond with us (for example by letter, email or telephone)
• on hard-copy forms (such as the sign-up form to our email newsletter, which we often bring to events)
• in person (for example, at the reception desk of our office and at job interviews)
• at events and forums

Why do we collect personal information?

The main purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information are set out below.

Communications and advocacy

• promoting AbSec and our activities
• preparing real-life stories for use in advocacy work and in publications (people in our stories will not be individually identified without their consent)
• keeping you informed about issues affecting Aboriginal children, families, communities and organisations
• demonstrating community support for Aboriginal children, families, communities and organisations

Education and information

• providing advice and resources related to out-of-home care and Aboriginal organisations
• running training forums, conferences and community education events
• assisting Aboriginal organisations with good practice and professional development

Fundraising and sales

• securing donations and funds to support our not-for-profit work

General administration

• recruiting staff, contractors, volunteers and/or interns
• processing payments
• answering queries and resolving complaints
• evaluating our work and reporting externally

Direct marketing

Direct marketing is the promotion of goods and services directly to you including through emails and the post. We will only send you direct marketing materials if you would reasonably expect to receive them, if you have consented, or if you work in the sector and your work contact details are publicly available online. We will always provide a simple means for you to request not to receive the material (‘opting out’). We will not use your sensitive information for the purposes of direct marketing unless you have given us prior consent.

Opting out

You can opt out of receiving marketing communications from us by:

• using the unsubscribe link that we include in our marketing emails;
• contacting us by email at admin@absec.org.au, by phone on (02) 9559 5299 or by sending a letter to PO Box 604, Marrickville NSW 1475.

Who do we disclose your personal information to?

We will only share your personal information if we have a specific reason to do so in the course of our work. For instance, we may disclose your personal information to:

• financial institutions for payment processing
• referees whose details are provided to us by job applicants
• our contracted service providers including information technology service providers, email marketing/distribution services, conference and event venues/organisers, freight and courier services, printers and distributors of direct marketing materials

In the rare event that we receive information concerning the welfare of a child being put at risk, we may disclose this information to NSW Police, the Child Protection Helpline, the NSW Ombudsman or other relevant government/law enforcement bodies.

If you contact us regarding a complaint or issue with an out-of-home care agency, we may disclose information regarding your complaint to the agency, with your consent.

Cross border disclosures

We may disclose personal information to our contracted information technology service providers that are hosted offshore.

Storage and security of the information we hold

We hold personal information in both hard-copy and electronic formats. Paper files are stored in secure cabinets or drawers in our office.

The security of your personal information is important to us and we use the recommended industry standards when storing and dealing with your personal information. We use a secure server using the latest 128-bit SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption technology to process any financial transactions.

The steps we take to secure the personal information we hold include:

• website protection measures (such as encryption, firewalls and anti-virus software)
• access restrictions to our computer systems (such as login and password protection)
• restricted access to our office premises

Website security

While AbSec strives to protect the personal information and privacy of users of our website, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you disclose online and you disclose that information at your own risk. If you are concerned about sending your information over the internet, you can contact AbSec by telephone or post (details under ‘Contacting Us’).

You can also help to protect the privacy of your personal information by letting us know as soon as possible if you become aware of any security breach.

Third-party websites

Links to third-party websites that are not operated or controlled by AbSec are provided for your convenience. AbSec is not responsible for the privacy or security practices of those websites. Third-party websites should have their own privacy and security policies, which we encourage you to read before supplying any personal information to them.

Access and correction to personal information

You have the right to request a copy of your personal information held by AbSec. We will take reasonable steps to provide you with access to your personal information upon request. We may however charge a fee to cover our reasonable costs of locating the information and providing it to you.

We will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information if we are satisfied that it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. If we have provided your personal information to third parties we will also notify them of the correction if you ask us to do so, unless it is impracticable or unlawful.

Requests to access and correct your information should be made by email, post or phone using the details provided under the ‘Contacting Us’ heading. Note that we will need to verify your identity before processing your request. We will endeavour to respond to your request within 30 days.

If we do not agree with your request to access or correct your information, we will provide you with written reasons for our decision.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about how AbSec has collected or handled your personal information, please contact us using the details provided under the heading ‘Contacting Us.’

We will endeavour to respond to your complaint within 30 days of receipt.

If you are unhappy with our response, you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (see here for further information) or the New South Wales Privacy Commissioner (see here).