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Privacy Policy

Purpose

The Privacy Act 1988 requires entitles bound by the Australian Privacy Principles to have a Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy outlines the personal information handling practices of Regional Australia Institute (RAI).

Scope

This policy describes how your privacy is respected and protected in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles. It applies to all information we hold about you through your use of our services including information obtained via electronic devices (e.g. computer, mobile phone, or other consumer electronic device) used to access our services.

Policy Statement

RAI values your privacy and takes reasonable steps to protect your personal information (that is, information which identifies or may reasonably be used to identify you). We abide by the requirements of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Act”) in relation to the collection and use of your personal information and comply with other applicable laws protecting privacy. By providing personal information to us, you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of that information on the terms of this privacy policy and any other contractual or other arrangements (if any) that may apply between us.

The Privacy Act provides you with a number of rights, including the right:

  • To know why your personal information is being collected, how it will be used and whether it can be given to anyone else;
  • To see what information is held about you and have it corrected if it is incorrect, out of date or incomplete (the Freedom of Information Act 1982 also covers this)
  • To have your personal information stored securely and protected from unauthorised access or misuse; and
  • To know the complaints procedure if you believe your privacy has been infringed.

Procedure

What Personal Information we collect

RAI collects personal information about clients, stakeholders, supporters, employees and contractors, but this is limited to that which is necessary for us to undertake our services and activities. Many of our services and activities allow you to remain anonymous or use a pseudonym if you wish. However, if you choose to provide us with your personal information, it will generally be in relation to:

  • Registration and providing services – RAI collects your name, address and other contact details, information about your needs and circumstances, records of communication and as otherwise required in order to provide our services and communicate with you. The specific information will depend on the type of service provided and will be collected before and during the provision of services.
  • Supporters and volunteers - RAI may collect names, addresses and other contact details, records of communication between you and RAI and other personal information about current and potential supporters and volunteers so that we can encourage, record and acknowledge your support and communicate with you about RAI and our activities.
  • Distributing publications - we collect contact details (which may include name, address, email address, and mobile phone number) when you interact with us in order to distribute newsletters and other communications in print and electronic form from time to time. You may choose to be removed from our distribution lists by contacting us.
  • Conducting events and programs – we collect contact details and other personal information, including photographs and videos, about those who wish to join or participate in our events and programmes. This information is used to administer these activities and to promote and seek support for such events and for the activities of RAI. With consent, this information may include other sensitive information.
  • Assisting with your queries - you may choose to provide us with your name or other contact details when you call us by phone or write to us so that we can respond to your requests for our newsletter or for other information about RAI services or operations.
  • Conducting our general business activities - RAI collects personal information about individuals who are, or are employed by, our suppliers (including service and content providers), contractors and agents for our general business operations.
  • Applying for a position (as a volunteer or employee) with RAI – we may collect your personal information, including name and contact details, information about your working history and relevant records checks (including criminal and working with children checks) when you apply for a position with us, in order for us to assess your suitability for that or other positions.
  • We may ask you for other information to enable us to better understand our clients, stakeholders and others who deal with us, but the provision of that information is purely voluntary.

How and when we collect your personal information

It is our usual practice to collect personal information directly from you or another authorised person. Sometimes we collect personal information from publicly available sources or other third parties to, for example, support our event and program activities or for a specific activity such as investigating a complaint. Should you be contacted as a result of this, you will be given the opportunity to opt out of any future similar communication.
If you choose not to provide certain personal information to us, we may not be able to provide you with the services you require or communicate with you.
RAI also collects limited information about all visitors to our online resources which is used only to identify generic behavioural patterns.

We use Google Analytics to track visits to our website to monitor its effectiveness, maintain our server and improve our services. Types of data collected include:

  • Server address.
  • Top level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, etc.);
  • The date and time of your visit to the site.
  • The pages you accessed, and documents downloaded during your visit;
  • The previous site you visited.
  • If you've visited our site before; and
  • The type of browser used.

These statistics will not identify you as an individual. 

Google Analytics is a web analytics tool that helps website owners understand how visitors engage with their website. Google Analytics customers can view a variety of reports about how visitors interact with their website so they can improve it. For more information read Google's Privacy Policy.

How we use your personal information

We use and disclose personal information we collect:

  • To provide and improve our services to our clients and stakeholders, including to:

Identify and provide services required including those offered by third parties.

Allow exchange of information between service providers with whom RAI deals on behalf of clients and stakeholders.

Assess the adequacy of, and our clients’ and stakeholders' level of satisfaction with our services.

  • To communicate with our clients, stakeholders, supporters, and volunteers (including responding to queries and complaints) and distributing our publications, conducting events/programs and raising awareness about our services.
  • To undertake our general business activities, including interacting with contractors and service providers, billing and administration including measuring and assessing the level of support we receive and the effectiveness of our fundraising activities and assessing applicants for positions with us; and where:

You consent.

We are required or authorised by law to use or disclose the information for another purpose; or

The disclosure of the information will prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to somebody's life or health.

We will not share any of your personal information with third parties without your consent except:

  • If we are required by law or we believe in good faith that such action is necessary in order to comply with law, cooperate with law enforcement or other government agencies, or comply with a legal process served on the company (including other service providers or insurers) or court order.
  • If the disclosure of the information will prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to somebody's life or health.
  • To our contractors, service providers and volunteers to the extent necessary for them to perform their duties to us; or
  • If you are a client or stakeholder, for the purpose of providing our services to you and only with your consent (unless one of the other purposes of disclosure listed above applies).
    We are obliged to report to government and other bodies on the services they fund us to provide. Reports cover demographic and service use information only – your personal information will not be passed on so cannot be matched with Medicare, Centrelink or any other records about you.

Who will have access to your personal information?

Unless we are required to provide it to others for purposes identified above, your personal information will only be seen or used by people working for us and our contracted service providers. These contractors are bound by privacy legislation which restricts the use of that information to the purpose for which it is provided; prohibits the copying or use of that information for any other purpose; and requires the destruction or return to us of that information once the purpose for which it has been provided has been served.

Security of your personal information

We regard the security of your personal information as a priority and implement a number of physical and electronic measures to protect it. All staff who may have access to your information are required to comply with the organisation’s confidentiality and IP requirements, and if contract service providers are used, they will be bound by our Privacy Policy.

We remind you, however, that the internet is not a secure environment and although all care is taken, we cannot guarantee the security of information you provide to us via electronic means.

Data quality

We take all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect is accurate, up to date and complete. This includes maintaining and updating personal information when we are advised it has changed and at other times as necessary.

Cross border data transfer

RAI operates only within Australia and will not provide your information to parties in any other country. We do from time to time, however, use web-based programs for particular activities such as email broadcast which may be hosted offshore, but only when the supplier is bound by privacy laws and has compliant practices in place.

Accessing and correcting your information

You are entitled to view the information we hold about you and reasonable requests for access will be responded to as quickly as possible. Access to a large amount of information or information from various sources within the organisation may take time before we can respond.
If you wish to view the information we hold about you, please contact the Human Resources Department.

If we refuse to give you access to information, we will give a reason for this decision. Generally, if requested, we will amend any personal information which you demonstrate is inaccurate, incomplete or not current, and will remove any information that is not relevant. If we disagree with your view on these matters, we will keep a note on the file setting out your view of the information held.

Email communication

We strive to be efficient with the funds that have been entrusted to us. As email can be sent at a lower cost compared to surface mail we offer our stakeholders/supporters the opportunity to supply their email address for mailing purposes. We will only send you an email when there is an important message, we would like you to know about.

Links to other websites

The RAI website may contain links to third party websites, and third-party websites may also have links to RAI’s website. This Privacy Policy does not apply to external links or other websites who may also collect your personal information. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any website you link to from our website.

Agreeing to these terms (use constitutes acceptance)

Your continued use of the website indicates that you accept the conditions of this Privacy Policy and consent to the collection and use by us of any personal information you provide while using this site. If you do not agree to the privacy and security terms as set out here, please do not use this website.

Effective date and updates

This is the current Privacy Policy of RAI. Unless stated otherwise, this policy applies to all information that we have about you. RAI may at any time vary this policy by publishing an updated version on this website. You accept that by using this website that we have provided you with sufficient notice of the variation.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right, as it may be necessary, to review, revise or make changes to our Privacy Policy and will notify you of those changes by posting those changes on our website.

Additional Information

Additional information on the Australian Privacy Principles can be obtained from www.privacy.gov.au.

More Information or Complaints

If you would like more information about our policy, the way we manage your personal information or are concerned that we may have breached your privacy and wish to make a complaint, contact Human Resources.