INTRODUCTION
The Australian Peacekeeper and Peacemaker Veterans’ Association (APPVA) is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) as amended, including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). The APPs are designed to protect the confidentiality of information and the privacy of individuals by regulating the way personal information is collected, used, disclosed and managed. Personal information is, generally speaking, information or an opinion relating to an identified, or reasonably identifiable, individual, whether the information is true or not and whether the information is recorded in a material form or not.
This policy explains the types of personal information that we may collect and hold, how that information is used and with whom the information is shared. It also sets out how you can contact us if you have any queries or concerns about our collection, use or disclosure of personal information, or if you believe we have not complied with this Privacy Policy or the Privacy Act.
If you are participating in a APPVA activity or project on proposals for Public Comment process then the section ‘If you are a Board member or participating in Public Comment Development’ also applies to you.
Your consent
By using this Website, APPVA, a APPVA product, service, application and/or site that references this Privacy Policy, or otherwise providing us directly, or through others, with your personal information, you agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy and consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, the Privacy Act and other applicable privacy laws.
Why do we collect personal information?
We collect personal information for a number of purposes connected with our activities and operations, including to develop, provide and improve our products and services, for verification purposes, to understand and meet the needs and requests of individuals we engage with and to meet our legal obligations.
What personal information do we collect and how do we collect it?
The type of personal information we collect may include contact information (eg name, email address, postal address, company information, and other profile information), login details, comments, preferences, feedback and user data (see Analytics and Cookies).
We collect personal information in a number of ways, including directly from you, when you create an account with us, when you provide it to us or our volunteers, provide feedback to us, submit an enquiry, participate in a survey, apply as a volunteer with us, participate in our governance activities, provide services to us, use our Website, or otherwise engage with the APPVA.
Personal information may be collected by way of emails, phone conversations (which may be recorded for quality control purposes in accordance with applicable laws), forms filled out by individuals (including via online forms), feedback, enquires, support requests, surveys, competitions, online user-generated content, market research, video conferencing, face-to-face meetings and interviews.
Sometimes our activities require us to collect sensitive information. For more details, see the section ‘Sensitive information is subject to greater restrictions’, below.
Analytics and Cookies
The APPVA also collects statistical information about visitors to our Website using web analytics and session recording technology provided by third party service providers such as Google Analytics. These services use Cookies to assist us in understanding how visitors access and utilise our Website and Online Community. We do not use this information to identify particular individuals. However, in some circumstances the statistical information may include a visitor's internet protocol (IP) address, which could be linked to an individual. In some cases your internet protocol (IP) addresses may be collected directly by a third party service provider.
How might the APPVA use and disclose your personal information?
The APPVA may use and disclose your personal information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, or for related purposes which would reasonably be expected by you, or for purposes to which you have consented, and in other circumstances authorised by the Privacy Act or otherwise required or authorised by law.
Generally, the APPVA may use and disclose your personal information for a range of purposes, including to:
- provide you and with our products or services that you have requested with your name;
- respond to your queries or feedback or provide customer service support;
- analyse and improve all aspects of our business including, but not limited to, our products and services, our On Line Facebook Community, our business systems, processes, outcomes, communication, website, engagement and performance;
- authenticate users to enable access to The APPVA systems;
- facilitate your participation in forums, and social events; and
- facilitate participation in our governance forums and activities.
Your personal information may also be used so we can:
- provide you with any communications or publications in which we think you might be interested; and
- let you know about developments in our products, services, activities and programs that might be useful to you,
- by way of telemarketing and (where you have opted in) by email. You may no longer wish to receive such communications and can request to be removed from the distribution list by following the unsubscribe instructions in the relevant email.
Disclosure of personal information to other parties
The APPVA may disclose your personal information to third parties such as our members, professional advisers, committee members, external service providers ( ie providers of services including website and data hosting, cloud storage, shipping and distribution, IT support, distribution of promotional and transactional communications, surveys and feedback, market research and promotional activities), and government, statutory or regulatory bodies.
Landing Pages
Certain promotions and advertising campaigns may be hosted on a landing page controlled by a third party service provider. If you visit these sites and pages, your browser communicates directly with the service provider and user data entered on these pages (such as your email address and name) is stored by our service provider. Your personal information is then disclosed to the APPVA.
We do not sell or license your personal information to third parties.
Sending information overseas
Personal information is sent overseas in certain circumstances, including to external service providers that assist our organisation. APPVA complies with the APPs when sending personal information overseas. The APPVA will not send your personal information to a recipient outside Australia without obtaining your consent or otherwise complying with the APPs.
Our overseas service providers are located in Canada.
IF YOU ARE A BOARD MEMBER OR VOLUNTEER PARTICIPATING IN PUBLIC COMMENT DEVELOPMENT
This section of the Privacy Policy applies to individuals who contribute to the APPVA’s public comment development, including the following individuals:
- Board members;
- working group members;
- proponents of new projects or proposals for consideration;
- members of public submitting comments on project proposals;
- members of the public submitting comments on draft documents; and
- individuals participating in, or otherwise engaging with us on, veteran community issues.
What personal information do we collect?
The types of personal information we may collect include contact information (such as your name, address, email address, fax and telephone number), your profile information if you choose to provide this (such as your age, gender, country of birth), passport details (if you are a delegate participating in overseas forums), information about your employer, login information, your subscription and newsletter preferences, your stakeholder affiliations, comments you submit including by way of project proposals and Public Comment and any feedback that you provide to us about veteran community activities.
Personal information may be collected by way of emails, phone conversations forms filled out by individuals (including via online forms), feedback, enquires, support requests, surveys, online user-generated content, market research, face-to-face meetings and interviews.
Sometimes our activities require us to collect sensitive information. For more details, see the section ‘Sensitive information is subject to greater restrictions’ below.
How might the APPVA use and disclose your personal information?
The APPVA may use and disclose your personal information for purposes described in this Privacy Policy, or for related purposes which would reasonably be expected by you, or for purposes to which you have consented, and in other circumstances authorised by the Privacy Act or otherwise required or authorised by law.
Generally, The APPVA may use and disclose your personal information for a range of purposes, including to:
- facilitate advocacy services,
- facilitate your participation in veteran support activities or by way of project proposals and Public Comment;
- enable our veteran support activities including, evaluating stakeholder proposals, contacting nominating organisations, publishing information about some or all of the work we do to enhance transparency and public confidence in our processes;
- authenticate users to enable access to APPVA’s systems;
- facilitate your participation in activities, forums, social events and educational events;
- respond to your queries or feedback;
- analyse and improve all aspects of our business including, but not limited to, our products and services, our business systems, processes, outcomes, communication, website, marketing, engagement and performance.
Your personal information may also be used so we can:
- provide you with any communications or publications in which we think you might be interested; and
- let you know about developments in our procedures, products, services, activities and programs that might be useful to you,
- by way of direct mail or telemarketing and (where you have opted in) by email. You may no longer wish to receive such communications and can request to be removed from the distribution list by following the unsubscribe instructions in the relevant email.
Disclosure of personal information to other parties
The APPVA may disclose your personal information to third parties such as our professional advisers, external service providers (ie providers of services including training, website and data hosting, cloud storage, IT support, distribution of promotional and transactional communications, surveys and feedback, market research and promotional activities, operational, organisational and management services), our advocates, Department of Veterans’ Affairs and other veteran support organisations, government, statutory or regulatory bodies.
We do not sell or license your personal information to third parties.
SENSITIVE INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO GREATER RESTRICTIONS
‘Sensitive information’ is personal information about an individual's health, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association or membership of a trade union, among other things.
We will collect, use and disclose your sensitive information only for the primary purpose for which it was collected, or for directly related purposes which would reasonably be expected by you, or for purposes to which you have consented and in other circumstances required or authorised by law.
Sending information overseas
Personal information is sent overseas in limited circumstances, including to external service providers.
The APPVA will not send your personal information to a recipient outside Australia without obtaining your consent or otherwise complying with the APPs.
Our overseas service provider are located in Canada.
SECURITY AND MANAGEMENT OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
The APPVA will take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. The ways we do this include:
- limiting access to the information we collect about you (for instance, only those of our personnel who need your information to carry out our business activities);
- using a APPVA gateway for secure handling of your billing information;
- requiring any third-party providers to have acceptable security measures to keep personal information secure; and
- putting in place physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards in line with industry standards.
If we no longer require your personal information and are not legally required to retain it, the APPVA will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify the personal information.
Links from our website to other websites
Our website may contain links to third party websites. We do not operate these websites and therefore are not responsible for the collection or handling of personal information by the operators of these websites.
Accessing the information we hold about you
Under the APPs, you may be able to obtain a copy of the personal information that we hold about you. The APPs provide some exceptions to your rights in this regard. To make a request to access this information, please contact us in writing at the address listed below. We will require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. We may charge a fee to cover the cost of verifying the application and locating, retrieving, reviewing and copying any material requested.
Updating your personal information
We endeavour to ensure that the personal information we hold about you is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Please contact The APPVA at the contact address set out below if you believe that the information we hold about you requires correction or is out-of-date.
Updates to this Policy
This Privacy Policy will be reviewed from time to time to take account of new laws and technology, changes to our operations and practices and the changing business environment. The current version of this Privacy Policy is available at: www.peacekeepers.asn.au.
Complaints
If you are concerned that we have not complied with your legal rights or applicable privacy laws, you may bring a complaint internally through our complaints process or you may decide to make a formal complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (www.oaic.gov.au) (which is the regulator responsible for privacy in Australia).
We will deal with complaints as follows:
Step 1: let us know
If you would like to make a complaint, you should let us know by contacting our Privacy Officer (see below for contact details).
Step 2: investigation of complaint
Your complaint will be investigated by our Privacy Officer.
A response to your complaint will be provided in writing within a reasonable period.
Step 3: Contact OAIC
We expect our procedures will deal fairly and promptly with your complaint. However, if you remain dissatisfied, you can also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as follows:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
Complaints must be made in writing.
1300 363 992
Director of Compliance
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
www.oaic.gov.au
Contact us
Any complaints or correspondence in relation to this Privacy Policy should be sent to our Privacy Officer at:
Australian Peacekeeper and Peacemaker Veterans Association
PO Box 115, Deakin West ACT 2600
Attention: The Privacy Officer
Email: privacy@peacekeepers.asn.au
We will endeavour to respond to all complaints and correspondence promptly.