The Uniting Church in Australia

The Privacy Policy of Dapto Uniting Church

Dapto Uniting Church recognises the importance of protecting the privacy and the rights of individuals in relation to their personal information. This document is our privacy policy, and it tells you how we collect and manage your personal information. We respect your rights to privacy under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Act) and we comply with all of the Act’s requirements in respect of the collection, management and disclosure of your personal information.

1. What is Your Personal Information

When used in this privacy policy, the term “personal information” has the meaning given to it in Section 6[1] of the Act. In general terms, it is any information that can be used to identify you. If you can be reasonably identifiable from the information we collect, that information will be considered personal information.

2. What Personal Information do we Collect and Hold?

We may collect the following types of information:

Name;
Mailing and/or street address;
Email address;
Telephone number;
Fax number;
Age and/or date of birth;
Profession, occupation, qualifications and/or job title;
Details of the services that we have provided to you or which you have enquired about, together with any additional information necessary to deliver those services and to respond to your enquiries;
Information we consider appropriate for the activities or services we are providing to you;
Information you provide to us through our activities and services, surveys or visits by our representatives from time to time;
Any additional information relating to you that you provide to us through our website or indirectly through use of our website or online presence, through our representatives or otherwise.

We may also collect some information that is not personal information because it does not identify you or anyone else. For example, we may collect anonymous answers to surveys or aggregated information about how users use our website.

We may be authorised to collect your personal information under Part 4 of the Health Records & Privacy Information Act 2002 NSW as part of the provision of health and fitness services. These records are kept separately from other personal information records, and will comply with the Health Records & Privacy Information Act 2002 NSW.

3. How do we Collect your Personal Information?

We collect your personal information directly from you, unless it is unreasonable or impracticable to do so. When collecting personal information from you, we may collect in various ways including:

In writing, when you agree to provide your information for our Congregation Directory;
During conversations and by way of correspondence between you and our representatives;
When you complete an application to join one of our activities;
When you register for our conferences or events:
When you participate in Church activities;
When you complete our forms for the provision of services, or to volunteer your services or assistance to the Congregation or its various groups;
Through access and use of our website;
When you agree to complete a survey.

The information we collect may include some sensitive information (as defined in Section 6 of the Act[2]), such as health information or information about your beliefs or information that is relevant to the services or assistance you have requested from the Church.

We may also collect personal information from third parties, including doctors, only with your express permission. The purpose of collecting this information is to assist us in achieving our objectives.

4. Cookies

On our website, we do not use “cookies” (which are small text files, often sent to users’ computers to allow web servers to recognise them each time they return). We may log IP addresses (that is, the electronic addresses of computers connected to the internet) to analyse trends, administer our website, track user movements, and gather broad demographic information and for security reasons.

5. Anonymity

Generally, we will provide individuals with the option of not identifying themselves when contacting us or participating in activities or obtaining services from us, unless we are authorised by law, or it is impracticable for us to deal with individuals who have not identified themselves (in such circumstance we will only obtain as much personal information as is necessary to provide you with the service or assistance you require). If we do not have your personal information, then we may be limited in our ability to provide you with the services or assistance, or advise you of information relating to the activities we carry out.

6. What Happens if we can’t Collect your Personal Information?

If you do not provide us with the personal information described above, some or all of the following may happen:

We may not be able to provide the requested activities or services to you, either to the same standard or at all;
We may not be able to provide you with information about activities and services that you want;
We may be unable to tailor the content of our website to your preferences and your enjoyment of our website may not be as enjoyable or useful;
We may not be able to tailor our programs and activities to your needs; and
We may not be able to contact you in relation to the various activities we undertake and services we provide.

7. For What Purposes do we Collect, Hold, Use and Disclose your Personal Information?

We collect personal information about you so that we can perform our activities and functions, and to provide best quality service. We collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

To provide services to you and to send communications requested by you;
To arrange the various activities of the Congregation;
To answer enquiries and provide information or advice about existing services;
To develop new services and provide information about them;
To assess the performance of our website and to improve the operation of our website;
For the administration, planning, service and program development, quality control and research purposes of the Congregation and its various activities;
To update our records and keep your contact details up to date;
To establish and maintain your involvement with the Church, the Congregation and its activities;
To answer your enquiries;
To register you for events, conferences and activities;
To keep you informed of new developments and other information we believe may be of interest to you. If we contact you in this way without obtaining your consent, we will provide you with the opportunity to decline any further promotional communications;
To process and respond to any complaint made by you;
To track clients’ use of any services we offer; and
To comply with any law, rule, regulation, decision or direction of a regulator, or in cooperation with any governmental authority.

8. To Whom may we Disclose your Information?

Your personal information will not be sold or rented under any circumstances. We may disclose your personal information to:

Our employees, the organisers of the various activities of the Congregation, the contractors or service providers for the purpose of operating our website, website hosting providers, and professional advisors such as accountants, solicitors, advisers and consultants with your express consent;
Any organisation for any authorised purposes with your express consent; and
Theological students studying the Uniting Church in Australia or Christian Studies in relation to their research or academic studies.

It will not be shared or disclosed other than as described in this Privacy Policy.

9. Direct Marketing Communications

We may send you direct marketing communications and information about our activities and services that we consider may be of interest to you. These communications may be sent in various forms, including mail, SMS, phone, fax or email, in accordance with applicable marketing laws, such as the Spam Act 2003 (Cth).

If you indicate a preference for a method of communication, we will endeavour to use that method whenever practical to do so. In addition, at any time you may opt-out of receiving marketing communications from us by contacting us (see details on page 5) or by using opt-out facilities provided in the marketing communications. We will then endeavour to ensure that your name is removed from our mailing list.

We do not provide your personal information to other organisations for the purposes of direct marketing.

10. Use of Government Identifiers

We will not use Government identifiers, such as Medicare numbers or your driver’s licence numbers, as its own identifier of individuals. We will only use or disclose such identifiers in the circumstances permitted by the Privacy Act. We will not collect or retain your Tax File Number.

11. How you can Access and Correct your Personal Information?

You may request access to any personal information we hold about you at any time by contacting us (see the contact details on page 5). If we hold information that you are entitled to access, we will try to provide you with suitable means of accessing it (for example by mailing or emailing it to you) upon your request. We may incur costs to cover our administrative and other activities (eg photocopying, faxing, postage, etc) in providing the information to you and, if so, we may charge a reasonable fee for providing access, which could be as much as $50. We will not charge you for simply making the request and we will not charge you for making any corrections to your personal information.

There may be instances where we cannot grant you access to the personal information we hold. For example, we may need to refuse access if granting access would interfere with the privacy of others or it would result in a breach of confidentiality. If that happens, we will give you written reasons for our refusal.

If you believe that personal information we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request us to amend it by contacting us (see the details on page 5). We will consider if the information requires amendment. If we do not agree that there are grounds for amendment then we will add a note to the personal information stating that you disagree with it.

Depending on the nature of the request for access or amendment, we may ask you to verify your identity or put your request in writing.

12. What is the Process for Complaining about a Breach of Privacy?

If you believe that your privacy has been breached by us or you are not happy with the way your personal information has been handled by us, please contact our Privacy Officer using the contact information on page 5 and provide details of the incident (preferably in writing) so that we can investigate it.

We will attempt to confirm your understanding of the conduct relevant to the complaint with you, as well as what you expect as an outcome. We will inform you whether we will conduct an investigation, the name, title and contact details of the investigating officer and the estimated completion date for the investigation process.

After we have completed our enquiries, we will contact you, usually in writing, to advise the outcome and invite a response to our conclusions about the complaint. If we receive a response from you, we will assess it and advise if we have changed our view. If you are unsatisfied with the outcome, we will advise you about further options available including, if appropriate, review by the Privacy Commissioner within the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

13. Do we Disclose your Personal Information to Anyone Outside Australia?

We do not disclose personal information to overseas recipients, without your express permission.

14. Security

We take reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is protected from misuse and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We may hold your information in either electronic or hard copy form. Personal information is destroyed or de-identified when no longer needed.

As our website is linked to the internet, and the internet is inherently insecure, we cannot provide any assurance regarding the security of transmission of information you communicate to us online. We also cannot guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while being transferred over the internet. Accordingly, any personal information or other information that you transmit to us online is transmitted at your own risk.

15. Links

Our website may contain links to other websites operated by third parties. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of any third party website and we are not responsible for the privacy policies or content of any third party website. Third party websites are responsible for informing you about their own privacy practices.

16. Contacting us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, and concerns or complaint regarding the treatment of your privacy or a possible breach of your privacy, please use the contact link on our website, or contact our Privacy Officer using the details set out below.

We will treat your requests or complaints confidentially. Our representative will contact you within a reasonable time after receipt of your complaint to discuss your concerns and outline options regarding how they may be resolved. We will aim to ensure that your complaint is resolved in a timely and appropriate manner.

Please contact our Privacy Officer at:

Dapto Uniting Church

122 Princes Highway

Dapto NSW 2530

Mail: PO Box 132 Dapto NSW 2530

Tel: 02 4261 4475 or 0413 768 774

Email: secretary@daptouniting.org.au

17. Changes to our Policy

We may change this privacy policy from time to time. Any updated versions of this privacy policy will be posted on our website.

This privacy policy was last updated and approved by UCA-Dapto Uniting Church on 19 October 2014.

[1] “personal information”: means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable: (a) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and (b) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.

[2] “sensitive information” means: (a) information or an opinion about an individual's: (i) racial or ethnic origin; or (ii) political opinions; or (iii) membership of a political organisation; or (iv) religious beliefs or affiliations; or (v) philosophical beliefs; or (vi) membership of a professional or trade association; or (vii) membership of a trade union; or (viii) sexual orientation or practices; or (ix) criminal record; that is also personal information; or (b) health information about an individual; or (c) genetic information about an individual that is not otherwise health information; or (d) biometric information that is to be used for the purpose of automated biometric verification or biometric identification; or (e) biometric templates.