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Privacy Policy

  1. Policy Statement
    1. UnitingCare West is committed to promoting a culture that respects the privacy rights of individuals and clients working for, and associated with UnitingCare West where their right to privacy, dignity and confidentiality in all aspects of their life is recognised.
    2. UnitingCare West is committed to ensuring that all personal and sensitive information gathered by UnitingCare West, will be collected, maintained, used, stored and disposed of in accordance with the requirements and obligations of the Privacy Act 1988, the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000, and the National Privacy Principles as set out by the Privacy Commissioner.
  2. Definitions
    1. Personal information means information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database), whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent or can be reasonably ascertained from the information or opinion. Information collected may include the person’s name, date of birth, current and previous addresses, email addresses, telephone (including mobile) numbers, bank account and/or credit card details, occupation, driver’s licence number, tax file number, health information and other identifiers.
    2. Sensitive information means information or an opinion about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices, criminal record and health or genetic information.
    3. You means any individual to whom UnitingCare West provides a service and users of the UnitingCare West website.
  3. Types of information that we collect
    1. UnitingCare West collects two types of information:
      1. anonymous information; and
      2. personal information.
    2. UnitingCare West will not collect sensitive information unless you have consented, it is required by law, or in other special specified circumstances permitted under the Privacy Act 1988, the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 and the National Privacy Principles.
    3. In some circumstances, you may be able to interact anonymously with UnitingCare West where it is practical and lawful to do so, for example, you may make an anonymous donation, however, in such circumstances, UnitingCare West is unable to issue a tax-deductible receipt to you. In some circumstances, UnitingCare West will be unable to provide the option of anonymity.
    4. How much Personal Information you choose to disclose to UnitingCare West is completely up to you. You are not obliged to provide Personal Information to UnitingCare West but failure to do so may result in you being unable to use all the services UnitingCare West offer.
    5. The type of Personal Information that UnitingCare West collects from you will depend on how you use the UnitingCare West website and the reason the information is collected. UnitingCare West will only collect Personal Information where the information is necessary to allow UnitingCare West to provide services to you or to carry out its functions or activities.
    6. Sometimes UnitingCare West will ask you to provide specific Personal Information such as your name, marital status, address, email address and financial information (such as credit card number and expiration date) in order to process a donation, provide you with a service or provide information to you such as UnitingCare West’s quarterly newsletter or to respond to your specific queries.
    7. Subscription to our emailing mailing lists requires you to provide us with a valid email address. We will not use your email address to add you to another email list unless specifically requested by you.
    8. Collection of personal information by UnitingCare West will be fair, lawful and non-intrusive. Individuals under the age of 18 require consent from either their parent or guardian prior to providing UnitingCare West with any Personal Information.
  4. Passive Information Collected
    1. As you use the UnitingCare West website, certain anonymous information can be passively collected using various technologies such as cookies or IP addresses. A “cookie” is a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. You can set your browser to accept, reject or notify you of all cookies. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information while you are on the UnitingCare West website. Once you close your browser, the cookie simply terminates. UnitingCare West does not store persistent cookies on your computer. An IP address is a number assigned to your computer by your internet service provider. Whenever you use the UnitingCare West website, or any other website, the computer on which the web pages are stored (the Web server) needs to know the IP address of your computer so that it can send the requested web pages to your Internet browser. Your computer’s IP address is sent automatically each time you access any Internet site. From a computer’s IP address, it is possible to determine the general geographic location of that computer but otherwise it is anonymous. UnitingCare West does not keep records of user’s IP addresses except where you have specifically provided us with information about yourself or if you have made a donation, in which case we record your IP address for security purposes.
  5. Use of Personal Information
    1. UnitingCare West will only use the Personal Information voluntarily provided by you for the purpose for which you have provided it. UnitingCare West will not use such information for any other purpose without your consent and under no circumstances do we pass on, sell or swap any of your Personal Information with anyone without your consent.
    2. UnitingCare West uses Personal Information provided to it for the purposes of:
      1. assessing what services you require and whether we are able to provide those services; 
      2. evaluating on-going services provided; 
      3. seeking funding; 
      4. assessing applications to become a volunteer, contractor or employee; and 
      5. researching and developing its services.
    3. If UnitingCare West uses or discloses personal information, a written note of the use or disclosure will be made.
  6. Disclosure
    1. There may be occasions when it will be necessary for UnitingCare West to disclose your Personal Information to third parties to fulfil its legal obligations, including satisfying any legal request, co-operating in any law enforcement investigation or an investigation on a matter of public safety.
  7. Security of Personal Information
    1. Data Quality
      1. UnitingCare West will take reasonable steps to:
        1. make sure that the Personal Information it collects uses or discloses is accurate, complete and up-to-date;
        2. protect the Personal Information it holds from misuse and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure; and 
        3. permanently de-identify Personal Information if it is no longer needed for any purpose (including archiving) for which the information may be used or disclosed. 
      2. If at any time you believe that any information that UnitingCare West holds about you is inaccurate or out of date, please let UnitingCare West know.
    2. Data Security
      1. All UnitingCare West data and Personal Information will be classified and secured according to its level of sensitivity and classification type. 
      2. All staff will ensure that electronic data is kept within secure network storage and undertake to only access that data which is necessary to perform their role.
    3. Openness
      1. This UnitingCare West Website Privacy Policy clearly articulates policies on the management of Personal Information and is developed from UnitingCare West’s overarching Governance Privacy Policy. 
      2. This document will be accessible to you and staff of UnitingCare West. On request, UnitingCare West will take reasonable steps to let a person know, what type of Personal Information it holds, for what purposes, and how it collects, holds, uses and discloses that information.
    4. Access and Correction
      1. Wherever it is legally and ethically possible, UnitingCare West will upon your request give you access to Personal Information that UnitingCare West holds about you. Where applicable, requests will be acknowledged in writing and fulfilled in the most appropriate form within 30 days. 
      2. On occasion UnitingCare West may find it necessary to withhold information that has been requested. In such situations you will been given either: 
        1. the opportunity of using a mutually agreed intermediary to review the information; or 
        2. a reason for the denial of access. 
      3. If UnitingCare West charges for providing access to Personal Information, those charges: 
        1. will reflect only the costs involved in collection of the data; and 
        2. will not apply to lodging a request for access. 
      4. You have the right to have amended, if necessary, any Personal Information that UnitingCare West holds about you.
    5. Identifiers
      1. When implementing its own identification system, UnitingCare West will not adopt, use or disclose an identifier (number, letters, code) which has been assigned to a person by a Commonwealth government agency, except where such a use or disclosure is necessary to fulfill an obligation to a government agency.
  8. Links to other websites
    1. The UnitingCare West website may contain links to other sites not owned or controlled by UnitingCare West. Please be aware that UnitingCare West is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. When you leave the UnitingCare West website, you should read the privacy statement of each website you visit which collects Personal Information.
  9. Privacy Officer
    1. A Privacy Officer (Executive Manager Human Resources and Administration) is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Privacy Policy for every operation or function of UnitingCare West where Personal Information is collected.
    2. The Privacy Officer is to be contacted when an individual wishes to make a complaint about privacy.
  10. Complaints
    1. If you wish to make a complaint about privacy, you should contact the Privacy Officer (Executive Manager Human Resources and Administration) either personally, in writing, by phone, facsimile or e-mail. The complaint will be dealt with promptly and confidentially. Contact:
      (Privacy Officer) Executive Manager Human Resources and Administration
      UnitingCare West GPO Box B74 PERTH WA 6383
      Phone: 1300 663 298
      Facsimile: 1300 663 528
      E-mail: privacyofficer@unitingcarewest.org.au
    2. If UnitingCare West has not resolved the complaint to your satisfaction, you may refer your complaint to the Federal Privacy Commission Contact:
      Director of Complaints Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner
      GPO Box 5218 SYDNEY NSW 1042
      Phone: 1300 363 992
  11. Changes to Website Privacy Policy
    1. This is the current Website Privacy Policy and replaces any previous Website Privacy Policy published on the UnitingCare West website. UnitingCare West reserves the right to modify the Website Privacy Policy at any time to account for legislative changes or operational requirements. You should review this page periodically so that you are updated