Privacy Policy

The privacy of members, supporters, volunteers, sponsors and donors is considered a high priority for The Wilderness Society Victoria. This Privacy Policy sets out our information handling procedures and the rights and obligations that you and we have in relation to your personal information. In the event of any inconsistency, the legislative requirements will prevail the provisions of this document.

We take your privacy very seriously

We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected.

This Policy is created in compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

We will only collect, use and disclose your personal information if it is reasonably necessary for the functions and activities associated with our objective to protect, promote and restore wilderness and natural processes across Australia for the survival and ongoing evolution of life on Earth.

Definitions

Personal information means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable whether the information or opinion is true or not; and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.

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 orientation or practices;
Criminal record;
Health information about an individual;
Genetic information about an individual that is not otherwise health information;
Biometric information that is to be used for the purpose of automated biometric verification or biometric identification, or
Biometric templates.

What personal information do we collect?

The type of personal information that we collect and hold will depend on the nature of your dealings with us.

We may collect personal information from you including your name, postal and residential address, email address, telephone numbers, age, date of birth, occupation / job title, name of employer, credit card and bank account details tax file number, superannuation details, and driver’s license.

It may also be necessary to collect sensitive information from you including information about any medical conditions that you have.

How do we collect personal information?

We will generally collect personal information directly from the owner of the personal information.

For instance we solicit and collect personal information when distributing a petition, requesting donations, forms, face-to-face meetings, email correspondence, telephone calls, and hard copy mail, expressions of interests / applications to participate in an event, requesting information for bequests, and advertising for employment and volunteer opportunities.

We may collect personal information from individuals such as staff members, people making enquiries, bequest makers, volunteers, donors, members, and contractors.

On occasion, we may collect personal information from a third party. For example, we purchase the personal information of potential donors from a trustworthy third party to help us expand our support-base and attract more donations.

We will generally obtain consent from the owner of personal information to collect their personal information. Consent will usually be provided in writing however sometimes it may be provided orally or may be implied through a person’s conduct.

On occasion, we may collect personal information online via a third party service provider. Where a third party is involved in online data collection we always recommend that you review their Privacy Policy.

We will endeavour to only ask you for personal information that is reasonably necessary for the activities that you are seeking to be involved in.

Can you deal with us anonymously or using a pseudonym?

You are not required to provide all the personal information and/or sensitive information that we request from you however if you choose not to provide information as requested this may impact our ability to service your needs. For instance we can collect anonymous donations however we will not be able to provide you with a tax receipt. If you are volunteering, we will not be comfortable allowing you to participate in certain activities without necessary medical clearance.

How do we use personal information?

We may collect, hold, use or disclose your personal information for the following general purposes:

To identify you;
For the purpose for which your personal information was originally collected;
For a purpose for which you have consented;
For any other purpose authorised or required by an Australian law; and
For any other purpose authorised or required by a court or tribunal.

More specifically, we may collect, hold, use or disclose personal information to:

Send you correspondence, publications, articles and newsletters telling you about our work;
Carry out day-to-day administration associated with our functions and activities;
Look after the safety and wellbeing of people that participate in our programs and activities;
Process payments and collect debts owed to us;
To advise you about campaign issues;
Promote membership or fundraising matters;
Seek donations and process donations and tax receipts; and
Invite you to events or meetings.

In relation to the personal information of prospective and current staff members, contractors and volunteers, we use the personal information for purposes including:

To enable us to carry out our recruitment functions;
Correspond with the person, provide training and professional development;
Fulfill the terms of any contractual relationship; and
Ensure that the person can perform their duties to facilitate our functions and activities.

We may publish the photo of members, staff, contractors and volunteers in publications and via social media platforms.

If you have any concerns about your personal information being used in any of these ways, you must notify us immediately.

Who do we disclose personal information to?

We may disclose your personal information to:

A government department;
A local Campaign Centre;
Mailing house;
Telemarketing organisation;
Like-minded organisations with information that may be of interest to you;
An organisation or person we are authorised to disclose your personal information to; and
An organisation or person with your consent.

We may disclose personal information to a recipient overseas (for example where we have outsourced a business activity to an overseas provider) in accordance with the Privacy Act, where we take reasonable steps to ensure that the overseas recipient does not breach the APPs in relation to the information.

Otherwise, we may disclose personal information to a recipient overseas in accordance with the Privacy Act where:

You have consented to the disclosure;
We reasonably believe that the overseas recipient is subject to a law or binding scheme that protects the information in a way that is substantially similar to the way the information is protected under the Privacy Act and the APPs; or
The disclosure is required or authorised by an Australian law or a court order.

If you have any concerns about your personal information being disclosed in any of these ways, you must notify us immediately.

How do we engage in direct marketing?

It is important for us to inform the community about our purpose and the work we do so that we can continue to protect, promote and restore wilderness and natural processes across Australia.

We will use the personal information that you give to us to send marketing information.

We may disclose your personal information to another organisation that assists us with our marketing.

If you do not want to receive any direct marketing material or if you do not wish your details to be exchanged with like-minded organisations, please contact Supporter Services on 1800 030 641 or [email protected] to opt out.

What do you need to know when using our website?

When you visit our website, we may collect and store your computer’s assigned IP address, the date and time of your visit, the information accessed and the referring page. We will also collect other non-identifying data for statistical purposes. This information is not linked to your personal information unless required by law.

Like many websites, from time to time our website may use cookies, tracking pixels and related technologies. Cookies are small data files that are served by our platform and stored on your device. We use cookies dropped by us or third parties for a variety of purposes including to operate and personalize the website. Also, cookies may also be used to track how you use the site to target ads to you on other websites.

Cookies may also be used to record non-personal information such as the date, time or duration of your visit, or the pages accessed, for website administration, statistical and maintenance purposes. Any such information will be aggregated and not linked to particular individuals unless required by law.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser.

Please note that some parts of the website may not function fully for users that disallow cookies.

How do we store personal information?

We take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information in our possession from misuse, interference and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

We protect personal information in a number of ways including:

Securely storing paper records;
Password restricted access to computerised records;
Routine security risk assessments; and
Internal policies in relation to access to personal information.

If we no longer need personal information, we will take reasonable steps to destroy the information or ensure that it is de-identified.

How you can access your personal information?

If you want to access your personal information held by us you can do so by contacting the Privacy Officer in writing (see Clause 15).

Please be aware that we can refuse access to your personal information in a number of circumstances under the Privacy Act.

We will seek to handle all requests for access to personal information as quickly as possible.

How do we ensure the quality of personal information?

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information that we collect from you is accurate, up-to-date and complete.

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information that we use and disclose is, having regard to the purpose of the use or disclosure, accurate, up-to-date, complete and relevant.

You may contact the Privacy Officer in writing (see Clause 15), to update the personal information that we hold.

How you can make a complaint?

If you wish to complain about any breach or potential breach of this privacy policy you should contact our Privacy Officer (see Clause 15).

It is our intention to resolve any complaint to your satisfaction, however, if you are unhappy with our response you are entitled to contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner who may investigate your complaint further.

Policy review

This policy is effective from November 2016 and will be reviewed at least every two years or as otherwise required by law.

Privacy Officer details

You can contact the Privacy Officer at The Wilderness Society by:

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1800 030 641

Mail: Privacy Officer, The Wilderness Society, GPO Box 716, Hobart, Tasmania 7001