This policy describes the way we collect, use and store your personal information.
We value and respect your privacy, and take the protection of your personal information very seriously.
Equality Campaign are working hard to help achieve equality and fairness for all. We work in close collaboration with Australian Marriage Equality and Australians For Equality, as well as a range of other community groups and supporters from every walk of life across Australia who work towards LGBTI equality.
This policy is designed to describe the personal information we collect, how we protect it and what we do with it. The policy also sets out more information about your privacy rights as an individual, and how you can contact us if you have any privacy concerns.
The kinds of personal information we handle
Personal information is information from which you are reasonably identifiable as an individual. We collect and hold current and historical personal information about individuals including actual and prospective supporters, staff, volunteers, donors and event attendees as well as staff and representatives or organisations we deal with.
The types of personal information we collect and hold generally includes name, contact details and information about your dealings with us. In some circumstances, we may also collect information about your:
- payment details
- identification details
- online activity (see the ‘Online services’ section below)
- skills, qualifications, experience and suitability for roles with us
- interests, preferences and opinions
- organisation, positions held, relationships and personal and professional networks, and
for staff, contractors and volunteers – information about your employment or role with us, including information about your performance, conduct and payroll/tax/financial matters.
Some of the personal information we collect is considered ‘sensitive information’ under certain privacy laws. For example, if you support marriage equality, this fact may be sensitive information about your political or philosophical beliefs. We are subject to especially strict privacy obligations in relation to sensitive information.
Some of the personal information we collect about staff is collected pursuant to laws including the Fair Work Act, Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act, Income Tax Assessment and other tax laws, Corporations Act, occupational health and safety acts and workers compensation acts.
How we collect personal information
We collect personal information from you directly, for example when you communicate and interact with us, complete a form, join our mailing list or attend one of our events.
We also collect personal information and other information (e.g. demographic information) from third parties including public sources, the electoral roll (where approved), your organisation, your representatives, information service providers, social media and the parties with whom we exchange information as described in this policy. We may combine this information with personal information we collect from you.
Where you provide us with personal information about someone else you must have their consent to provide their personal information to us based on this policy.
How we hold and protect personal information
We hold personal information electronically and in hard copy form, both at our own premises and with the assistance of our service providers.
We implement a range of measures to protect the security of personal information. The types of measures we use depend on the circumstances and include encryption, data access control, premises security and network firewalls.
Please be aware that there are inherent risks in transmitting information across the internet and we cannot guarantee the security of information sent to us online. If you are concerned about sending information of a sensitive nature to us online, you may prefer to contact us by telephone or mail.
The purposes for which we handle personal information
We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information to perform our functions and activities. This includes:
- seeking, facilitating and recording your participation in our projects and work
- responding to your comments or questions
- providing information about us
- managing our relationship with you and any other person or organisation you represent
- asking for and processing donations and support
- verifying your identity and information
- maintaining and updating our records
- administrative purposes including research, planning, campaign and service development, record-keeping and internal reporting
- assessing, training, working with and managing our staff, volunteers contractors (including processing job applications).
We may not be able to do these things without your personal information. For example, we may not be able to contact you, send you a tax-deductible receipt or offer employment to you.
We may provide promotional communications and targeted advertising to you on an ongoing basis by telephone, electronic messages (eg. email), online (including websites and mobile apps) and other means. Privacy laws allow you to opt out of receiving certain communications. See the relevant communications for details of how to opt-out, or contact us as set out below.
Who we share personal information with
The types of third parties with which we exchange personal information include:
- our service providers, including providers of campaign, promotion, accounting, auditing, legal, banking, payment, delivery, data processing, data analysis, document management, information broking, research, investigation, recruitment, insurance, superannuation, payroll, training, website and technology services;
- for people who work with us, or apply to work with us, referees and screening check providers (e.g. for background, identity, eligibility to work, vocational suitability, health and criminal record checks);
- government agencies for reporting and compliance purposes; and
- your organisation and representatives.
Occasionally we may exchange personal information with other organisations that share similar values and beliefs to us and are subject to obligations to protect your personal information. These organisations may contact you with information that may be of interest to you. These organisations usually allow us to do the same in return and this helps us to reach more people and achieve our goals. We may also transfer our operations and/or records to an organisation like this if we cease to operate (e.g. after the conclusion of the Australian marriage equality campaign). If you do not wish us to provide your personal information to these like-minded organisations, please contact us as set out below.
Some of the third parties described above may be located in the United States, Canada and other countries. By agreeing to this Privacy Policy, you agree that we will not be accountable for the third party’s handling of your personal information under the Privacy Act and you may not be able to seek redress under the Privacy Act.
Our online services
This section applies to our website at www.equalitycampaign.org.au, www.voteyes.org.au, and to our other online services including our apps, blogs, email communications, social media profiles and online advertising (together, ‘Online Services’).
If you access or view our Online Services our system may record information such as your server address, top level domain (e.g. .com, .au, etc), date and time of your visit, information accessed, browsing behaviour, referring site, device identifiers, location and browser type. This information is used for statistical, reporting, administration and maintenance purposes, and to improve, optimise and customise our Online Services.
Like many other websites, our website may use ‘cookies’ from time to time. A cookie is a piece of information that allows our system to identify and interact more effectively with your browser. The cookie helps us to maintain the continuity of your browsing session and remember your details and preferences when you return. You can configure your web browser software to reject cookies however some parts of our website may not have full functionality in that case. See www.allaboutcookies.org for instructions on deleting and rejecting cookies for many common browsers.
Our Online Services may use Google services such as Google Analytics from time to time. For more about how Google collects and processes data, please see Google’s privacy policy and their information at www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/.
Some of our Online Services give you the ability to submit your own content for publication (e.g. comments about the campaign for marriage equality). Where you do this (subject to any privacy setting allowing you to restrict the audience) then please be aware that your content may be viewed by other users of the Online Services, and may be stored any disseminated on an ongoing basis by third parties such as search engines, even after you remove the content or set it to ‘private’. We may use your public content for promotional purposes or any other purpose.
How to access and correct your personal information
You can contact us as set out below to make a request to access or correct any personal information we may hold about you. We may need to verify your identity.
Please provide as much detail as you can about the particular information you seek, in order to help us locate it. We will provide our reasons if we deny any request for access to or correction of personal information. Where we decide not to make a requested correction to your personal information and you disagree, you may ask us to make a note of your requested correction with the information.
How to make a privacy complaint
You can contact us as set out below if you have any concerns about our handling of your personal information. We will respond to let you know who will be handling your matter and when you can expect a further response. We may request additional details from you regarding your concerns, and may need to engage or consult with other parties in order to investigate and deal with your issue. We will keep records of your request and any resolution.
For information about privacy generally, or if your concerns are not resolved to your satisfaction, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au and on 1300 363 992.
Contact us
To contact us about privacy, including opt-out requests and accessing or updating your personal information, please contact us as set out below:
Email: privacy@equalitycampaign.org.au
Australian Marriage Equality Ltd 66 759 188 465
Australians For Equality Ltd ABN 20 609 977 764
Last updated: 1 October 2018