Privacy Policy
Your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Statement outlines COTA Tasmania’s approach to collecting and managing different types of information about individuals.
We comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), which are part of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). These Principles govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of Personal Information. A copy of the APPs is available on the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
Personal Information: What it is and why we collect it
‘Personal Information’ is information or an opinion that identifies an individual. Examples of Personal Information that we collect includes names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and details about
your needs and queries for which you are seeking information and/or support.
This information is obtained in different ways, including:
- by telephone;
- by email;
- via face to face interactions with our staff and volunteers;
- via our website www.cotatas.org.au and social media platforms; and
- from third parties.
An APP entity can only use or disclose personal information for a purpose for which it was collected (known as the ‘primary purpose’), or for a ‘secondary purpose’ if an exception applies. APP6 covers the different kinds of exception. We collect your Personal Information for the primary purpose of providing information and services to you, including newsletters and promotional material (where you have opted to receive these). When we collect Personal Information, we will, where appropriate and where practicable, explain to you
why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it. If you no longer want to receive services from us or you want to unsubscribe from a mailing list, please let
us know by phone or in writing. To unsubscribe from our electronic newsletter, you may follow the instructions at the end of the newsletter or contact us for assistance.
Sensitive Information
‘Sensitive Information’ includes information or opinion about such things as an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record, or health information.
We will only use Sensitive Information:- for the primary purpose for which it was obtained; or
- for a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose; or
- with your consent, or where required or authorised by law.
- Other information
We may collect and use non-identifiable information/data (e.g. tracking data about visits to our website; demographic data about service users to our funding bodies) where this is reasonable and lawful. - Third parties
Where reasonable and practicable, we will collect Personal Information only from you. However, third parties may pass on information about you to us, e.g. for the purpose of making a referral to a COTA Tasmania program or project. As part of our Care Finder program, we perform checks to ascertain if you consent to the referral and sharing of information with third parties such as family members, service providers, and medical professionals. In more general situations that do not involve a referral, we will take
reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of information provided to us by the third party. Where we actively seek information from third parties (e.g. service providers, government agencies), we will seek your consent first to do so, unless otherwise required by law. We are not responsible for privacy policies or any privacy breaches of third parties. - Disclosure of Personal Information
Your Personal Information may be disclosed in the following circumstances: - where you consent to the disclosure; or
- we are responding to a significant safety or risk concern, and we are acting under reasonable ‘duty
of care’ obligations; or - where we are required or authorised by law to disclose the information.
We will not disclose your Personal Information to third parties for marketing purposes, where the service or product is not provided directly by COTA Tasmania.- Security of Personal Information
Your Personal Information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. COTA Tasmania uses an encrypted, online Client Relationship Management (CRM) platform, Salesforce. Salesforce is hosted in the United States. If COTA Tasmania is involved in information data breach that affects individuals, we will contact the OAIC and follow the guidelines for notifiable data breaches. Detailed information about notifiable data breaches is available at: https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/notifiable-data-breaches . - Disposal of Personal Information
When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your Personal Information. However, most of the Personal Information is or will be stored in electronic client files, which will be kept by us for a minimum of seven (7) years. - Access to your Personal Information
You may access the information that we hold about you, by lodging a request in writing. If we need to exclude certain information, we will explain this to you and give reasons. COTA Tasmania will not charge any fee for making an access request, but we may charge an administrative fee for photocopying / postage of documents. We may require identification from you before releasing the requested information. - Maintaining the accuracy of your Personal Information
It is an important to us that your Personal Information is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is current, accurate, and complete. If you believe that the information we have may be out of date or is inaccurate, please advise us so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you. If we cannot alter certain information, we will explain this to you, and make a formal record of the details that you provide to us.
Photography
We will seek informed consent from individuals before publishing images of them. The exception to this is crowd-focused images, in which individuals are not easily identifiable. At COTA gatherings and other activities where we might take photos, we will either approach individuals to ask for their permission, or we will offer everyone the opportunity to wear a sticker indicating that they wish to opt out of having their photo taken.- Updates our Privacy Statement
This Privacy Statement may change from time to time, and it is available on our website. - Enquiries and complaints
If you have any queries or concerns about our privacy policies or procedures, or you want to make a complaint, please contact us on (03) 6231 3265 or admin@cotatas.org.au. The Privacy Officer for COTA Tasmania is the CEO (or delegate).