Privacy Policy

Introduction

This Privacy Policy statement details how PTCWA Inc. (the Association) protects your privacy and how we comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act (1998) and the 13 Australian Privacy Principles.

This policy also describes:

• who we collect information from;
• the types of personal information collected and held by us;
• how this information is collected and held;
• the purposes for which your personal information is collected, held, used and disclosed;
• how you can gain access to your personal information and seek its correction;
• how you may complain or inquire about our collection, handling, use or disclosure of your personal information and how that complaint or inquiry will be handled; and
• whether we are likely to disclose your personal information to any overseas recipients.

What kind of personal information does the Association collect and how does the Association collect it?

The type of information the Association collects and holds includes (but is not limited to) personal information, which is the first and surname of members, their workplace or their home address, their email address, status of employment and type of membership.

What kinds of personal information do we collect?

The kinds of personal information we collect is largely dependent upon whose information we are collecting and why we are collecting it.

Personal information you provide

The Association will generally collect personal information about an individual in reference to their membership records. Personal information includes names, addresses and other contact details and financial information.

Sensitive information

Sensitive information is a person's religion, race and ethnicity, political opinion, union membership, criminal record or sexual preferences. No details about any member of a sensitive nature will be collected.

How do we collect your personal information?

How the Association collects personal information will largely be dependent upon whose information is being collected. If it is reasonable and practical to do so, we collect personal information directly from you.

Where possible the Association has attempted to standardise the collection of personal information by using specifically designed forms (eg Membership forms). However, given the nature of our operations, we often also receive personal information by email, letters, notes, over the telephone, in face-to-face meetings, through financial transactions, etc.

Sometimes we may be provided with your personal information without having sought it through our normal means of collection. We refer to this as ‘unsolicited information’. Where we collect unsolicited information we will only hold, use and/or disclose that information if we could otherwise do so had we collected it by normal means. If that unsolicited information could not have been collected by normal means then we will destroy, permanently delete or de-identify the information as appropriate.

How we use personal information

The Association will only use personal information that is reasonably necessary for one or more of our functions or activities (the primary purpose) or for a related secondary purpose that would be reasonably expected by you, or to which you have consented.

In relation to personal information of members, the Association’s primary purpose of collection is to enable the Association to provide professional development and to disseminate information to its members.

The purposes for which the Association uses personal information of members include, but are not limited to:

• providing professional development opportunities;
• providing membership details for proof of attendance at professional development opportunities;
• keeping members informed about matters related to the association;
• sending copies of the Association’s newsletter; and
• Association day-to-day operations.

The Association will only use or disclose personal information for a secondary purpose if you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose the information, and the secondary purpose is directly related to the primary purpose.

Management and security of personal information

The Association committee members are required to respect the confidentiality of the membership’s personal information and the privacy of all individuals.

The Association has in place steps to protect the personal information the Association holds from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by use of various methods including locked storage of paper records and pass worded access rights to digital records.

Storage and security of personal information

We store personal information in a variety of formats including on databases, in hard copy files and on personal devices including laptop computers, mobile phones, and other recording devices.

The security of your personal information is of importance to us and we take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold about you from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

These steps include:

• Restricting access to information on the Association databases on a need to know basis with different levels of security being allocated to committee members based on their roles and responsibilities
• Ensuring all committee members are aware that they are not to reveal or share personal passwords
• Ensuring where personal information is stored in hard copy files that these files are stored in lockable filing cabinets. Access to these records is restricted to staff on a need-to-know basis.
• Implementing procedures which are designed to protect information storage on any computer networks.
• Implementing confidentiality and document security policies, designed to ensure that committee members follow correct protocols when handling personal information.
• Undertaking due diligence with respect to third party service providers who may have access to personal information, including cloud service providers, to ensure as far as practicable that they are compliant with the Australian Privacy Principles or a similar privacy regime.

Personal information we hold that is no longer needed is destroyed in a secure manner, deleted or de-identified as appropriate.

The Association website may contain links to other websites. We do not share your personal information with those websites and we are not responsible for their privacy practices. Please check their privacy policies.

When we disclose personal information

We only use personal information for the purposes for which it was given to us, or for purposes which are related to one or more of our functions or activities. We will not disclose your personal information to any third parties.

Updating personal information

The Association endeavours to ensure that the personal information that it holds is accurate, complete and up-to-date. A person may seek to update their personal information held by the Association by contacting the Association’s Executive Officer ([email protected]) at any time. The Australian Privacy Principles require the Association not to store personal information longer than necessary.

Disclosure of personal information to overseas recipients

The Association will not send personal information about an individual outside Australia.

How we ensure the quality of your personal information

We take all reasonable steps to ensure the personal information we hold, use and disclose is accurate, complete and up to date. These steps include ensuring that the personal information is accurate, complete and up to date at the time of collection and when using or disclosing the personal information. On an ongoing basis we maintain and update personal information when we are advised by individuals or when we become aware through other means that their personal information has changed.

Please contact us if any of the details you have provided change. You should also contact us if you believe that the information we have about you is not accurate, complete or up to date.

You have the right to check what personal information the Association holds about you

Under the Privacy Act (1998), an individual has the right to obtain access to any personal information which the Association holds about you and to advise the Association of any perceived inaccuracy. There are some exceptions to this right as set out in the Act.

To make a request to access any personal information the Association holds about you, or request that we change the personal information, contact the Association’s Executive Officer.

The Association may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require.

Privacy complaints

If you wish to make a complaint about a breach by the Association of the Australian Privacy Principles, you may do so by providing your written complaint by email, letter, facsimile or by personal delivery to any one of our contact details as noted below. You may also make a complaint verbally.

We will respond to your complaint within a reasonable time (usually no longer than 14 days) and we may seek further information from you in order to provide a full and complete response.

Your complaint may also be taken to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

How to contact us

You can contact us about this Privacy Policy or about your personal information by:

• Emailing [email protected]; or
• Visiting the PTCWA website and contacting anyone on the Committee; or
• Writing to our Executive Officer
  PTCWA
  PO Box 196
  MOUNT HAWTHORN WA 6915

If practical, you can contact us anonymously (ie without identifying yourself) or by using a pseudonym. However, if you choose not to identify yourself, we may not be able to give you the information or provide the assistance you might otherwise receive if it is not practical to do so.

Changes to our privacy and information handling practices

The Association may, from time to time, review and update this Privacy Policy to take account of new laws and technology, changes to the Associations’ operations and practices and to make sure it remains appropriate to the changing education environment. The Association will advise key stakeholders of any updates to the Policy.

Further information

• Australian Privacy Principles
• Privacy for organisations
• Privacy for individuals
• Freedom of information

Created by PTCWA Executive
Managed by PTCWA Executive
Contact person: Executive Officer
Date approved: 22 January 2019