Introduction
Save Our Services is a campaign led by public sector unions and administered by UnionsWA. UnionsWA is the peak body representing trade unions in Western Australia. UnionsWA collects personal information in order to conduct its work of promoting trade unions and improving the lives of all West Australians and their families. We may also collect information to inform you about or provide you with products and services. UnionsWA operates in the political, legal, industrial and social spheres. UnionsWA is committed to protecting your privacy and providing you with information and services relevant to you. UnionsWA complies with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This Privacy Policy (Policy) should be read in conjunction with the Privacy Act and the APPs.
In this Policy, UnionsWA applies to the Save Our Services campaign.
How this Policy applies
This Policy applies to personal information UnionsWA collects from you:
- via one of our websites;
- via social media;
- via telephone;
- via email;
- via fax;
- in person; and/or
- in writing.
This Policy also applies to personal information UnionsWA collects from its affiliated trade unions or any other third party, about you.
UnionsWA websites
All UnionsWA-administered websites collect two types of information. The first type is anonymous information. The web server makes a record of your visit and logs the following information for statistical purposes:
- the user's server address;
- the user's top level domain name (e.g. .com, .gov, .net, .au, etc.);
- the date and time of the visit to the site;
- the pages accessed and documents downloaded;
- the previous site visited; and
- the type of browser used.
No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the internet service provider's logs. The second type of information that UnionsWA websites collect is personal information. Personal information is requested in order to provide personalised and enhanced services that are not available to anonymous users. A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied to information about the user. Cookies may be used on UnionsWA’s websites. Our websites may contain links to other websites and social media pages including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We are not responsible for the privacy policies of the entities responsible for those websites and we recommend that you review the privacy policies applicable to any other websites you visit.
The kinds of personal information the UnionsWA may collect
From time to time you may voluntarily supply your personal information to UnionsWA. The UnionsWA will also record your e-mail address if you send us a message, subscribe to an email newsletter, or complete a form if this information is requested. When you provide your personal information, it allows us, for example, to assist you with industrial relations and employment queries, inform you about industrial, social and political campaigns, and refer you to an appropriate trade union. You may supply personal information to UnionsWA by, for example, responding to a survey, taking part in a competition, or signing up to a campaign. UnionsWA only collects personal information that is necessary for UnionsWA to perform its functions and/or activities. Depending upon the circumstances, you may provide to UnionsWA, and UnionsWA may collect, information such as, but not limited to:
- your name;
- your contact details;
- your social media details (e.g. blogs, twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn);
- your gender;
- your marital status;
- your employment details;
- your educational qualifications; and
- your inquiry or complaint details.
Some personal information is considered sensitive information and includes:
- your political opinions;
- your political party membership (if any);
- your union membership (if any);
- your racial or ethnic origin;
- your sexual orientation;
- any disabilities, illnesses or injuries you may have; and/or
- any other health information.
We will only collect sensitive information where we have received your consent to that information being collected, used, disclosed and stored by the UnionsWA in accordance with this Policy, and provided that the collection is reasonably necessary for us to pursue one or more of our functions or activities. Where you provide information to UnionsWA in relation to a job application the personal information you provide will only be collected, held, used and disclosed for the purposes of considering your potential employment with UnionsWA. Where you provide the details of referees, you confirm that you have informed the referees that you are providing their contact information to UnionsWA and they have consented to UnionsWA contacting them and discussing the personal information you have provided in relation to the job application. We will collect personal information directly from you unless:
- you have consented to UnionsWA’s collection of your personal information from third parties - for example, UnionsWA’s affiliated trade unions, or your representatives; or
- when we are legally required to do so; or
- it is unreasonable or impractical to do so.
Where we have collected personal information about you either directly or by other means as set out above, we will notify you at the time, or as soon as practicable, to ensure that you are aware of such collection and its purpose. You can choose to interact with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym where it is lawful and practicable. For example, you may wish to participate in a blog or enquire about a particular campaign anonymously or under a pseudonym. Your decision to interact anonymously or by using a pseudonym may affect the level of service we can offer you. For example, we may not be able to assist you with a specific industrial enquiry or investigate a privacy complaint on an anonymous or pseudonymous basis. We will inform you if this is the case and let you know the options available to you. If we receive unsolicited personal information about or relating to you and we determine that such information could have been collected in the same manner if we had solicited the information, then we will treat it in the same way as solicited personal information and in accordance with the APPs. Otherwise if we determine that such information could not have been collected in the same manner as solicited personal information, and that information is not contained in a Commonwealth record, we will, if it is lawful and reasonable to do so, destroy the information or de-identify the information.
The purposes for which personal information is collected, held, used and disclosed
UnionsWA collects, holds, uses and discloses your personal information including your email address to:
- assist you with industrial relations and employment related queries;
- inform you about industrial, social and political campaigns;
- inform you about your rights at work;
- inform you about changes to legislation;
- refer you to an appropriate union;
- improve our service delivery and websites;
- manage UnionsWA’s relationship with you;
- conduct surveys and research;
- provide educational services and professional development;
- promote and market UnionsWA events, products or services;
- enable our partners and sponsors to promote and market their events, products or services to you;
- subscribe you to UnionsWA’s email newsletter(s); and/or
- enable our third party service providers to do or assist with the above.
Using your information for direct marketing
You consent to our use and disclosure of your personal information for the purposes of direct marketing which may include providing you with promotional material, information about events, products or services of the UnionsWA or third parties such as partners and sponsors, which may be of interest to you, now and in the future. If you do not want us to use your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may elect not to receive direct marketing at the time of providing your personal information. You can opt out when you are contacted, or you can contact us using the contact details set out below, if you do not want to receive marketing information.
Unsubscribing and opting out
If you no longer wish to receive direct marketing or other communications, you may request at any time to cancel your consent to such communications as follows:
- If subscribing to an email newsletter you may "unsubscribe" at any time from the newsletter mailing list;
- UnionsWA may, from time to time, send you text messages about issues of importance such as events or campaigns. You may “opt out” by texting STOP in reply to a text message from UnionsWA;
- You may contact us at any time by mail or email directed to our Privacy Officer.
Disclosure of your personal information
UnionsWA may disclose your personal information, in connection with or to further the purposes outlined above, to:
- affiliated trade unions;
- political parties, their candidates or Members of Parliament;
- government bodies or agencies (including the Fair Work Commission, the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Australian Tax Office, an anti-discrimination body, a work/occupational health and safety regulator);
- organisations to whom we outsource functions (including information technology providers, print service providers, mail houses);
- otherwise as you have consented; and/or
- otherwise as required by law.
If any of these organisations are located outside Australia, you expressly consent to us disclosing your personal information to those organisations. These parties may be located in the following countries:
- The United States of America
We take reasonable steps to ensure that each organisation that we disclose your personal information to is committed to protecting your privacy and complies with the APPs, or is subject to a law or scheme that is at least substantially similar to the way in which the APPs protect information. By providing your personal information to UnionsWA, you consent to us transferring your personal information to such other organisations.
How UnionsWA holds personal information
Wherever reasonably practicable UnionsWA holds electronic personal information on data servers that are owned and controlled by UnionsWA in Australia. The data servers are password protected and login secured. However, by providing personal information to UnionsWA you consent to your information being stored and processed on a data server or data servers (such as cloud services) owned by a third party or third parties that may be located outside of Australia.
UnionsWA will take reasonable steps to ensure that any third party providers comply with the APPs, or are subject to a law or scheme that is at least substantially similar to the way in which the APPs protect information. Wherever reasonably practicable UnionsWA holds physical personal information in access controlled premises. When UnionsWA no longer requires your personal information for a specific purpose and we are not required to keep it to comply with any laws, we will take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to destroy your personal information or to ensure that the information is de-identified.
Government Identifiers
We will not adopt as our own identifier a government related identifier of an individual, such as a tax file number or Medicare card number and will only use or disclose a government related identifier where the use or disclosure:
- is reasonably necessary for UnionsWA to verify your identity for the purposes of our activities or functions;
- is reasonably necessary for UnionsWA to fulfil its obligations to an agency or a State or Territory authority;
- is required or authorised by or under an Australian law; or
- is reasonably necessary for one or more enforcement related activities conducted by, or on behalf of, an enforcement body.
How you may seek access and/or correction to personal information held by UnionsWA
You have the right to request access to your personal information and request that it be updated or corrected. In most cases you can gain access to your personal information that UnionsWA holds. To request access to, correction of, or updating of any personal information held about you, please write to the UnionsWA Privacy Officer at the following address:
UnionsWA Privacy Officer
UnionsWA
PO Box Z5380 St Georges Tce
PERTH WA 6831
Email: [email protected]
General enquiries can be made via telephone by calling the following number:
Phone: (08) 6313 6000
UnionsWA requires that you provide proof of identity in order to seek access to your personal information. UnionsWA may refuse to provide access if permitted to do so by law or under the APPs. UnionsWA will seek to provide you with access to your personal information within 30 days of receipt of a valid request and may charge you a reasonable fee for doing so.
You can contact UnionsWA to let us know if any of your personal information has changed. Please contact the UnionsWA Privacy Officer in writing to update any personal information. UnionsWA may also take steps to update your personal information by reference to publicly available sources such as telephone directories or electoral rolls.
How you may complain about a breach of the APPs
To make a complaint about an alleged breach of the APPs please write to or email the UnionsWA Privacy Officer at one of the following addresses:
UnionsWA Privacy Officer
UnionsWA
PO Box Z5380 St Georges Tce
PERTH WA 6831
Email: [email protected]
General enquiries can be made via telephone by calling the following number:
Phone: (08) 6313 6001
All complaints must be written. Please provide all details about your complaint as well as any supporting documentation to the UNIONSWA Privacy Officer.
How UnionsWA will deal with complaints
UnionsWA will seek to deal with privacy complaints as follows:
- complaints will be treated seriously;
- complaints will be dealt with promptly;
- complaints will be dealt with confidentially;
- complaints will be investigated by the UnionsWA Privacy Officer; and
- the outcome of an investigation will be provided to the complainant where the complainant has provided proof of identity.
UnionsWA will seek to respond within 30 days of receipt of a valid complaint.
This Policy may be varied from time to time and an updated version will be posted on the UnionsWA’s websites. Please check our websites regularly to ensure that you have the most recent version of the Policy.
Adopted date: 22 September 2015