Privacy Policy
Introduction
The Australian Education Union (SA Branch) represents employees in public education and training in South Australia. The Union collects personal information in order to achieve the objectives of the union and to provide services and benefits to union members. The Union operates in the industrial, political, legal and social spheres.
The Union is committed to protecting your privacy and providing you with information and services relevant to you. The Union complies with the Federal Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This Privacy Policy (Policy) should be read in conjunction with the Privacy Act and the APPs.
How this Policy applies
This Policy applies to personal information the Union collects from you:
• in writing
• via our websites;
• via social media;
• via telephone;
• via email;
• via fax;
• in person, and
• via publically available information.
This Policy also applies to personal information the Union may collect from the Australian Council of Trade Union, SA Unions or any other third party, about you.
Union websites
The Union website may collect anonymous information. The union’s web server has the capability to record site visits and log the following information for statistical purposes:
• the user's server address;
• the user's top level domain name;
• the date and time of the visit to the site;
• the pages accessed and documents downloaded;
• the type of browser used.
• the previous site visited; and
No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except in the unlikely event of a law enforcement agency exercising a warrant to inspect the internet service provider's logs.
Information may also be collected through the use of "cookies". A cookie is a small text file that may be placed on your computer. Cookies may be used to track the pages you have visited on our site, to remember your preferences and to store personal information about you.
You can adjust your Internet browser to disable cookies or to warn you when cookies are being used. However, if you disable cookies, you may not be able to access certain areas of the website or take advantage of the improved website experience that cookies offer.
The kinds of information the Union may collect
From time to time you may voluntarily supply your personal information to the Union. The Union will record your email address if you send us a message, subscribe to an email newsletter, or complete a form where this information is requested.
You may supply personal information to the Union by submitting a membership application form, responding to a survey, completing a meeting attendance sheet, taking part in a competition, discussing your issues with a union officer, or signing up to a campaign.
The Union only collects personal information that is necessary for the Union to perform its functions and activities. Your personal information allows us to accept your application for membership, assist you with industrial and employment queries and to inform you about industrial, social and political campaigns.
Depending upon the circumstances you may provide to the Union, and the Union may retain, information such as, but not limited to:
• your name;
• your contact details;
• your gender;
• your date of birth;
• your employment details;
• if you have identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander;
• training and conferences attended;
• your social media details; and
• details of your inquiries or requests for assistance.
Some personal information is considered sensitive information and includes:
• your political opinions;
• your political party membership (if any);
• your union membership;
• your racial or ethnic origin;
• your sexual orientation;
• any disabilities, illnesses or injuries you may have; and/or
• any other health information.
The Privacy Act allows the Union to collect sensitive information which relates solely to Union members or people who have regular contact with the Union if the sensitive information relates to the Union’s activities. We will only collect sensitive information where we have received your consent to your personal information being collected, used, disclosed and stored by the Union in accordance with this Policy.
Where you provide information to the Union 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 the Union. Where you provide the details of referees, you confirm that you have informed the referees that you are providing their contact information to the Union and they have consented to the Union 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 the Union’s collection of your personal information from third parties - for example, from the ACTU, SA Unions or your union representative; 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.
If you choose to interact with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym your decision to do so will affect the level of services we can offer you. 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 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
The Union collects, holds, uses and discloses your personal information in order to:
• assist us to respond to your industrial and employment 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 a legal or medical practitioner or other professional;
• improve our service delivery;
• conduct surveys and research;
• provide training and professional development;
• conduct Union elections.
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 information about events, products or services which we believe may be of interest to you.
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.
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:
• you may "unsubscribe" at any time from an enews mailing list;
• the Union may, from time to time, send you text messages about issues or activities. You may “opt out” by texting STOP in reply to a text message from the Union; or
• you may advise us at any time by mail or email.
Disclosure of your personal information
The Union may disclose your personal information, in connection with or to further the purposes outlined above, to:
• the ACTU and SA Unions;
• government agencies or other statutory bodies for the purposes of representing your interests or where required by state or federal legislation;
• organisations with whom we have a confidentiality agreement and to whom we outsource functions (including IT and print service providers and mailing 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 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 Australian Privacy Principles, or is subject to a law or scheme that is at least substantially similar to the way in which the Australian Privacy Principles protect information.
By providing your personal information to the Union, you consent to us transferring your personal information to such other organisations.
How the Union holds personal information
Wherever reasonably practicable the Union holds electronic personal information on data servers that are controlled by the Union in Australia. The data servers are password protected and login secured. However, by providing personal information to the Union you consent to your information being stored and processed on a data server or data servers (e.g. cloud services) owned by a third party or third parties that may be located outside of Australia.
The Union will take all reasonable steps to ensure that any third party provider complies with the APPs. Wherever reasonably practicable the Union holds physical personal information in access controlled premises.
When the Union no longer requires your personal information for a specific purpose and we are not required to keep it to comply with legislation, 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 membership 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 the Union to verify your identity for the purposes of our activities or functions;
• is reasonably necessary for the Union to fulfil its obligations to an agency or a State or Territory authority;
• is required or authorised 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 the Union
You have the right to request access to your personal information and request that it be updated or corrected. To request access to, correction of, or updating of any personal information held about you, please write to;
Privacy Officer
Australian Education Union (SA Branch)
163 Greenhill Road
PARKSIDE SA 5063
email: [email protected]
General enquiries can be made by telephoning (08) 8172 6300.
The Union requires that you provide proof of identity in order to seek access to your personal information held by the Union. The Union will seek to provide you with access to your personal information within 7 days of receipt of a valid request and may charge you a reasonable fee for doing so. The Union may refuse to provide access if permitted to do so by law or under the APPs.
You must advise the Union when your employment or personal information details change by contacting the AEU Membership Section. The Union may also take steps to update your employment or personal information by reference to publicly available sources of information.
How you may complain about a breach of the APPs
To make a complaint about an alleged breach of the APPs by the Union you can write to the union’s Privacy Officer at:
Australian Education Union (SA Branch)
163 Greenhill Road
PARKSIDE SA 5063
email: [email protected]
Complaints must be lodged in writing and provide all relevant details of your complaint as well as any supporting documentation.
How the Union will deal with complaints
The Union 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 Privacy Officer; and
the outcome of an investigation will be provided to the complainant where the complainant has provided proof of identity. The Union will seek to respond within 30 days of receipt of a valid complaint.
Variations to the Policy
This Policy may be varied from time to time to reflect changes to privacy legislation or the Australian Privacy Principles, in which case the updated version will be posted on the Union’s website.