Australians for Better Government Privacy Policy

This Policy was last reviewed and updated on: 16 January 2025

Privacy Policy

Australians for Better Government Inc. values and respects the privacy of the people we deal with. RF(IC) Inc. is committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and other applicable privacy laws and regulations.

This Privacy Policy (Policy) describes how we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information, and how we maintain the quality and security of your personal information.

What is personal information?

“Personal information” means any information or opinion, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. In general terms, this includes information or an opinion that personally identifies you either directly (e.g. your name) or indirectly.

What personal information do we collect?

The personal information we collect about you depends on the nature of your dealings with us or what you choose to share with us.

The personal information we collect about you may include:

• Name

• Mailing or street address

• Date of birth

• Email address

• Mobile phone number

• Associated Clubs or Organisations

• Social Media Names 

• Specialist skills or expertise

Under certain circumstances, Australians for Better Government Inc. may need to collect sensitive information about you. This might include any information or opinion about your political opinions, political association, philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body.

If we collect your sensitive information, we will do so only with your consent, if it is necessary to prevent a serious and imminent threat to life or health, or as otherwise required or authorised by law. We will take appropriate measures to protect the security of this information.

You do not have to provide us with your personal information. Where possible, we will give you the option to interact with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym. However, if you choose to deal with us in this way or choose not to provide us with your personal information, we may not be able to provide you with our services or otherwise interact with you.

How do we collect your personal information?

We collect your personal information directly from you when you:

• Interact with us over the phone

• Interact with us in person

• Interact with us online

• Apply to be a member of Australians for Better Government Inc.

• Participate in surveys or questionnaires

• Attend an Australians for Better Government Inc. event

• Subscribe to our mailing list

• Apply for a position with us as a volunteer

How do we use your personal information?

We use personal information for many purposes in connection with our functions and activities, including the following purposes:

• Accept you as a member of our Association 

• Inform you of Community events and meetings

• Invite you to attend Community Meetings

• Invite you to attend Annual General meeting (AGM)

• Voting rights at AGM’s

• Internal administrative purposes

• Marketing and research purposes

• Send you Newsletters from the Association

• Invite you to become a Volunteer of the Association

Disclosure of personal information to third parties

We may disclose your personal information to third parties in accordance with this Policy in circumstances where you would reasonably expect us to disclose your information. For example, we may disclose your personal information to:

• Department of Fair Trading – if requested by Law 

• Our professional services advisors; For issuing invoices for membership renewal

Maintenance of Membership Records

In accordance with the Associations Incorporation Act 2009, membership records must be made available by the Association for inspection. A members can request that all records with the exception of their name are maintained as confidential.

To ensure that this requirement,

• Membership applications provide a checkbox for to request that “all membership details with the exception of my name are kept confidential and are not made available in an inspection.”

• A separate membership register which can be made available for inspection with redacted personal details for those members specifying details are to be kept confidential.

How do we protect your personal information?

Australians for Better Government Inc. will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information that we hold about you is kept confidential and secure, including by:

·         Having a robust physical security of our premises and databases/ records;

·         Implementing a secure online document management system Having a secure online document management system with appropriate safeguards for file access, backup;

·         Establishing controls on our website to protect the data we collect online, utilising encryption and secure data transmission protocols; and

·         Taking measures to restrict access to personal information exclusively to authorised personnel who require it to provide you with membership services effectively.

Online activity

A privacy policy is available on the website and will be reviewed periodically at https://www.australiansforbetter.com

The following provisions are in place in regard to privacy for the website.

Cookies

The Australians for Better Government Inc. website uses cookies. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers the website puts on your device if you allow it. These cookies recognise when your device has visited our website(s) before, so we can distinguish you from other users of the website. This improves your experience and the Australians for Better Government Inc. website.

We do not use cookies to identify you, just to improve your experience on our website. If you do not wish to use the cookies, you can amend the settings on your internet browser so it will not automatically download cookies. However, if you remove or block cookies on your computer, please be aware that your browsing experience and our website’s functionality may be affected.

Third Party Services

The website uses Google Analytics (“Third Party Service to help the website operators analyse how visitors use the site. The information generated by the cookie about the visitors’ use of the website will generally be transmitted to and stored by Third-Party Service on servers in the [United States]. Please be aware that Association cannot or does not control the use of cookies or the resulting information by the Third Party Service.

On behalf of Australians for Better Government Inc. Third Party Service will use this information for the purpose of evaluating the website / location/ credentials for its users, in order to compile reports on website activity and to provide other services relating to website activity and internet usage for website operators. 

Direct marketing

We may send you direct marketing communications and information about our events that we consider may be of interest to you if you have requested or consented to receive such communications. These communications may be sent in various forms, including mail, SMS, fax and email, in accordance with applicable marketing laws, such as the Australian Spam Act 2003 (Cth). You consent to us sending you those direct marketing communications by any of those methods. If you indicate a preference for a method of communication, we will endeavour to use that method whenever practical to do so.

You may opt-out of receiving marketing communications from us at any time by following the instructions to “unsubscribe'' set out in the relevant communication.

Links to third party sites

The Australians for Better Government Inc. website may contain links to websites operated by third parties. If you access a third party website through our website, personal information may be collected by that third party website. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of any third party provider or website and we are not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of any third party provider or website. Third party providers / websites are responsible for informing you about their own privacy practices and we encourage you to read their privacy policies.

Retention of personal information

We will not keep your personal information for longer than we need to. In most cases, this means that we will only retain your personal information for the duration of your relationship with us unless we are required to retain your personal information to comply with applicable laws, for example record-keeping obligations.

How to access and correct your personal information

Australians for Better Government Inc. will endeavour to keep your personal information accurate, complete and up to date.

If you wish to make a request to access and / or correct the personal information we hold about you, you should make a request by contacting us and we will usually respond within 10 days.

Inquiries and complaints

For complaints about how Australians for Better Government Inc. handles, processes or manages your personal information, please contact https://www.australiansforbetter.com. Note we may require proof of your identity including your membership number and full details of your request before we can process your complaint.

Please allow up to 5-7 days for Australians for Better Government Inc. to respond to your complaint. It will not always be possible to resolve a complaint to everyone’s satisfaction. If you are not satisfied with Australians for Better Government Inc. response to a complaint, you have the right to contact the Office of Australian Information Commissioner (at www.oaic.gov.au) to lodge a complaint.

How to contact us

If you have a question or concern in relation to our handling of your personal information or this Policy, you can contact us for assistance as follows:

Email

steven.tripp@australiansforbetter.com