Privacy policy

Introduction  

The Council of First Nations collects information from our members, subscribers and other organisations and individuals to maintain accurate membership and subscription records in the course of the Council of First Nations’ business. Some of this information is personal.  

The purpose of this privacy policy is to tell you what kind of information we collect from you, how we collect it, how we use that information, and whether we will disclose it to anyone else. It also explains how we store the information you provide to us, how you can access or correct it, and how you can contact us if you have questions or complaints.  

We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected and that any personal information we collect from you will be used in accordance with this privacy policy and Australian law.  

What is personal information?  

Personal Information is defined in the Act as being information or an opinion about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from that information or opinion. Personal Information includes, for example, names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth and passport numbers. 

There are circumstances in which, under the Act, information about an individual is not considered to be Personal Information, including: 

  • When it relates to a person who has been dead for more than 30 years; and 
  • When it is contained in a publicly available publication. 

What personal information do we collect?  

Personal information provided by you to the Council of First Nations will be used by the Council of First Nations for the primary purpose for which you provided it and for other secondary purposes directly related to that primary purpose. The Council of First Nations is not responsible for the privacy practices of web sites external to the Council of First Nations. 

The types of personal information we collect may include your name, address, telephone number, email address, information about your organisation, and any information you provide to us through communications, our office, surveys or visits by our representatives.  

For job applicants and staff we may also collect CV and recruitment information such as qualifications, skills, experience, character and screening checks (including health, reference, background, directorship, financial probity, identity, eligibility to work, vocational suitability and criminal record checks).  

We collect personal information from you in a number of ways, including through your online interaction with us on our website or emails, during conversations between you and our representatives and when you apply to volunteer or work with us.  

Sometimes we collect personal information about you from someone else or a public source, or by creating new information from analysis and processing of information we already have.  

Sensitive information  

We will not collect other sensitive information about you, including information about your ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices, or criminal record unless you have consented for us to do so, or the collection of the information is required or authorised by Australian law. For example in connection with employment applications, we may ask whether you wish to provide information about whether you identify as:  

  • An Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person;  
  • A person from a culturally and linguistically diverse background; and/or  
  • A person having a disability.  

  

Our undertakings 

We make the following commitments regarding personal information: 

  • We take reasonable steps to make individuals aware that we are collecting personal information about them. 
  • We disclose the purposes for which we collect information and the parties to whom we may pass the information. 
  • We obtain permission from the subject or, in the case of a child, a person with legal responsibility for their welfare, to use their image for the Council of First Nations publications or website. 
  • We provide individuals with access to their personal information held by the Council of First Nations and allow for corrections or annotations if the information is inaccurate, out-of-date or incomplete. 
  • We take all reasonable steps to ensure and protect the confidentiality and security of personal information in our handling and storage. 
  • We seek approval from the concerned individual(s) before disclosing personal information to a third party, unless specifically exempted by legislation or unless the individual(s) have been informed in advance about the disclosure to a third party. 
  • We have in place a process for handling privacy complaints, addressing them quickly and effectively, and offering recourse to an independent adjudicator if complainants are not satisfied with the Council of First Nations’ internal complaint handling procedures.