Policy Statement
BlaQ Aboriginal Corporation (BlaQ) values and respects the privacy and
confidentiality of the people and communities we deal with. Thank you for trusting
us with your personal information. BlaQ is committed to protecting your
confidentiality, and recognises the importance of us complying with the Privacy Act
1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained
in the Privacy Act.
In accordance with the Privacy Act and APPs, this Privacy Policy (Policy)
describes how BlaQ manages, collects, holds, uses and discloses your personal
information. The Policy also explains how a client can have their information
changed or altered if it is incorrect or out of date.
This Policy applies to the whole of BlaQ, including our Board, all staff, volunteers
and contracted service partners.
Personal Information
For the purpose of this Policy, “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.
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, and is not limited to your:
● full name
● mailing or street address
● date of birth
● email address
● phone number
Sensitive Information
Under certain circumstances, BlaQ may need to collect sensitive information about
you. Sensitive information is a subset of personal information. For the purpose of
this Policy, “sensitive information” means information or opinion about an
individual’s racial or 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 orientation
or practices, gender identification, criminal record or health information about an
individual. BlaQ will only collect your sensitive information with your prior informed
consent.
How we Collect your Personal Information
We collect your personal information directly from you when you interact with us in
person, over the phone, online, participate in surveys or questionnaires, apply for
membership, employment, volunteering, and/or subscribe to our mailing list.
Use and Disclosure
We use your personal information with your consent, to comply with our legal and
regulatory obligations, or to inform and strengthen our organisation internally, such
as monitoring, analysing and researching our service provision and its
effectiveness and impact. Your Personal Information is stored in a manner that
reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorized access,
modification or disclosure.
We may however disclose your personal information with your consent, to comply
with our legal and regulatory obligations, or confidentially with our agents,
suppliers and advisors when they are doing work for us or supplying us services
so we can service our community. Some of our suppliers (such as third party
service provider databases we use to store personal information) are based
overseas, meaning your personal information may be stored in Australia or
overseas.
In rare cases, we may use or disclose personal information where it is reasonably
necessary and permitted by law, such as to lessen or prevent serious threats to
life, health or safety, or as part of legal proceedings.
When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it
was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify
your Personal Information. However, most of the Personal Information is or will be
stored in client files which will be kept by us for a minimum of 7 years.
Cookies
Our website and social media platforms use cookies, which are small text files
created and stored on your device by your internet browser. These hold
information about the pages you view and help personalise your browsing
experience. We do not use cookies to identify you, just to improve your experience
on our website.
You can disable cookies using the options in your internet browser, although some
website functionality may not be available or may not function correctly if you do.
Inquiries and Complaints
If you have any concerns, questions or complaints about the way we have used
your personal information, please contact us so we can look into it and do our best
to get it fixed for you.
You can contact us at admin@blaq.org.au.
