Privacy Policy
The Launceston Benevolent Society is committed to upholding the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988.
The APPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your personal information.
This Privacy Policy sets out how we manage your personal and sensitive information and protect your privacy.
What is Personal and Sensitive Information and why do we collect it?
Personal information is information or an opinion that identifies an individual. Examples of personal information we collect include: names, addresses, date of birth, email addresses and phone numbers.
Sensitive information is a type of personal information and is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information.
We collect your personal information for the primary purpose of providing our services to you, for providing information to you and to comply with our legal obligations. We also collect personal information to assess your welfare needs and to provide you with welfare and community services or to direct you to relevant services.
We may also collect your sensitive information (which includes health information), such as information about your disability or mental health status, in order to support you or to refer you to relevant support services.
We may also collect personal information from our supporters and donors in order to provide receipts for donations and information about our organisation.
What kinds of personal information do we collect?
The type of information we collect may include (but is not limited to):
· your name, date of birth and country of birth
· your contact details including address, phone number and email address
· information about your personal circumstances such as living arrangements, marital status, gender, relevant information about your partner and children and information about your income and expenses
· information about your background including ethnicity, languages spoken, medical history, health and disability information
· Information about the services we have provided to you and the reasons you have needed our services.
How do we collect your personal information?
We collect most of your personal information directly from you either in person, over the phone, by email or by completing an online form on our website. We may also collect personal information from third parties where you have authorised us to do so.
Third Parties
Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your personal information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties. In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.
To whom do we disclose personal information?
Your personal information may be disclosed in a number of circumstances including the following:
· third parties who assist us in supplying our services or who perform functions on our behalf such as software developers, printers and mailing houses
· to relevant Government agencies to apply for subsidies and grants
· other third parties where you consent to the use or disclosure
· where required or authorised by law
· in some circumstances we may provide statistical data from the personal information we collect, however, in these instances, the data will be aggregated and de-identified before it is disclosed to third parties.
We do not disclose your personal information to oversees recipients.
Security of your personal information
We hold personal information both electronically and in hard copy form.
We take reasonable steps to protect your personal Information from misuse and loss and from unauthorized access, modification or disclosure. These steps include password protected software, firewalls, anti-virus software etc. Hard files are kept in locked filing cabinets and confidentiality agreements are signed by staff and volunteers. Only authorised people have access to personal information.
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 it.
Access to your personal information
You may access the personal information we hold about you and update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions allowed by law. If you wish to access your personal information, please contact us in writing. If we deny any request for access, we will provide you with our reasons.
The Launceston Benevolent Society will not charge any fee for your access request but does reserve the right to charge you for our reasonable costs for providing a copy of your personal information.
In order to protect your personal information, we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.
Maintaining the quality of your personal information
It is an important to us that your personal information is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us in writing as soon as practicable so we can update our records. If we deny any request for updating or correcting your personal information, we will provide you with our reasons.
Privacy Policy Complaints and Enquiries
If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy please contact us at:
Launceston Benevolent Society
5 Innocent Street, Kings Meadows, TAS, 7249
benevolentsociety@bigpond.com Phone: 03 6344 4213
For general information about privacy, or if your concerns are not resolved to your satisfaction, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au and on 1300 363 992.
Policy Updates
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. You can access a current version on our website at www.lbs.org.au.
Version date: May 2021