WHO WE ARE

Privacy Policy

At the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) your right to privacy and data security is a primary concern. It is a requirement of the Privacy Amendment Act (Private Sector) Act 2000 that you be informed about the type of information we hold about you and how we use this information.

RCOA members

The Refugee Council of Australia collects information from members to forward documentation associated with activities undertaken by the Council.

The Refugee Council of Australia ensures members’ rights to security and privacy are respected and any personal information supplied is protected.

The specific personal information collected for membership includes:

• Organisation or individual name
• Contact person
• Mailing address
• Home telephone
• Work telephone
• Email

Members are listed by name only in the RCOA Website and in the RCOA Annual Report. The Refugee Council of Australia does not disclose personal information to other parties and personal information provided by members is treated as strictly confidential.

RCOA supporters and friends

RCOA collects and stores information about supporters and friends who have donated to RCOA or who have indicated they would like to either volunteer at RCOA or receive up to date information about refugees and asylum seekers in Australia or overseas, RCOA events, and the RCOA Newsletter.

The information collected may include:
• Organisation or individual name
• Contact person
• Mailing address
• Home telephone
• Work telephone
• Email

You may, if you wish, donate or receive general information anonymously. This would need to be in the form of a money order or cash (please do not send cash through the mail). Apart from the information given to financial institutions required for normal bank processing, personal details of donors remain confidential unless the donor specifically directs otherwise. The mailing lists of donors are never sold, rented or exchanged to third parties.

We will always provide an opportunity to opt-out of receiving different types of RCOA information. If you do not wish to receive new information, just email us and we will delete your details from all lists.

RCOA website

RCOA collects and stores the following information about visitors to our website via our website server:

• server address
• domain name (for example .gov, .au)
• the date and time of visit
• the web pages accessed and documents downloaded
• previous site visited
• type of browser used

This information cannot directly identify individuals. It is only used to measure the number of visitors to the different parts of the site and to help us make the site more useful to you. As you are not required to enter any personal details in any part of the site you remain anonymous during your visit.

RCOA is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of any site that is linked to its Website. Your activity on those sites is covered by the privacy policies of those sites.

We may record your contact details address if you contact us. This message could be:

• feedback on our site – we use this to administer and improve our website;
• subscription to our email group which circulates the RCOA newsletter and up-to-date information about refugees and asylum seekers; or
• an inquiry to any of the email addresses listed on the RCOA website.

Use of information collected

The Refugee Council does not sell or loan any information collected. No data collected by RCOA from the site or for our database will be disclosed to any third party except where the details are required to transfer information for donations, to reply to a specific request that you might have or where it is legally required (such as in the investigation of a criminal office or in compliance with a search warrant or subpoena). Please note that this does not apply to contact details that are in the public domain.

Keeping details accurate and up-to-date

Accuracy of information is important to us. After being advised of any change, personal details that are recorded at RCOA are updated as soon as practical. To assist us in keeping your information accurate, please advise us if there are any errors or changes in your personal information.

The RCOA database

Databases maintained by the Refugee Council of Australia are secured with a password and only Refugee Council of Australia staff have access to this password.

How to contact us

If you have any questions or comments about RCOA’s privacy policy please contact RCOA’s Privacy Officer on 02 9211 9333 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday. Alternatively you can send an email us (attention Privacy Officer) or write to:

Privacy Officer
Refugee Council of Australia
Suite 4A6
410 Elizabeth Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010