Seniors Rights Service Privacy Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to set out how Seniors Rights Service will protect the privacy of individuals and their personal information.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all Employees, Volunteers and Board Members of Seniors Rights Service, including permanent, temporary, casual employees and volunteers

3. Policy Statement

Seniors Rights service will collect, hold, use and disclose personal information and ensure compliance with the following Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and with the 13 Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act

  • Privacy and Personal Information Act 1988 (NSW) (PPIP Act).
  • To the extent that Seniors Rights Service handles health information compliance with the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2022 (NSW)
  • Contractual and legislative obligations

Seniors Rights Service is committed to protecting and upholding the right to privacy, and this policy will apply to all records whether hard copy or electronic. The organisation is bound by laws which impose specific obligations when it comes to handling information and this policy outlines how personal information is managed by the organisation.

3.1 Personal Information collected

Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified, or reasonably identifiable, individual. During the provision of its services, Seniors Rights Service may collect your personal information. Generally, the kinds of personal information Seniors Rights Service will collect are as follows:
identifying information such as your name and date of birth;
contact information such as your postal address, email address and telephone number

  • social media handles and other social media profile information that you make available to us or to the public;
  • contextual information such as family type, country of birth, year of arrival in Australia, language spoken at home, occupation;
  • sensitive information, such as racial or cultural background, criminal history and health information, English proficiency, need for an interpreter, or disability;
  • records of our communications with you (including any messages you send to us);
  • if you make a donation bank account, credit card or other financial details;
  • where we provide you with legal advice, information about your case or situation including financial details and (if applicable) details of your financial manager or guardian;
  •  if you make a complaint, details of your complaint and information collected in any investigation of the matter, and details of how the complaint was resolved;
  • where you apply for a role with us, information you include in your application including resume, contact details and references;
  • where you attend a professional development, training program, or another event with us, your name, organisation, contact details, payment details (if applicable), and any dietary or accessibility requirements;
  • where you register for a subscription to our publications, your name, organisation and contact details and details about the information you access in our publications;
  • where you participate in our surveys, your name, organisational contact details and your survey responses.

Without this information Seniors Rights Service may not be able to provide our services or respond to queries or requests.

3.2 How personal information is collected

Personal information is generally collected directly from the individual through the completion of forms, an interaction or exchange in person, online, via telephone or post. Additionally, there may be times where personal information is collected from other sources and we may collect information in the following ways
•

  • medical practitioners with your consent;
  • Seniors Rights Service client(s) where you may be on the opposing side of a legal dispute;
  • your employer, where you act as a volunteer of Seniors Rights Service
  • an information services provider;
  • a publicly maintained record or other publicly available sources of information including social media and similar websites;
  • if for recruitment purposes, an external recruitment or background screening services provider.
  • when you submit a query or request to us;
  • when you provide us with information in relation to our services
  • when you respond to a survey, attend an event or forum or fill in forms on our website;
  • by tracking your use of our website (e.g., by logging server addresses, top level domain names, dates and times of visits, pages viewed, and documents downloaded, previous sites visited and browser type);
  • from third parties who are entitled to disclose that information to us (for example from a social worker, support worker or government department; and
  • when you apply for a job with us.

Where we are providing legal advice to you, we must collect personal information relevant to the provision of legal advice under legal profession laws.

Where we collect personal information from you, Seniors Rights Service teams will conduct this however, in some cases we may collect personal information from a third party, such as through your representatives, contractors who provide services to us, or third parties who refer you to us.

3.3 How personal information is used

Seniors Rights Service collects, holds, uses and discloses your personal information where it is reasonably necessary for the purposes of:

  • providing legal services, advocacy and educational services to older people in New South Wales
  • service monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and management of the volume of legal services provided through Seniors Rights Service
  • meeting reporting requirements of regulatory authorities who may provide funding to Seniors Rights Service, including but not limited to the Department of Health (NSW), Legal Aid (NSW), Office of Fair Trading (NSW), and the Attorney-General’s Department (Cth) and Department of Communities and Justice NSW
  • meeting the requirements of the Legal Profession Uniform Law, Solicitor Conduct Rules and other applicable legislation, regulations and rules related to legal practice
  • notifying you, or the organisation you represent, of services provided by Seniors Rights Service that may be of interest to you or the organisation you represent
  • providing volunteers with information in relation to Seniors Rights Services and volunteering opportunities
  • accounting, billing and other internal administrative practices
  • to recruit staff, contractors and volunteers
  • to process and respond to any complaints or issues;
  • to keep you informed about our activities, including by sending out newsletters;
  • to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

Seniors Rights Service may also use and disclose information for other purposes as authorised by the person, or in accordance with specific requests or instructions. We do not direct market or provide personal information to other organisations for the purposes of direct marketing.

3.4 Disclosing Personal Information

Seniors Rights Service may disclose personal information for the purpose of collection and to fulfil duties and actions as set out in 3.3. Disclosure may include the following

3.5 Overseas disclosure

Seniors Rights Service does not currently disclose personal information to recipients located overseas. If Seniors Rights Service is likely to disclose personal information to recipients located overseas, Seniors Rights Service will update this privacy policy regarding likely disclosures (including, if it is practicable to do so, the countries in which such overseas recipients are likely to be located).

3.6 Direct Marketing

Seniors Rights Service do not direct market or provide personal information to other organisations for the purposes of direct marketing.

If you sign up to receive Seniors Rights Service Publications or Newsletters and no longer wish to receive such communications, you can opt-out using the unsubscribe mechanism contained in all marketing communication or by contacting Seniors Rights Service, details can be found on all communications and websites.

3.7 Security of personal information

Seniors Rights Service takes reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information collected is protected from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Were information needs prompt updating, Seniors Rights Service will take action as advised to make changes.

Seniors Rights Service holds personal information in electronic format, stored in secure database on secure premises. The steps we take to secure the personal information we hold include:

  • website protection measures (such as encryption, firewalls and anti-virus software);
  • access restrictions to our computer systems (such as login and password protection);
  • restricted access to our office premises; and
  • staff training and implementation of workplace policies and procedures that cover access, storage and security of information.

While we endeavour to protect the personal information and privacy of users of our website, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you disclose online, and you disclose that information at your own risk. Option to share personal information via telephone is available. Any links on Seniors Rights Service website to third party websites that are not operated or controlled by us are provided for your convenience. We are not responsible for the privacy or security practices of those websites. Third party websites should have their own privacy and security policies, which we encourage you to read before supplying any personal information to them.

Seniors Rights Service will retain electronic information for a period of seven years, following this time period, unless authorised by law to retain the information, it will be destroyed.

3.8 Access and correcting personal information

Seniors Rights Service takes reasonable steps in the circumstances to ensure personal information it holds is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading. You may request access and seek correction of your personal information. To access or correct the personal information that is held about you to the extent required or authorised by the Privacy Act. This is also reflect in section 3.7 of Seniors Rights Service Confidential Information Policy which outlines Requests for Access.

To obtain access to your personal information:

  • proof of identity is required to ensure that personal information is provided only to the correct individuals and that the privacy of others is protected;
  • requests need to be reasonably specific about the information you
    require
  • an administration fee may be charged to reflect the cost to Seniors Rights Service, for providing access in accordance with your request. Were a cost may incur, this will be advised.
  • to protect the integrity and security of the information held, Seniors Rights Service may take steps to verify a clients identity.

Principal Solicitor will view the file and approve any copies of material to be given to you before access is provided. If access can be granted, a copy of the relevant part of the file will be made available to you as soon as practicable after this.

Seniors Rights Service will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information if satisfied that it is inaccurate, out of date, complete, irrelevant or misleading. If we have provided your personal information to third parties, we will also notify them of the correction if you ask us to do so, unless it is impractical or unlawful.

There may be cases where we are unable to provide the information you request, such as where it would interfere with the privacy of others or result in a breach of confidentiality. In these cases, we will let you know in writing why we cannot comply with your request and available complaint mechanisms

Seniors Rights Service will endeavour to respond to your request to access or correct your personal information within 30 days from your request.

3.9 Complaints

Seniors Rights Service aims to meet the highest standards to protect privacy. Any concerns about the way in which personal information has been handled or possibility there may have been a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles, or any other relevant obligation, please contact Seniors Rights Service.

Seniors Rights Service
Gadigal land
Suite 201 / 418A Elizabeth Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010

info@SeniorsRightsService.org.au

Complaints must be lodged in writing and the matter will be dealt with within a reasonable time, we will endeavour to keep you informed of the progress of our investigation.

If we have not responded to you within a reasonable time or you feel that your complaint has not been resolved satisfactorily, you can contact Seniors Rights Service to discuss your concerns. You can also make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

4. Responsibilities

It shall be the responsibility of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to ensure that this policy is implemented appropriately. The CEO shall undertake periodic reviews of this policy to ensure that it continues to reflect best practice.

5. Authorisation

Shannon Wright – CEO
19 January 2024

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