Privacy Policy

Purpose

Empower Australia is committed to protecting your privacy and has adopted careful measures to protect the privacy and confidentiality of personal information provided to us. This policy explains how we collect, use and disclose personal information.

Scope

This Policy applies to all workplaces of all Australian entities within the Planetshakers Global Group, including Empower Australia and Believe entities.

Background/Definitions

In Australia, we are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act (1988) (Cth) which govern the handling of personal information. In this privacy policy, the term “personal information” has the meaning in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and includes information about an identifiable individual, including their name, gender, date of birth, address, telephone and fax numbers, email address, drivers’ licence details, credit card details, photographs, employment details and if and where applicable, information that constitutes “sensitive information”. “Personal information” includes an opinion about an identifiable individual.

“Sensitive information” is a subset of personal information and includes information about a person’s racial or ethnic origin, health information, political opinions, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association or trade union, sexual preferences or practices and criminal record (including results of police checks).

Collection

Empower Australia may collect personal information including but not limited to your name, date of birth, address, phone number, fax number, email address, nationality, marital status, family details, languages spoken, occupation, religious affiliations including the Church you attend, details of religious views and experiences and personal histories. We may also collect parent/guardian details if you are under 18 years. Our collection of personal information will be fair, lawful and not intrusive. Unless it is apparent from the circumstances, we will notify you of the purpose for the information collected, how you can get access to your personal information, and what happens if you do not give the information.

We will not collect sensitive information about you unless you have consented to it, it is required or permitted by law, it relates to the provision of health services to you in circumstances where you cannot give informed consent, or the collection is necessary to prevent a serious threat to life, health or safety.

The circumstances and purposes of collection of personal information include:

1. when you enquire about goods or services that we may offer, or make a purchase through our website or otherwise;
2. when you sign up to attend a conference or event;
3. where you provide a resume or application form to us, applying for a position (including a voluntary position) with us;
4. to conduct reference or other background checks with your express or implied consent;
   when you telephone us or visit our website and make an enquiry to which a later response is requested and to do so requires your contact details;
5. when you ask to be included on a marketing or other email or newsletter distribution list; and
6. when evaluating job applicants, personnel and volunteers. This may include “sensitive information” as defined in the Privacy Act.

Use and disclosure

We use personal information for the primary purpose for which it was collected or for secondary purposes which are related to the primary purposes.

We use the personal information collected from you for the purpose it was provided or collected, including in the following ways:

1. To facilitate the purposes referred to in the “Collection” section of this policy;
2. To communicate with you and provide you with information (whether by phone, email, post or other means) about our goods, services, events and opportunities, including by any newsletters, marketing or other information you request or agree to receiving;
3. To process, confirm, fulfil and update you about your enquiries and to carry out our obligations arising from any agreements entered into between you and us;
4. To consider employment or volunteer applications you may make;
5. To perform authorised financial transactions with you;
6. To notify you about changes to our goods and services;
7. To respond to enquiries received from you;
8. To receive and address feedback or complaints from you;
9. To carry out any other purpose for which the information was expressly requested;
10. To provide pastoral care services;
11. To conduct surveys;
12. To facilitate social media interaction; and
13. To protect our legal interests and fulfil our regulatory obligations (if and to the extent necessary).

We may also disclose personal information to other persons including:

1. Organisations who carry out credit, fraud and other security checks;
2. Couriers and delivery business (where we arrange to deliver goods to you or persons you have requested us to send deliveries to); and
3. Third party software providers who store details of customer account for us or who provide other IT services.

Information Security

Empower Australia takes reasonable steps to protect the personal information it holds from misuse and loss from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure and to destroy personal information no longer required by us.

We take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information, including internal and external security, restricting access to personal information to those who have a need to know and maintain technological products to prevent unauthorised computer access and regularly reviewing our technology to maintain security.

We implement arrangements to ensure that access to computerised records is available to personnel who need such access, and require passwords to be entered to allow access to personal information.

Anonymity

Where possible you may be able to interact with us anonymously. However for many of the services and activities we provide or engage in it may be impracticable to deal with you if you have not disclosed your identity to us.

Transborder Data Flows

We will not transfer any of your personal information held by us to any individual, body or agency outside Australia, without your prior consent. This consent is only likely to be sought in circumstances where you have advised us that you are leaving Australia and wish to join or be put in touch with other Empower Australia churches overseas.

Subscribed Email Communications

If you are subscribed to email communications from us or related entities and no longer wish to receive them, you may unsubscribe choosing the ‘unsubscribe’ option in the respective Empower communication or by sending an email to [email protected], and include the word “unsubscribe” in the subject line. This will unsubscribe you from all communications.

Data Quality, Access and Correction

We encourage you to keep us updated of any changes to your personal information.

If we believe or are informed that the personal information we hold about you is not accurate, complete and up-to-date, we will take reasonable steps to correct it. We may not be able to provide you with access to information in some situations including where doing so may create a serious threat to life or the health of any individual, where it may constitute an unreasonable intrusion into the privacy of another, where your request is in our opinion frivolous or vexatious or where otherwise permitted at law.

Upon request, details of personal information about you held by Empower Australia will be provided to you, except in the special circumstances referred to in the Privacy Act. These exceptions are where disclosure would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of another individual, the information would reveal a commercially sensitive decision-making process, the request for access is frivolous or vexatious or we are prevented by law from making disclosure or otherwise permitted under the Privacy Act not to give that access. We will provide reasons for any refusal to correct personal information, and, if you ask us to associate with the information a statement claiming that the information is not accurate, complete or up-to-date, we will take reasonable steps to do so.

To obtain details or a copy of the personal information we hold about you, please write to us at:

The Privacy Officer
Empower Australia
PO BOX 5171, South Melbourne 3205
10-12 Cecil Street, Southbank VIC 3006

or by email to:
[email protected]

Please provide sufficient detail about the information in question to help us locate it. We will then use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine if there is a problem and take the necessary corrective action within a reasonable time.