The type of information Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd collects and holds includes (but is not limited to) personal information, including sensitive information, about:

• Names and contact data including first and last names, email address, mailing address, phone number and other similar contact data
• Your home group and other service-related information
• Payment data necessary to process a payment if you make a purchase with us.

See note below re sensitive information

Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd will generally collect personal information held about an individual by way of phone calls, forms, meetings, emails, website etc. You do have the right to seek to deal with us anonymously or using a pseudonym, but in almost every circumstance it will not be practicable for us to deal with you or provide any services to you except for the most general responses to general enquiries, unless you identify yourself.

In some circumstances Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd may be provided with personal information about an individual from a third party, for example reference checks for employees or Working with Children or Police  checks for Alateen Sponsors.

Under the Privacy Act the Australian Privacy Principles do not apply to an employee record. As a result, this Privacy Policy does not apply to Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd’s treatment of an employee record, where the treatment is directly related to a current or former employment relationship between Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd and employee. However, Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd must provide access and ensure compliance with the Health Privacy Principles under the Victorian Health Records Act 2001.

Under the Privacy Act the Australian Privacy Principles do not apply to an employee record. As a result, this Privacy Policy does not apply to Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd’s treatment of an employee record, where the treatment is directly related to a current or former employment relationship between Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd and employee. However, Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd must provide access and ensure compliance with the Health Privacy Principles under the Victorian Health Records Act 2001.

In relation to personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors, Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd’s primary purpose of collection is to assess and (if successful) to engage the applicant, staff member or contractor, as the case may be.

The purposes for which Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd uses personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors include:

• for insurance purposes;
• Work health and safety
• to satisfy Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd’s legal obligations, i.e. taxation

Where Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd receives unsolicited job applications these will usually be dealt with in accordance with the unsolicited personal information requirements of the Privacy Act.

Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd also obtains personal information about volunteers who assist Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd in its functions or conduct associated activities, such as to enable Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd and the volunteers to work together.

Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd may disclose personal information, including sensitive information, held about an individual to:

• government departments,
• people providing services to Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd,
• anyone you authorise Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd to disclose information to.

Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd may need to process your data or share your personal information in the following situations:

• We may share your data with third party vendors, service providers, contractors or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work.
• Examples include: payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services and customer service. We may allow selected third parties to use tracking technology on the Sites, which will enable them to collect data about how you interact with the Sites over time. This information may be used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content and better understand online activity. We do not share, sell, rent or trade any of your information with third parties for their promotional purposes.

Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd will not send personal information about an individual outside Australia without:

• obtaining the consent of the individual (in some cases this consent will be implied); or
• otherwise complying with the Australian Privacy Principles or other applicable privacy legislation.

In referring to ‘sensitive information’, Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd means:

“information relating to a person’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, trade union or other professional or trade association membership, sexual preferences or criminal record, that is also personal information; and health information about an individual”.

Sensitive information will be used and disclosed only for the purpose for which it was provided or a directly related secondary purpose, unless you agree otherwise, or the use or disclosure of the sensitive information is allowed by law.

Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd’s staff are required to respect the confidentiality of personal information and the privacy of individuals.

Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd has in place steps to protect the personal information Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd holds from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification, interference or disclosure by use of various methods including locked storage of paper records and passworded access rights to computerised records.

When you use our website, having your cookies enabled will allow us to maintain the continuity of your browsing session and remember your details when you return. We may also use web beacons, Flash local stored objects and JavaScript. If you adjust your browser settings to block, reject or delete these functions, the webpage may not function in an optimal manner. We may also collect information about your IP address, although this may not identify you.

The principle of maintaining members’ anonymity is of paramount importance to Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd, and every endeavour is made to uphold this principle.

It is important to note that Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd cannot guarantee that the internet itself is 100% secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our sites is at your own risk. You should only access any online services within a secure environment.

Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd endeavours to ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate, complete and up to date. A person may seek to update their personal information held by Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd by contacting the Privacy Officer of Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd at any time.

The Australian Privacy Principles and the Health Privacy Principles require Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd not to store personal information longer than necessary. In particular, the Health Privacy Principles impose certain obligations about the length of time health records must be stored.

You have the right to check what personal information Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd holds about you.

Under the Commonwealth Privacy Act and the Health Records Act, an individual has the right to obtain access to any personal information which Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd holds about them and to advise Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd of any perceived inaccuracy. There are some exceptions to this right set out in the applicable legislation. To make a request to access any information Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd holds about you, please contact the Privacy Officer in writing.

Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. Although no fee will be charged for accessing your personal information or making a correction, Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd may charge a fee to retrieve and copy any material. If the information sought is extensive, Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd will advise the likely cost in advance.

Under our destruction and de-identification policies, your personal information that is no longer required will be de-identified or destroyed. In many circumstances, however it will be kept for archival purposes to assist in keeping the vital history of Al-Anon Family Groups available for generations come. Archival material is also kept in a secure manner and is not easily accessible by non-authorised individuals.

If you would like further information about the way Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd manages the personal information it holds, please contact the Privacy Officer. If you have any concerns, complaints or you think there has been a breach of privacy, then also please contact the Privacy Officer who will first deal with you usually over the phone. If we then have not dealt satisfactorily with your concerns we will meet with you to discuss further. If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint within 30 days from this meeting then you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner via:

• email: [email protected]
• tel: 1300 363 992
• fax: +61 2 9284 9666