This document sets out the principles that the St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland and St
Vincent de Paul Society Queensland Housing (collectively “the Society’) have adopted in
relation to the protection and handling of personal information.
As a major Australian charity, the Society is strongly committed to protecting your personal
information. In addition to this Privacy Policy, there may also be specific and additional privacy
terms which apply to some of our functions and practices. If this is the case, we recommend that
these specific and additional terms be reviewed whenever they are provided. Our employees
can contact our human resources team for more information about their privacy.
The Society is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), and
other laws which protect the privacy of individuals. We will sometimes handle personal
information relying on exemptions under these laws including the exemptions in the Privacy Act
applicable to not-for-profit organisations. Any permitted handling under such exemptions will
take precedence over this Privacy Policy.
The Society is also bound by other laws such as the Charities Act 2013 (Cth) and the Australian
Crime Commission Act 2002 (Cth) which may impact on aspects of the Society’s collection and
handling of personal information.
In certain circumstances, we may collect personal information about you, for example when you
contact us, apply for a job or volunteer position, make a donation or join our mailing list. The
type of information that we collect includes your name, contact details, identification information,
title as well as any personal information provided in forms and documents you submit to us
(whether electronically or otherwise). We also record details of our interactions with you,
including any contact we have with you in person, by email, online or on the telephone. If you
are a donor, we may also collect credit card or other financial details. The Society may monitor
and record your communications with us (including by email and telephone) and we may also
operate video and audio surveillance devices in our premises for security, dispute resolution
and training purposes.
Where practical, the Society will collect personal information directly from you but we may also
collect personal information from third parties including other not-for-profit organisations,
government agencies (e.g. the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) for police
checks containing criminal history information), information service providers or public sources.
Where we collect sensitive information from you, such as health information or religious
association, we will do so only with your consent, where you provide such information voluntarily
or where otherwise authorised by law. You may withdraw your consent for the Society to retain
this information at any time.
We collect, use and disclose personal information to provide, administer, improve and
personalise our services and goods, process donations and payments, identify individuals,
maintain and update our records, assess applications for support or assistance, provide support
and assistance to those in need, assess employee or volunteer applications (which may involve
assessing the result of police checks), conduct surveys and research, protect our lawful
interests and respond to your queries or concerns.
We may also collect, use and disclose personal information in connection with lawful information
requests from courts, government agencies and lawyers and in connection with suspected
fraud, misconduct or unlawful activity.
If you are a donor, mailing list registrant, ‘Vinnies’ shopper or volunteer, we may use your
personal information to provide you with ongoing promotional materials and marketing
communications about our events, products, services and fundraising initiatives by telephone,
email, online or by other means (unless you opt out or we are subject to legal restrictions).
We may not be able to do these things without your personal information. For example, we may
not be able to communicate with you, respond to your enquiries or tailor our services to best suit
your needs.
We may exchange your personal information with St Vincent de Paul Societies located in other
States and Territories and the National Council of the St Vincent de Paul Society and with other
non-for-profit organisations and service providers, including government agencies, who may
provide you with assistance or assist us with archival, auditing, accounting, legal, business,
banking, payment, delivery, data processing, storage and analysis, research, investigation,
website or technology services. If you apply to be a volunteer or employee with us, we will with
your informed consent apply for a police check with ACIC, for which will submit your name and
other identity details. As an accredited body with the ACIC, we are authorised to submit
applications for police checks in accordance with ACIC procedures.
Some of the third parties described above may be located in other countries such as the United
States and you agree that while they will often be subject of confidentiality or privacy
obligations, they may not always follow the particular requirements of Australian privacy laws.
The Society handles personal information electronically and in hard copy form, both at our own
premises and with the assistance of our service providers. In either case, a range of measures
are implemented to protect the security of that personal information. In addition to our
obligations under privacy laws, we are subject to further government security restrictions on our
handling of police checks.
We are also required to take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify personal
information where it is no longer needed for a permitted purpose. In the case of police history
checks, the retention period for information is 12 months, after which point the information is
destroyed.
If you visit www.vinnies.org.au (the Website) to read, browse or download information, our
system may record information such as the date and time of your visit to the Website, the pages
accessed, and any information downloaded. This information is used for statistical, reporting
and website administration and maintenance purposes.
Like many other websites, our Website may use ‘cookies’ from time to time. A cookie is a piece
of information that allows our system to identify and interact more effectively with your device.
The cookie helps us to maintain the continuity of your browsing session and remember your
details and preferences when you return. You can configure your web browser software to reject
cookies however some parts of our Website may not have full functionality in that case.
When we send you emails or other electronic messages, we may record where you open the
message and click on particular links. This helps us to better understand what information is of
interest to you.
If you are considering sending us any other personal information through our Website or other
electronic means, please be aware that the information may be insecure in transit, particularly
where no encryption is used (e.g. email, standard HTTP). We are subject to laws requiring us to
protect the security of personal information once it comes into our possession.
The Website may contain links to other sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or
policies of those sites.
Please contact us using the details set out below if you have any queries or concerns about
privacy or wish to access or correct any personal information we may hold about you. We may
need to verify your identity.
If you are making an access or correction request, please provide details of the particular
information you seek, to help us to locate it. If we deny any request for access or correction, we
will provide our reasons. Where we decide not to make a requested correction to your personal
information and you disagree, you may ask us to make a note of your requested correction with
the information.
Your privacy is important to the Society and we will do our best to resolve your concerns,
including if you would like to complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles. To
assist us in helping you, we ask you to follow a simple three-step process.
For information about privacy generally, 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.
The Society will publish and update this policy on its website (www.vinnies.org.au) and make
hard copies available on request