Policy Objective
This Privacy Policy explains how Merri-bek Community Gardening Inc (MCG) collects, protects, uses, discloses and otherwise handles personal information. Although we may not be covered by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) which are contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), we endeavour to treat people’s personal information in the way envisaged by this legislation.
For the purposes of this policy, ‘personal information’ means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.
If you have any questions or feedback about this policy or the way in which MCG handles personal information you can contact us on the details below. You can also request a hard copy of this policy using the details below.
Legislation
Although MCG as an organisation may not be covered by it, the relevant legislation that governs privacy in Victoria is:
- Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
- Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic)
- Health Records Act 2001 (Vic)
Related Procedures
This policy is to be read in conjunction with the following procedures:
Personal Information
What types of personal information do we collect?
The types of personal information that we collect about you will depend on how you interact with us. For example, if you:
- become a subscriber or a member, we may collect your name, contact details, details of other family members (if applicable), information about your circumstances (e.g. whether you have space to grow food at home), and information relevant to your membership (e.g. concession status, what skills you have that might be useful to our organisation)
- make a donation to MCG, we may collect your name, contact details, the amount and frequency of your donation
- attend a professional development or training program or attend another MCG event, we may collect your name, contact details and any dietary and accessibility requirements
- participate in our surveys, we may collect your name, contact details and your survey responses
- send us an enquiry, we may collect your name, contact details, information about your circumstances and details of your query
- make a complaint, we may collect your name, contact details, the details of your complaint, information collected in any investigation of the matter and details of the resolution of the complaint
- apply for a voluntary or paid role at MCG, we may collect the information you include in your application, including your cover letter, resume, contact details and referee reports
How do we collect personal information?
We collect personal information in a number of ways, including:
- through our web-based membership signup form
- when you donate via GiveNow
- when you correspond with us (for example by letter, fax, email or telephone)
- When you become a member of one of our facebook pages or groups
- on printed forms (e.g. signup forms or feedback forms we provide after courses/workshops)
- in person (for example, when you disclose personal information to an organising committee member or board member at the garden)
Why do we collect personal information?
The main purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information are set out below.
- General administration and communication such as:
- Communicating with you regarding garden or organisational related matters and activities
- Determining membership fees and other associated garden membership costs
- Recruiting volunteers for garden activities
- Answering queries and resolving complaints
- Evaluating our work for reporting purposes both internally and externally
- Determining whether people have special needs, such as an interpreter or disability assistance
- Assigning of plots
- Promoting events for community connection, education etc
- Education and information such as:
- Providing newsletters relating to MCG and garden matters
- Running gardening and environment education courses
- Advocacy such as:
- Promoting MCG and its activities, including through events and forums
- Conducting research and statistical analysis relevant to MCG’s activities
- Preparing stories for use in advocacy work and in publications (members/volunteers will not be individually identified without their consent)
- Fundraising such as:
- Seeking funding and donations
- Organising fundraising events
What happens if you don’t provide us with your personal information?
It’s your prerogative not to provide MCG with personal information but this may impede some activities such as providing information or enabling you to become a member. Donations may be made anonymously, but MCG may not be able to issue a receipt.
Use of information
The procedure MCG Use of Private Materials Procedure directs key personnel on use of information to encompass the above reasonably expected use and directions on security of information.
Opting out
You can opt out of receiving communications from us by:
- advising us if you receive a call that you no longer wish to receive these calls;
- using the unsubscribe facility that we include in our commercial electronic messages (such as email and SMS) to opt out of receiving those messages, or
- contacting us by email at board@merribekcg.org
Who do we disclose your personal information to?
Internal disclosure
Your personal information is disclosed to some members of our organisation who help organise each of our gardens, for the purpose of serving you as a member.
External Disclosure
The nature of the services provided by MCG means that it is not often necessary for us to disclose your personal information to external parties. We will ordinarily let you know who we will disclose your personal information to when we collect the information from you (unless there are practical reasons for not informing you).
Some potential third parties we might need to disclose your personal information to include:
- referees whose details are provided to us by job applicants
- our contracted service providers which include:
- information technology service providers
- conference, function and training organisers
- freight and courier services
In the case of these contracted service providers, we may disclose personal information to the service provider and the service provider may in turn provide us with personal information collected from you in the course of providing the relevant products or services.
Storage and security of the information we hold
We hold personal information only in electronic formats. The security of your personal information is important to us and we use the recommended industry standards when storing and dealing with your personal information. We use a secure server using the latest 128-bit SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption technology to process any financial transactions.
The steps we take to secure the personal information we hold include:
- access restrictions to our computer systems (such as login and password protection)
- staff training and implementation of workplace policies and procedures that cover access, storage and security of information.
Website security
While MCG strives 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. If you are concerned about sending your information over the internet, you can contact MCG by post (details under ‘Contacting Us’).
You can also help to protect the privacy of your personal information by letting us know as soon as possible if you become aware of any security breach.
Third party websites
Links to third party websites that are not operated or controlled by MCG are provided for your convenience. MCG is 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.
Access and correction to personal information
We will take reasonable steps to provide you with access to your personal information. We may however charge a fee to cover our reasonable costs of locating the information and providing it to you.
We will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information if we are satisfied that it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, 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 impracticable or unlawful.
Requests to access and correct your information should be made using the details provided under the ‘Contacting Us’ heading. Note that we will need to verify your identity before processing your request. We will endeavour to respond to your request within 30 days.
If we do not agree with your request to access or correct your information, we will provide you with written reasons for our decision and available complaint mechanisms.
Complaints
If you have a complaint about how MCG has collected or handled your personal information, please contact our President using the details provided under the heading ‘Contacting Us.’
We will endeavour to respond to your complaint within 30 days of receipt of the complaint (whilst complex cases may take longer to resolve, we will keep you updated on the progress of your complaint).
If you are unhappy with our response, you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (see here for further information) or, in some instances, other regulatory bodies, such as the Victorian Privacy Commissioner (see here), or the Victorian Health Services Commissioner (see here).
Contacting Us
Libby Harper
President
Merri-bek Community Gardening
Mail: PO Box 59, Pascoe Vale South, Vic 3044
Email: board@merribekcg.org
Monitoring and Review
The MCG Board is responsible for monitoring compliance with this policy, and reviewing this policy to ensure that the policy is operating effectively. This policy and related procedures will be reviewed at least every two years. Procedural aspects of the policy may be changed from time to time by the MCG Board and such changes will be logged in the table below.
October 2018
| Date | Update |
| 6/12/18 | Approved at Board meeting |