Geoscience Australia privacy policy

Summary

• We collect some personal information to provide you with better service.
• This is shared with third parties in limited circumstances.
• We will never sell or use your personal information for commercial purposes.

Introduction

As an Australian Government entity, Geoscience Australia (we, our, us) is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). These regulate how:

• we collect, use, store and disclose personal information, including sensitive information
• individuals may access and correct records containing their personal information.

We define “personal information” the same way as the Privacy Act. Generally, it is any information that can be used to identify you, whether or not the information is true.

We respect your right to privacy under the Privacy Act and comply with Privacy Act requirements about how we collect and manage your personal information.

This document is our privacy policy and it tells you generally:

• what types of personal information we collect
• how we collect, use, store and disclose personal information
• the way in which you can access and correct your personal information
• how you can make an inquiry or complaint.

When we collect information from you in a manner that is consistent with this policy, we may provide a link to this privacy policy to inform you about our collection and use of your personal information. In circumstances where we are collecting other types of personal information, or using personal information in specific ways outside of this policy, you will generally be provided with a collection notice about the specific types of personal information we are collecting at that time, why we are collecting your personal information, how we will use, store and disclose your personal information, and how you can access and correct your personal information.

What personal information we collect and why we collect it

We collect personal information so we can use it in performing our functions and activities. Where the collection is not for one of the follow common reasons or the reason for collection is not implicit in the request, we should tell you the specific reason why we need to collect your information at the time we collect it. Our most common reasons are:

• managing our employees, contractors and visitors
• conducting our scientific operations
• providing products and services to members of the public
• responding to queries, requests and complaints
• distributing information including through mailing lists and other logins or managing those distribution channels
• complying with Australian laws, regulations and court orders.

Most of the scientific data we collect is not personal in nature, but we do perform a small social science function that collects personal information in line with the Privacy Act and strict academic ethics guidelines.

We do not administer any legislation that requires us to collect personal information, but we may collect your personal information to comply with other legislation.

The following points give a general overview of the types of information we might collect from you. Where we collect information that is not listed below, we should tell you the types of information we will be collecting at the time we collect it.

If you are an employee, we will collect information about your:

• identity
• contact details
• health
• pay and entitlements
• tax file number
• next of kin
• qualifications
• employment history
• likeness including a security pass photograph or security camera footage
• background, including criminal history.

If you are a contractor, associate or visitor to our office, we may collect information about your:

• identity
• contact details
• qualifications
• employment history
• likeness including a security photograph or security camera footage
• background, including criminal history.

If you sign up to a mailing list, we will collect your:

• name
• contact details
• other information that might be relevant to the mailing list, such as which industry you work in.

If you are purchasing products from us, we will collect your:

• name
• contact and delivery details
• order details
• credit card information (if you order over the phone).

If you are visiting our website or a web service we may collect information about your interaction using cookies and clickstream data.

If you interact with us on social media, we may collect the information that is publicly visible on your account.

If you are a stakeholder we are working with, we may collect:

• your name
• your contact details
• other information relevant to our work together.

We understand that from time to time you may not want to provide this information to us; you may withhold providing your personal information. However, doing so may mean that we are not able to provide you with the products and services you require, or a high level of service. If it will be impracticable for us to deal with you anonymously or using a pseudonym, we will normally ask you to identify yourself so we can carry out our functions and activities.

Sensitive personal information

We collect limited amounts of sensitive personal information.

If you are an employee, prospective employee, contractor or require unescorted access to our facility we will collect information about your criminal history through a police records check. Sensitive personal information may also be derived from security camera footage. Access to this information is strictly controlled and is only used in assessing your suitability for employment or access.

If you are performing field work for us we will collect health information and share this, such as with the team leader or contact officer to ensure that any illness or injury that occurs during field work can be appropriately managed.

Email mailing lists

We use Swift Digital, an online marketing platform service provider to send and manage emails. In using this service, Swift Digital collects personal information that may contain email addresses and other information to be used for the distribution of email campaigns and other information.

All information collected using the Swift Digital service remains our property and is never shared or used by third parties.

Swift Digital maintains your data in compliance with the Spam Act 2003 and the APPs.

All data held by Swift Digital is maintained within Australia and never leaves Australian jurisdiction. Where stipulated data is encrypted in transit using SSL connections. All data stored via Swift Digital is encrypted at rest.

Should you wish to contact Swift Digital, you can find contact details on their website.

How we collect your personal information

Most of the time we will collect your personal information directly from you, either in writing, over the phone or through an online form or system.

Sometimes, we may also collect your personal information from third parties including, but not limited to:

• other government entities
• our service providers
• law enforcement agencies.

We will only collect your personal information from a third party or a private source if:

• you consent; or
• we are required or authorised to collect the information under an Australian law or a court/tribunal order; or
• it is not reasonable or practicable for us to collect the information directly from you.

In rare circumstances, we may receive personal information we did not request. If this happens, we will handle the information in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Why we disclose your personal information

We will only disclose your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act. This includes disclosing your personal information for the purposes it was collected, or for a secondary purpose, if an exception applies.

The general reasons that we disclose personal information are explained below. Where we may disclose outside those general reasons, we may provide a collection notice which provides specific details about to whom we may disclose your personal information and the reasons for doing so.

We generally disclose personal information to third parties to:

• facilitate a service on our behalf, such as
  • ICT and cloud computing services delivering a good or service to you
  • processing information, such as financial information managing our human resources
  • marketing and research
• facilitate a service on your behalf, such as financial services
• comply with an Australian law, regulation or court order
• provide information to other government entities where required during our normal operations, such as to our portfolio Department of State (the Department of Industry, Science and Resources), the Parliament or the Australian National Audit Office.

Some of the third parties we disclose personal information to may be located overseas. As required by the Privacy Act, we take reasonable steps to ensure that overseas recipients of your personal information do not breach their or our privacy obligations.

We will not share or disclose your personal information without your consent other than as described in this privacy policy, a specific collection notice, or allowed by law.

Privacy Impact Assessments

A privacy impact assessment is a systematic assessment of a project that identifies the impact the project might have on the privacy of individuals, and sets out recommendations for managing, minimising or eliminating that impact.

Privacy Impact Assessments Register

In accordance with s. 15(1) of the Privacy (Australian Government Agencies – Governance) APP Code 2017, we are required to maintain a register of all Privacy Impact Assessments completed.

This register was last updated on 16 November 2022.