Privacy Statement

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ABN 22 007 498 482) (‘ACF’, ‘we’,
‘us’ or ‘our’) respects and is committed to protecting your privacy, because we value you — just as we value our beautiful environment.

This Privacy Policy sets out the way we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information, which is information that identifies you or could reasonably make you identifiable.

By visiting our websites, signing up to our newsletters, signing a petition or campaign appeal, applying for employment with us, making a donation or otherwise providing us with your personal information, you consent to your personal information (including your sensitive information) being collected, used and disclosed as set out in this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Statement is a short form version of the ACF Privacy Policy (which is a longer and more detailed legal document). Both are available online and hard copies are available free of charge on reasonable request.

How to contact us

If you have any questions, comments, concerns or complaints about what is explained here or about our privacy practices, please let us know.  We will do our best to address and resolve any issues you have. 

You can contact us by:

• sending an e-mail to our Privacy Officer, privacy@acf.org.au
• calling the Supporter Services Centre on 1800 223 669 (free call) during business hours
• writing to Australian Conservation Foundation, Level 1 60 Leicester Street Carlton VICTORIA 3053

What personal information we collect

We collect personal information about individuals including members, supporters, volunteers, donors, employees, contractors, job applicants and other people with whom ACF or a third party has contact with in connection with ACF’s activities. The personal information which we collect and hold generally includes your name, address, year of birth and contact details (such as your phone number and email address), information to confirm whether you are or are not a foreign donor for the purposes of electoral law, payment card details, and other information about you such as your interests and your opinions on environmental issues. We also use “cookies” to track visits to our website; you can usually disable cookies in your internet browser settings.

You do not have to provide us with your personal information. However, if you do not provide us with your personal information, it will be difficult for us to contact you. Without your personal information we may not, for example, be able to issue you with a receipt, offer you employment or provide you with more information about our work.

We may also collect and hold sensitive information. For example, in the course of your engagement with us we might collect information about your philosophical or political views or your membership of, or affiliation with, organisations such as unions or religious groups. This is because we are curious about what makes you passionate about environment and sustainability issues. Knowing your values or your opinions helps us communicate with you better. It also allows us to understand if you have affiliations which could assist in our campaign efforts.

In any event we will only collect sensitive information directly from you and by providing it to us you consent to us collecting, using or disclosing it as specified in this Privacy Statement and our Privacy Policy or as otherwise authorised by law.

How we collect personal information

We collect personal information you provide to us directly, for example, in person, over the phone, by email, via our website or by completing our online or hard copy petition forms to take action in particular campaigns we may be running. We may also collect your personal information through the use of commercial service providers who, for example, might conduct fundraising activities or run a petition on our behalf.

We may also collect your personal information from publicly available sources (including via social media), through the use of cookies on our website or from third parties (for example, ACF Community Groups, other NGOs, data companies, petition and social change platforms) and, unless you notify us otherwise, you consent to your personal information being collected, used and disclosed as set out in this Privacy Statement and in our Privacy Policy. 

We will only collect personal information by lawful and fair means and, when possible, we will always collect personal information from you directly. If it is not reasonable or practicable to collect it directly from you, we will take steps to make you aware that your information has been collected.

Use of personal information

We will use your information as you would expect.  We only collect personal information about you if that information is necessary for any of the following purposes:

• fulfill our role in advocating for, informing and educating the community and others about issues of environmental significance
• participate in relevant civic and political discussions and assist likeminded organisations (including ACF Community Groups) and our supporters to do so
• identify environmental breaches and highlight environmental and sustainability concerns
• notify individuals of our activities, events and campaigns and facilitate participation in those initiatives
• forge alliances and support likeminded organisations (including ACF Community Groups) to achieve environmental and sustainability outcomes, including by sharing information with them
• seek new members, supporters, donors, including through marketing activities, and processing, renewing and maintaining our memberships and subscription services, including the use of third parties
• increase our financial support, through various fundraising activities, in order to maintain and enhance our campaigning capacity
• build an understanding of your interests and habits to enable more relevant and effective engagement with you
• recruit, engage or manage staff, contractors, Board and Council members and volunteers
• receive, consider and respond to comments, questions, feedback, or complaints, in relation to any of our functions or activities
• comply with our obligations under an Australian law including, but not limited to, Australian electoral law
• improve the performance of our website and microsites, and better understand visitor behaviour and engagement
• such other purposes identified at the time of collecting your information.

We will only collect your personal information when the information is reasonably necessary for one or more of our functions or activities as set out above.

If we also obtain your sensitive information, we will only use your sensitive information (such as your philosophical or political beliefs) for the purposes listed above, or other directly related purposes or purposes to which you otherwise consent.

We (and our service providers) sometimes use overseas or cloud storage facilities, but this does not change our commitment to safeguard your privacy.

Disclosure of personal information

We will only disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it was initially collected, purposes to which you have consented, or if the disclosure is otherwise permitted by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). We will never sell your personal information to any third party. If we provide your personal information to any third parties, we ensure that they are subject to appropriate privacy, security and confidentiality obligations.

Any personal information you provide to us may be disclosed to entities who provide services to or for us, such as fundraising, mail, database, telephone, digital services, data analytics, audit, professional advice, payment processing and research services. We may also disclose your personal information to organisations with which we are engaging in a joint promotional activity.

We may disclose your personal information to our volunteers who assist with many of our tasks and to like-minded organisations, including ACF Community Groups, that we work with from time to time. We may also disclose your information to a government, government body, statutory authority or the like where this is required to comply with ACF’s obligations under an Australian law.

We may also need to store or use personal information in a country other than Australia, usually because one of ACF’s technical systems is located or needs to process data overseas or because a service provider is located overseas. We (and our service providers) sometimes use overseas or cloud storage facilities. Our commitment to safeguard your privacy includes taking steps to protect personal information disclosed overseas.

As at the last update of this Policy, the countries in which ACF discloses and/or stores personal information include the United States and Japan.

Keeping your information secure

We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, interference (including computer attacks) and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. This includes a range of technological, operational and physical measures to protect personal information.

We make sure our agreements with third parties are appropriate to ensure that any personal information we disclose to them will be protected against misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification, interference or disclosure.

If we, or third parties we engage with, no longer need your information, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it or require those third parties to do so (unless required to retain it by law).

Anonymity and Pseudonymity

When it is not impracticable or unlawful, you are welcome to interact with us without identifying yourself, or by using a pseudonym. Generally speaking, donations to ACF cannot be made anonymously or using a pseudonym due to our obligations under taxation, electoral and other laws.

Access and correction

We take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date. Please advise us of any changes to your personal information to help us maintain accurate, complete and up-to-date information.

We will, on request, provide you with access to the personal information we hold about you, or will notify you of the basis for refusing to provide access to your personal information.

To request access to your personal information, or to update or correct your personal information, please contact us via the contact details provided below.

Notifiable data breaches scheme

In the event of any actual or suspected unauthorised access or disclosure of personal information we hold about you (including where information is lost in circumstances where unauthorised access or disclosure is likely to occur) that is likely to result in serious harm to you, we will investigate and notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as soon as practicable, in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

Contact details

All queries or complaints regarding our Privacy Policy, or requests for access to, or correction of, personal information should be directed to our Privacy Officer as follows:

ACF Privacy Officer

Australian Conservation Foundation

Floor 1, 60 Leicester St

Carlton VICTORIA, 3053

Tel: 1800 223 669

Email: privacy@acf.org.au

If you are making a complaint, you will need to provide us with sufficient details regarding your complaint as well as any supporting evidence and/or information. We will refer your complaint to our Privacy Officer who will investigate the issue and determine the steps that we will undertake to resolve your complaint.

If you are not satisfied with our determination, you can contact us to discuss your concerns or complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) via www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints.

How to stop receiving communications

If you would like to stop receiving communications from us, you can:

• Email us at donor.care@acf.org.au or
• Call the donor care team on 1800 223 669, Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
   

Review and revisions to privacy policy

Our Privacy Statement and Policy will be reviewed regularly and updated as necessary from time to time.