The Australian Conservation Foundation (ABN 22 007 498 482) respects and is committed to protecting your privacy, because we value you — our supporters, workers and volunteers — just as we value our beautiful environment.
This Privacy Statement sets out the way we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information.
By visiting our website, signing up to our newsletters, signing a petition or a 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 Statement and in our 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.
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.
Any personal information you provide to us may be disclosed to companies who provide services on our behalf, such as fundraising, mail, database, telephone, digital services, audit, professional advice, payment processing and research services. We may also disclose your personal information to our volunteers who assist with many of our tasks. We may also disclose your information to like-minded organisations, including ACF Community Groups, that also wish to achieve environmental and sustainability outcomes or that we work with in alliances 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 including, but not limited to, Australian electoral law.
We expect the third parties we engage with to also look after your information carefully. Our agreements with service providers and external agencies, staff and volunteers and like-minded organisations who handle personal information require them to maintain the confidentiality of the information we provide to them. We will only disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it was initially collected, other directly related purposes or purposes to which you otherwise consent.
ACF often liaises with international organisations in an effort to strengthen links within the international environmental movement or to conduct research projects, so sometimes ACF may disclose personal information about an individual to someone who is in a foreign country. ACF 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.
As at the last update of this Privacy Statement, the countries in which ACF discloses and/or stores personal information include:
Other than as stated above we will we not share your personal information. However, it is possible, though unlikely, that we might be forced to disclose personal information in response to legal process or when we believe in good faith that the law requires it, for example, in response to a court order, subpoena or a law enforcement agency's request.
We take steps that are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date. To help us, please advise us of any changes to your personal information to help us maintain accurate, complete and up-to-date information.
We will also take commercially reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, interference (including computer attacks) and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
If we no longer need your information, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it (unless we are required to retain it by law or a court/tribunal order).
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.
We will, on request, provide you with access to the personal information we hold about you unless otherwise required or permitted by law. We will notify you of the basis for any denial of access to your personal information.
To request access to your personal information or, if you wish to update or correct your personal information, please contact us via the contact details provided on this page.
In the event of any unauthorised access or disclosure of your personal information (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.
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: [email protected]
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.
Our Privacy Statement and Policy will be reviewed regularly and updated as necessary from time to time.
This Privacy Statement was last updated in January 2022.