Privacy

Safe Work Australia is committed to protecting the privacy of personal information. This Privacy Policy embodies this commitment and applies to personal information collected by Safe Work Australia and its contractors and agents (collectively “Safe Work Australia”).

Safe Work Australia adheres to the requirements of the Information Privacy Principles contained within the Privacy Act 1988 and the 'Guidelines for Federal and ACT Government World Wide Web Sites' issued by the Federal Privacy Commissioner.

Information we collect and how we use it

Generally, Safe Work Australia collects personal information in order to properly and efficiently carry out its functions.

In addition to this general Privacy Notice, where more detailed information is needed to explain our privacy practices, we publish separate privacy notices to describe how we will handle personal information that we collect. Those privacy notices are supplied whenever we collect personal information.

Communications – emails and electronic forms

Other personal information collected by us, for example through the use of an online form will only:

• be collected by lawful and fair means
• be used for a lawful purpose and
• be collected with your consent.

Where you choose to send us a completed electronic form that includes your personal details, we collect personally identifiable information, such as name, address and email address.

The information collected by email or electronic forms will be used only for the purpose for which you provided it, and we will not disclose it without your consent, except where authorised or required by law. For those who do not wish to use the internet, Safe Work Australia provides alternative ways of providing information, for example forms may be printed and lodged by post.

Log Information (Browsing)

When you visit this web site, we record anonymous information about your visit and log the following information for statistical purposes and to allow us to develop better online services:

• your server address
• your operating system (for example Windows, Mac etc)
• your top level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc)
• the date and time of your visit to the site
• the pages accessed and the documents downloaded
• the previous site visited
• the type of browser used.

This information is not specific to an individual and is used for system administration purposes, as well as statistical analysis. While anonymous information does not tell us anything about you specifically, it tells us about how you use our site.

Cookies

Another type of anonymous information shared between your browser and our server is a cookie. A cookie is a small file containing a string of characters to your computer that uniquely identifies your browser. It is information that your web browser sends back to our web site server whenever you visit it again. We use cookies to ‘remember’ your browser between page visits. In this situation, the cookie identifies your browser, not you personally. The Department may use cookies on this web site to develop patterns of site usage. No personal information is stored within the Department’s cookies.

Use and Disclosure

Personal Information will only be used for the purposes for which you have provided it and not disclosed to any other party unless your written consent has been obtained.

Access and alteration of records containing personal information

If you have provided personal information to Safe Work Australia, we will allow you access to your personal information. This will enable you to find out the nature of your personal information held by Safe Work Australia, correct your personal data if it is inaccurate, or to delete such data at your request (subject to restrictions on such access/alteration of records under the applicable provisions of any law of the Commonwealth).

Information Sharing

We only share personal information with third parties in the following circumstances:

• where you are reasonably likely to have been aware, or made aware by way of a privacy notice, that your personal information is usually passed to the relevant parties
• where you have consented
• where we believe on reasonable grounds that the disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your life or health or that of another person
• where the disclosure is required or authorised by or under law
• where the disclosure is reasonably necessary for the enforcement of the criminal law or of a law imposing a pecuniary penalty, or for the protection of the public revenue

Information security

We take all reasonable steps to:

• protect the personal information that we hold against loss, against unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure and against other misuse; and
• ensure that, where we have given personal information to a contractor (that carries out service for Safe Work Australia), that contractor complies with the Information Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988.

Data integrity

Safe Work Australia processes personal information only for the purposes for which it was collected and in accordance with this Policy or any applicable privacy notice. We take reasonable steps to make sure that the personal information we process is accurate, relevant, up-to-date, complete and not misleading.

Enforcement

Safe Work Australia regularly reviews its compliance with this Policy. If you have any questions/complaints about privacy, confidentiality or access to your personal information, please contact Safe Work Australia’s by writing to:

Safe Work Australia
GPO Box 641
Canberra ACT 2601

Changes to this policy

Please note that this Privacy Policy may change from time to time.