Privacy Policy

For the Presbyterian Church of Queensland

Our Privacy Commitment

The Presbyterian Church of Queensland (“PCQ”) ABN 43 015 755 489 is committed to caring for people who are associated with the PCQ through any of its local congregations, its camps and activities and any other ministries it conducts. In caring for these people the PCQ acknowledges that it be will become privy to personal, private, confidential and sensitive information about you

The PCQ is committed to protecting your privacy by ensuring the confidentiality and security of your this information. We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), which sets out a number of principles concerning the protection of your personal information. Similarly, the PCQ is committed to compliance with all areas of law including but not limited to child protection and workplace health and safety and will disclose information, including personal and sensitive information, as and when required in compliance with its wider legal obligations.

The core requirements of the Act are set out in the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”). These APPs set out how an organisation such as the PCQ should collect, use, keep, secure and disclose personal information. They also give individuals a right to know what information an organisation holds about him or her, and a right to correct it if it is wrong.

Your Personal and Sensitive Information

The personal information that the PCQ has collected or may collect in the future may include any or all of the following personal information:

• Name;
• Address;
•  Telephone or mobile phone numbers;
• Date of birth;
• Email address;
• Tax file number;
• Blue Care number;
• Bank account details;
• Place of birth;
• Date of marriage; and
• Date of baptism.

The PCQ may also collect or become aware of the following sensitive information about you:

• Offering habits through direct deposits; and
• Medical details; and
• Health concerns.

How We Collect Personal Information

The PCQ is a not-for-profit organisation and as such, it will only collect information that relates to its activities and which relates solely to its members and those persons who have regular contact with the PCQ and its activities.

The PCQ collects personal information in a number of ways, including:

• Directly from you when you provide information to the local congregation, to the PCQ or to approved third parties by telephone by way of registration forms (howsoever described) provided by the local congregation, the PCQ or its agencies;
• From third parties such as parents or church office bearers;
• From publicly available sources of information; or
• When legally required to do so – for example, for marriage services.

Further, the PCQ recognises that it may become privy to certain private, confidential or sensitive information about you from yourself, your family or your friends in circumstances where the PCQ has not actively sought out that information. In such circumstances, any such information will be treated as private, sensitive or confidential as the case may be and dealt with in accordance with the PCQ’s obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and this Privacy Policy.

Disclosure Generally

At all times when dealing with your personal and sensitive information, the PCQ will act with sensitivity and will respect your rights and opinions.

Disclosure of Your Personal Information to the PCQ and its Agencies

Consistent with the PCQ’s commitment to the care of people who are associated with the PCQ or any ministry of the PCQ, your private or sensitive information may be disclosed to persons who are charged with your care or leadership in order that the PCQ maintain its commitment to your care. Any such disclosures for this purpose remain confidential, private or sensitive (as the case may be).

Further, individual PCQ congregations and agencies have certain reporting obligations to the PCQ more generally. This may include your demographic information generally, or more specific information which relates directly to you. The congregations and agencies may therefore disclosure your information to the PCQ for these reporting purposes. Any such disclosure for this purpose remain confidential, private or sensitive (as the case may be).

Disclosure of Your Personal Information to Other Parties

It may be necessary for the PCQ, either directly or through its local congregations or other agencies, to disclose your personal information to certain third parties in order to assist us in providing services or administering your affairs. Examples of the types of organisations to which we may disclose your personal information include:

• Doctors or other medical services in cases of emergency;
• Outsourced service providers (e.g. payroll services);
• Our bank, when depositing funds to your account;
• Organisations providing information technology services;
• Organisations providing specialised training or supervisory services in relation to an activity undertaken by the PCQ or its congregations or agencies;
• Our professional advisers, including our accountants, auditors, and solicitors; and
• Organisations providing mailing services, and printing our standard magazines, newsletters and documents.

In accordance with the PCQ’s commitment to compliance, we will also disclose your personal information in circumstances where we have statutory obligations or are required by law to do so. If the PCQ is obliged to make any such statutory or legal disclosures, those disclosures will be made regardless of whether you consent to that disclosure or not.

Where personal information is made publicly available with your consent for a certain purpose, eg where you are a minister of a local church and contact details are disclosed on the website for that church, once the information is no longer required for that purpose, the PCQ and its local congregations will endeavour to ensure that any such personal information is removed from publication.

Where the PCQ is not legally obliged or legally permitted to disclose private or sensitive information about you or as otherwise set out in this Privacy Policy, the PCQ will not disclose private or sensitive information about your without first obtaining your consent. Such consent may be written or verbal.

The Presbyterian Church acknowledges that information and/or images may be disclosed by third parties on Social Media platforms without the knowledge or consent of the Church. However, such information and/or images will be removed from all Social Media platforms controlled by the Presbyterian Church upon request.

You Can Access Your Personal Information

You have a right to access your personal information, subject to some exceptions allowed by law. If you would like to do so, please let us know. You may be required to put your request in writing or provide evidence of your identity for security reasons.

The PCQ reserves the right to charge a fee for searching for and providing access to your information.

Help Us to Ensure That We Hold Accurate Information

The PCQ takes all reasonable precautions to ensure that the personal information we collect, use and disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date. However, the accuracy of that information depends to a large extent on the information you provide. That is why we recommend that you:

• Let us know if there are any errors in your personal information, and
• Keep us up-to-date with changes to personal information such as your phone number or address.

What to Do if You Have a Privacy Complaint

The PCQ takes any concerns or complaints in relation to your privacy very seriously and is committed to resolving any such concerns or complaints as quickly as possible. Our aim is to assist you by reaching a satisfactory solution as soon as possible.

If you have a complaint or concern about you privacy at the PCQ, we request that you first contact a person in senior leadership at the congregation or agency concerned to resolve your concerns directly. If you complaint or concern is not adequately addressed at this level please contact the PCQ Privacy Manager whose details are listed below.

Any such complaints or concerns will be dealt with confidentially by the PCQ Privacy Manager and at least two (2) other denominationally authorised persons. These people are able to refer to the matter to an agreed mediator if required in order to resolve the complaint or concern.

If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint by the PCQ, you may contact:

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Telephone: 1300 363 992
Facsimile: (02) 9284 9666
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Website: http://www.oaic.gov.au/

Changes To This Policy

The PCQ continually strives to improve the standard of service we provide to you, so from time to time we may update this policy. When this privacy policy is updated, this fact will be communicated to all relevant people in senior leadership of the PCQ or any of its local congregations, ministries, activities or agencies who will also be provided with a copy of the updated policy.

If you wish to obtain a further copy of this policy, please contact the PCQ Privacy Manager or download the policy from our website.

How To Contact the PCQ About Privacy

If you have any questions in relation to privacy, please contact:

PCQ Privacy Manager
35 Amelia Street
Fortitude Valley QLD 4006

Or write to us at:

Attn: PCQ Privacy Manager
PO Box 1508
Fortitude Valley QLD 4006
Telephone: (07) 3251 4100
Facsimile: (07) 3852 1564
Email: privacy@pcq.org.au