Privacy Policy

We are the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association Limited (ABN 70 646 448 142) (NATSIHA).  Protecting your privacy is important to us. This policy explains how we manage personal information within our organisation.   

Kinds of personal information we collect 

The kinds personal information that we collect and hold about you may include: 

• identifying information, such as your name and date of birth  
• contact information, such as your postal address, email address and telephone number 
• social media handles and other social media profile information that you make available to us or to the public 
• financial information, such as credit card, bank account or other payment details 
• records of our communications with you, including any messages you send us 
• information about your employment, such as your role or job title and who you work for 
• recruitment-related information, which may include your contact information as well as your qualifications, employment history, interests, types of roles you are interested in, your work application form and resume or CV, and 
• other information that is provided to us in the course of us carrying out our functions and activities, which may be provided by you directly when you communicate with us or by other organisations that we work with. 

We may also collect sensitive information about you, such as your racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation or disability status (as applicable). We will only collect this type of personal information from you directly with your express consent, or otherwise where required or authorised by law.   

Without this information we may not be able to work with you, provide you with our services or receive services from you, or respond to queries or requests that you submit to us. 

How we collect personal information 

We collect personal information about you in the following ways: 

• if you (or your employer) become a member of our organisation, or we work with you (or your employer) in conducting our functions and activities including chairing the Housing Policy Partnership and strengthening the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing sector nationally   
• if you (or your employer) provide services to us 
• when you communicate with us directly, including when you submit a query or request to us 
• from organisations who are members of NATSIHA 

• from Government departments and organisations that we work with  
• when you respond to a survey or consultation that we run, or fill in forms on one of our websites 
• by tracking your use of our websites  
• from public sources, and  
• from other third parties who are entitled to disclose that information to us, including, Federal, State and Territory peak bodies and organisations that we work with through the Housing Policy Partnership and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing sector. 

In some cases we may be required by law to collect certain types of personal information about you. 

We will generally try to collect personal information from you directly where it is practicable or necessary to do so. However, in some cases we may collect personal information from a third party, such as through one of the many organisations that we work with in the housing sector, or from other third parties (including those listed above). 

Purposes for which we use personal information 

We use personal information that we collect about you for the following purposes: 

• to verify your identity when you are dealing with us 
• to determine your eligibility and suitability for the Housing Policy Partnership membership, NATSIHA membership or appointment as director or member representative of NATSIHA 
• to enable us to provide our services and carry out our functions and activities, including to administer and lead the Housing Policy Partnership and other initiatives in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing sector 
• to carry out stakeholder consultations in accordance with our functions in the housing sector 
• to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations 
• to carry out education and training programs for our staff 
• to manage and resolve any legal or commercial complaints or issues 
• to carry out planning and forecasting activities and other internal business processes 
• to keep you informed about our activities, including by sending out newsletters 

We may from time to time use your personal information in order to send you newsletters or materials about our functions and activities that we think you may be interested in (including in some cases services that are provided by a third party).  You can opt-out of receiving these communications from us by contacting us at info@natsiha.org.au or following the “unsubscribe” link in the communication.  

We may also use and disclose your information for other purposes as authorised by you, or in accordance with your requests or instructions. 

People to whom we disclose personal information 

We may share personal information about you with: 

• our staff who need the information to discharge their duties 
• other organisations and Government bodies that we work with and/or Federal, State and Territory peak bodies and organisations that we work with through the Housing Policy Partnership and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing sector  
• your representatives, advisers and others you have authorised to interact with us on your behalf 
• our partners, agents and service providers 
• payment system operators and financial institutions 
• professional advisers who we engage to provide advice on our business, and 
• Government authorities who ask us to disclose that information, or to other people as required by law. 

We will not disclose your personal information to anyone outside Australia. 

Cookies 

We use cookies to monitor and observe your use of our websites, compile aggregate data about that use, and provide you with a more effective service (which may include customising parts of our websites based on your preferences and past activities on those websites).  "Cookies" are small text files created and stored on your hard drive by your internet browser software, in order to hold relevant information about the web page you are currently viewing.  Most internet browsers have a facility that will allow you to disable cookies altogether – please refer to your browser’s help menu to find out how to do this.  While you will still be able to browse our websites with cookies disabled on your internet browser, some website functionality may not be available or may not function correctly.  

Storage and security of personal information 

We may have a responsibility to ensure that any of your personal information which we hold is accurate, complete and up-to-date. These responsibilities include promptly updating personal information when we are advised that the information has changed, checking our contact lists for accuracy, and providing individuals with a simple means to update their personal information. 

We store personal information for as long as it is needed for the purpose for which it was collected or as required by law. We generally store the personal information that we collect in electronic databases, some of which may be held on our behalf by third party data storage providers. Sometimes we also keep hard copy records of this personal information in physical storage facilities. We use a range of physical and technical security processes and procedures to protect the confidentiality and security of the information that we hold, and we update these from time to time to address new and emerging security threats. 

Access and correction  

If you want to access any of the personal information that we hold about you or to correct some aspect of it (e.g. because you think it is incomplete or incorrect), please contact us using the contact details set out below. To protect the integrity and security of the information we hold, we may ask that you follow a defined access procedure, which may include steps to verify your identity. In certain cases we may charge you an administration fee for providing you with access to the information you have asked for, but we will inform you of this before proceeding. There may be cases where we are unable to provide the information you request, such as where it would interfere with the privacy of others or result in a breach of confidentiality. In these cases we will let you know why we cannot comply with your request. 

Complaints 

We try to meet the highest standards in order to protect your privacy.  However, if you are concerned about the way in which we are managing your personal information and think we may have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, or any other relevant obligation, please contact us using the contact details set out below.  Complaints must be lodged in writing.  We will deal with the matter within a reasonable time, and will keep you informed of the progress of our investigation. 

If we have not responded to you within a reasonable time or if you feel that your complaint has not been resolved satisfactorily, you can contact us to discuss your concerns.  You are also entitled to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).  Contact details can be found at the OAIC’s website:  www.oaic.gov.au.