Women for Election Australia Ltd (WFE) respects, and is committed to protecting, your privacy.

This Privacy Statement sets out the way we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information.

By visiting our website, 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.

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 emailing – [email protected].

What personal information we collect

We collect personal information about individuals including supporters, volunteers, donors, employees, contractors, job applicants and other people with whom WFE or a third party has contact with in connection with our activities. The personal information which we collect and hold generally includes your name, email address and contact details (such as your phone number and postcode), payment card details, and other information such as your interests and your opinions on democracy-related issues. We also use “cookies” to track visits to our website; you can usually disable cookies in your internet browser settings.

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, or provide you with updates/more information about our work and events.

We may also collect and hold sensitive information. For example, in the course of your engagement with us we might collect information about your political views or  affiliations. with, organisations. This is because we are curious about what makes you passionate about democracy-related issues. Knowing your values or your opinions helps us communicate with you better.

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 Australian 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, via event registration or by completing our online or hard copy feedback or survey forms. We may also collect your personal information through the use of commercial service providers who, for example, might conduct fundraising activities or run a survey 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, 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:

• Fulfilling our role in informing and educating the community about issues relating to WFE
  ● Assisting us and like minded organisations (including possible partner organisations within our Network) to participate in relevant civic and political discussions
• Notifying individuals of our education and training activities
• Forging alliances, and supporting like minded organisations to achieve a healthier democracy, including by sharing information with them
• Seeking new supporters and donors, including through marketing activities, and processing donations and payments, including the use of third parties
• Increasing our financial support, through various fundraising activities, in order to maintain and enhance our impact
• Building a comprehensive understanding of your interests and habits to enable effective engagement with you
• Recruiting staff, Advisory Group members and volunteers
• Receiving feedback or complaints on any of the above functions or activities
• Responding to your comments or questions and receiving feedback or complaints on any of the above functions or activities
• Improving our website and events
• 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

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 that also wish to achieve democracy outcomes or that we work with in alliances or as network partners.

We expect our service providers to also look after your information carefully. We have confidentiality agreements in place with many of our service providers and external agencies, and with staff and volunteers who handle personal information that 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.

WFE may store or use personal information in a country other than Australia, usually because one of our technical systems or platforms is located or needs to process data overseas or because a service provider is located overseas.

Other than as stated above we will 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.

Keeping your information secure

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).

Access and correction

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.

Notifiable data breaches scheme

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.

If you wish to make 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 General Manager 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 will be reviewed regularly and updated as necessary from time to time.

This Privacy Statement was last updated in October 2023.