Reconciliation Australia is an independent, national not-for-profit organisation promoting reconciliation by building relationships, respect and trust between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

The purpose of this privacy policy is to tell you what kind of information we collect from you, how we collect it, how we use that information, and whether we will disclose it to anyone else. It also explains how we store the information you provide to us, how you can access or correct it, and how you can contact us if you have questions or complaints. 

We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected and that any personal information we collect from you will be used in accordance with this privacy policy and Australian law. 

What is your personal information? 

When used in this privacy policy, the term “personal information” has the meaning given to it in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). In general terms, it is any information or an opinion that can be used to personally identify you, whether the information is true or not, and whether it is recorded in material form or not. This can include your name, address, telephone number, email address and profession or occupation. If the information we collect personally identifies you, or you are reasonably identifiable from it, the information will be considered personal information. 

What personal information do we collect? 

The types of personal information we collect include your name, address, telephone number, email address, date of birth and bank/credit card details, information about your activities, preferences and opinions in relation to us and any information you provide to us through communications, our office, surveys or visits by our representatives. 

For job applicants and staff we also collect CV and recruitment information such as qualifications, skills, experience, character and screening checks (including health, reference, background, directorship, financial probity, identity, eligibility to work, vocational suitability and criminal record checks). 

For staff, we collect employment information including information about training, emergency contacts, performance, conduct, use of our IT and communications resources, payroll matters, drug/alcohol tests, leave and tax/financial affairs. 

We collect personal information from you in a number of ways, including through your online interaction with us on our website and social media sites, when you purchase merchandise or make donations to us, during conversations between you and our representatives and when you apply to volunteer or work with us. 

Sometimes we collect personal information about you from someone else (see ‘Who do we share your personal information with?’) or a public source, or by creating new information from analysis and processing of information we already have. 

Sensitive information

We will not collect other sensitive information about you, including information about your ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices, or criminal record unless you have consented for us to do so, or the collection of the information is required or authorised by Australian law. For example in connection with employment applications, we may ask whether you wish to provide information about whether you identify as: 

• an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person; 
• a person from a culturally and linguistically diverse background; and/or 

• a person having a disability. 

Why do we collect and handle your personal information? 

The purposes for which we collect, store, use and disclose your personal information include the following purposes: 

• Connecting people and organisations in the pursuit of reconciliation; 
• Providing policy advice, frameworks, resources and toolkits; 

• Monitoring national progress towards reconciliation; 
• Running our website and social media accounts; 
• Distributing our online newsletter; 
• Processing your donations, and providing you with receipts;  
• Communicating with you about our programmes, partnerships, activities, and events, and making these communications more relevant to you; 

• Maintaining and updating our records; 
• Protecting the safety and security of our staff, sites and assets; 
• Conducting identity and background checks where legally required or appropriate for risk management purposes; and 
• Complying with our legal obligations and protecting and defending our legal rights and interests. For example, some personal information is collected pursuant to applicable laws such as the Fair Work Act, Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act, the Income Tax Assessment Act and other tax laws, Corporations Act, occupational health and safety acts, public health acts and workers compensation acts. 

We may sometimes use or disclose personal information for another purpose other than those listed above. However, we will only do so where you have consented for us to do so, you would reasonably expect Reconciliation Australia to use or disclose the information, or the disclosure is required or authorised by Australian law. 

We will not sell, rent, loan or otherwise disclose your personal information to enable any third party to contact you on their own behalf unless required or permitted by Australian law. 

Who do we share personal information with? 

We may disclose personal information to, and collect it from, third parties such as: 

• your representatives; 
• third party suppliers and service providers (including providers of IT, data, record-keeping, banking, payment, delivery, research, investigation, insurance, recruitment, background check, payroll, superannuation, staff benefits, surveillance and training services); 

• our funders, partners and professional advisors; 
• payment systems operators (e.g. merchants receiving card payments); 
• our sponsors or promoters of any event, activity or competition that we conduct via our services; 
• any party involved in an actual or prospective transfer of assets, ownership or business operations, such as a merger between us and another organisation; 
• for staff and job applicants: academic institutions, health service providers, professional and trade associations and referees; and 

• other persons, including government agencies, regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies, or as required, authorised or permitted by law. 

Cookies and other online activity 

When you visit our website, we collect and store your computer’s assigned IP address, the date and time of your visit, the information accessed and the referring page. Like many websites, our website uses ‘cookies’ from time to time. Cookies are small text files that the website transfers to your computer through your web browser to enable the website’s systems to recognise your computer. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser. We collect this information to enable us to keep track of what you view on our website.

We also measure traffic patterns, with platforms like Google Analytics and Google Analytics Advertising features including Google Signals, to determine which areas of our website have been visited and to measure transaction patterns, gather broad demographic information and generally improve your online experience. 

Google Analytics uses cookies and similar technologies to analyse and improve our website based on your usage behaviour. Google Signals compiles multi-platform data reports on Google users that have consented to personalised advertising in their Google accounts. These data reports are anonymised and provide insights into user behaviour. Users can opt-out of Google Analytics Advertising features through Google Ad Settings.

For more about how Google collects and processes data, and your privacy choices with Google, please see Google’s privacy policy and their information at www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/. 

Data security 

We take a number of precautions to help maintain the confidentiality of all the information that we hold about you, and will endeavour to protect the information from misuse, interferences and loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. 

Depending on the circumstances, the types of security precautions we take to protect personal information include data access restrictions, contractual protections for personal information stored by third parties, firewalls, data backups and locked facilities. 

Accessing information 

We will make this privacy policy publicly available on our website at www.reconciliation.org.au and will take reasonable steps to provide a copy of this policy, free of charge, to anyone who asks for it. 

If you ask, we will give you access to your personal information within a reasonable time, subject to any exceptions under applicable law. 

We may charge you for giving you access to the personal information if it is appropriate, however the charge will not be excessive. 

If we refuse to give you access to your personal information we will give you a written explanation of our reasons, and notice of the available mechanisms to make a complaint, unless it would be unreasonable to do so. 

Correcting information 

We aim to ensure that all personal information held by Reconciliation Australia is accurate, up to date, complete, relevant and not misleading. 

If you want to change any information that you have previously provided, please contact us and we will respond to the request within a reasonable period and will take all reasonable steps to correct the information. 

If we refuse to correct the personal information we will give you a written notice that sets out our reasons, and notice of the available mechanisms to make a complaint, unless it would be unreasonable to do so. Where we refuse to make a correction you request, you can ask us to make a note of your requested correction with the information. 

Other sites’ privacy policies 

This website contains links to other sites. Reconciliation Australia is not responsible for the content and the privacy practices of other web sites and we encourage you to examine each site’s privacy policies. 

How to make a complaint 

If you wish to complain to us about how we have handled your personal information you should complain in writing. We will respond within a reasonable period after a complaint is received. 

You can make a complaint about Reconciliation Australia’s handling of your personal information to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). Further information is available on the OAIC website. 

Contact details 

All queries or complaints regarding this Privacy Policy, or requests for access to, or correction of, personal information should be directed to the Reconciliation Australia Privacy Officer: 

Manager, Corporate Services 

94-96 Cooper St

Surry Hills NSW 2010 

PO Box 224, Surry Hills NSW 2010

T +61 2 6153 4400 

[email protected] 

Review 

This Privacy Policy will be reviewed regularly and updated as necessary. This policy was last updated in December 2024.