Privacy Policy

Tenants Victoria is committed to protecting your right and using your information responsibly. We are guided by the Australian Privacy Principles, as well as the other codes and standards that we adhere to. 

This Privacy Policy helps you understand why and how we collect and use personal information, and what to do if you have questions, concerns or complaints. We will occasionally make updates to this policy, so we will note the date of the last change at the bottom of the page. 

Remember, you are in control of the personal information you have with us. 

If we are providing you with legal advice or assistance through the Tenants Victoria Legal Service, there is some information that we must ask you to provide in order to comply with our professional obligations. We have a Tenants Victoria Legal Service Privacy Policy that describes how we collect and use personal information in our legal service. 

In most other situations, you choose what information to provide to us, and you can access or change these details at any time. 

We regularly ask for information that helps us engage with you. Examples are processing your donation and providing a receipt, or recording your support of a petition, or letter to a member of parliament. It is your choice how much of information you provide – however we might not be able to fulfil a request if you don’t provide certain information. 

Below are some examples of information we commonly collect: 

• Personal details, such as name or date of birth 
• Contact details 
• Payment information for donations 
• Interests and opinions 
• Online activity 
• Your support for our work, like signing a petition, hosting an event or participating in a project 
• Other areas of our work you might be interested in supporting 
• Your communication preferences 
• Conversations by phone or email with our staff and volunteers 

In most cases, we will ask you for this information directly – for example, asking you to complete a donation coupon, or sending you a survey. However some information is collected automatically, such as online activity by visitors to our website, or from another source, such as updating mailing addresses from Australia Post, information that is listed in public directories, or obtaining details for potential future supporters from like-minded organisations or third-party suppliers. 

To protect your privacy and personal information, when you contact us we’ll ask you to confirm your identity by confirming a few details which we have on record, such as your current address, phone number, and a relevant reference or transaction number. 

We keep most of your personal information secure in our advice or supporter database and conduct regular tests and audits to ensure that information is held securely and safely. Physical copies of your information, such as donation forms, are kept securely and destroyed if not needed. Staff and volunteers are required to sign our policies relating to privacy, and police checks are conducted for sensitive roles. 

Sometimes we may need to store or use your information in a country other than Australia, usually because one of our technical systems is located in, or needs to process data, overseas, such as social media websites. The countries in which we use data include: 

• Canada 
• United Kingdom 
• United States 

We collect personal information in order to fulfil our core work: assisting and engaging with the public, raising awareness of tenancy issues and fundraising. To help us be effective, efficient and informed, we collect information to ensure a complete and accurate record of your history and engagement with Tenants Victoria. For example we will use this information to keep you updated with issues you are interested in, to provide opportunities for you to support Tenants Victoria’s work, or to notify you of other ways you can help us or we can help you. 

We occasionally require external suppliers to assist us in our activities and may provide your information to them in order to achieve these – for example, mailing a large number of letters to our supporters. 

If you want another person to be able to access or change your details on your behalf (a spouse, legal or financial representative) you can let us know in writing, and we will record this permission. 

From time to time, we may also use your details to send you information on behalf of like-minded organisations that you may be interested in supporting as a donor or customer. Your details will not be provided to them, and only the information you supply to them directly will be collected for their records. If you would prefer that we do not consider you for these kinds of communications, please contact us: details are below. 

In any case where we need to share your information with a third party, we will ensure this is done securely and only for the purposes outlined above. 

We use Google Analytics and other web server applications to track visits to our website. We use this information to track the effectiveness of our website, such as visits, length of visits, viewed pages and the technical capabilities of our visitors. While this data is mostly anonymous, sometimes we will connect it to you, for instance in personalising a web page, or pre-filling a form with your details. For more information on Google Analytics privacy read Google’s Privacy Policy. 

We also use tools that tell us when a computer or device has visited or accessed our content, and allow us to tailor advertising both on our websites and through advertising networks on other websites based on your visits or behaviour through cookies on your device. You can control how cookies are used and for what through the settings on your chosen browser. 

You may also engage with Tenants Victoria through social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You can always control how you receive content through each website’s settings. Occasionally, we may get in touch with you via social media if you aren’t a follower by using the details on your record, such as email address. If you prefer that we don’t do this, please contact us. 

You can update or correct the information we have collected from you or let us know of your preferences for how we communicate with you by contacting our administration team: 

• By phone: 03 9411 1444 (Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm) 
• By email: admin@tenantsvic.org.au 
• By mail: Tenants Victoria, PO Box 234, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 

If you have a question or a complaint about how we manage your personal information or would like to know more, you can contact our administration team using the details above. 

If you’ve made a complaint, the administration team will acknowledge that your complaint has been received, provide you with their contact details and give you an estimate of when they can update you on the status of your complaint. 

For more information about protecting your privacy, see the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website. 

[Last Updated: 30/6/2014]