The privacy of our customers is of the utmost importance to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council (Council) and we are committed to protecting your personal and health information.
Council is required to comply with the Information Protection Principles (IPPs) in the Privacy and Personal Information Act 1998 (PPIPA) and the Health Privacy Principles (HPPs) in the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIPA). These laws promote the protection of personal and health information in New South Wales (NSW).
Our Privacy Management Plan7MB pdf(PDF, 7MB) sets out how Council complies with the principles of the PPIPA and the HRIPA.
Council will only collect personal information directly from an individual or their authorised agent. The information collected will be for lawful purposes directly related to the functions of Council. Collection may occur by phone, written correspondence to Council, email, facsimile, Council forms, Council website or in person. Council will only request information that is necessary for the purpose of the collection.
When you visit Council’s website, we may collect additional information about your use of the website. For instance, we may collect information about which pages you visit and which files you download. We may also collect information about your internet browser and operating system, the address of the referring site and your internet protocol address. We use this information to maintain, secure and improve our website and to enhance your experience when using it. These tools do not match any data collected with any personal information, which means website users browse our website anonymously. No attempt will be made to identify individual users or their browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the logs.
Council uses social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google Plus and YouTube to communicate with the public about our services. When you communicate with us using these services we may collect your personal information, but we only use it to help us to communicate with you and the public. The social networking service will also handle your personal information for its own purposes. This Privacy Statement does not extend to social networking services or other third party websites.
Council uses drones for aerial survey work directly related to its functions of waste management, compliance, infrastructure management and community events. Personal information, such as digital imagery may be collected during the drone flights, but will only be used to perform Council functions.
Council will store personal information securely and for no longer than is required by law. It will be protected from unauthorised access, use or disclosure by application of appropriate security measures and staff training.
Personal information will only be used by Council for the purpose for which the information was provided, or a directly related purpose, unless you consent to another use or disclosure, in emergencies or as otherwise required or authorised by law.
Information collected via submissions and petitions is public information, may form part of Council reports or made public in their entirety subject to the provisions of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA). You may request, in writing, that Council suppress the personal information in your submission from public release, if you consider that the personal safety of any person would be affected if the information was not suppressed. Any such request will be dealt with in accordance with the GIPA and the PPIPA.
Council will only disclose personal information with the individuals consent or if the individual was told at the time of collection that it would do so. Council may also disclose information if it is for a related purpose and it considers that the individual would not object.
In some circumstances Council may disclose personal information to a third party in connection with the provision of a service to Council (e.g. consultants and contractors), In such circumstances, Council only authorise use of the information in order to provide the services or to perform the functions required by us. We will take all reasonable steps within our power to prevent unauthorised use or disclosure of the information.
Council will dispose of personal information appropriately and in accordance with legislative requirements.
You have the right to determine whether Council holds personal information about you, access your personal information and request alteration of incorrect personal information held by Council by completing the relevant form below:
- Form: Determine whether Council holds personal336KB pdf(PDF, 336KB) information about a person
- Form: Access to personal information212KB pdf(PDF, 212KB)
- Form: Alteration364KB pdf(PDF, 364KB) of personal information
Should you wish to make a privacy related complaint, you can make an application for internal review by completing a Privacy Complaint: Internal Review Application374KB pdf(PDF, 374KB).
Applications can be lodged by contacting Council.
If you have any queries about this privacy statement, please contact Council.
This page was last updated on: 04 September 2017