Under the Information Privacy Act 2014 (see Territory Privacy Principle 1.3), all ACT Government agencies, including the ACT Human Rights Commission (‘the Commission’) must have a clearly expressed and up-to-date privacy policy.
This policy outlines how the Commission and its staff collect, hold, use and disclose information about you.
The Commission’s Online Services Privacy Statement forms part of this policy, as does the attached table (Appendix 1) outlining specific types of information collected used, and shared by each area of the Commission.
The policy is supported by individual privacy statements that we include on our forms used to collect information.
The Commission also has a summary privacy policy. If you ask us to, we will also provide a copy of either policy to you in a form of your choice (provided it is reasonable to do so).
If you have any questions about this policy or how we collect or handle information about you, please contact us
We only collect, hold, use and disclose information about you to assist you and to carry out our legislative responsibilities. The following ACT laws, and others requiring that the Public Advocate be informed about vulnerable people, describe some (though not all) of our legislative responsibilities.
We will only share your information as required or authorised by law. If we share that information with other government agencies, those other agencies are also required to handle your information in a way that is consistent with the Information Privacy Act.
The Commission promotes the human rights and welfare of all people living in the ACT. We are an independent agency established in 2006 under the HRC Act.
Our role under the HRC Act is to:
Four independent Commissioners oversee the Commission’s eight major responsibilities under ACT law. The Commissioners are:
Each Commissioner’s specific responsibilities are outlined in our Operations Protocol (see page 3 of that Protocol).
One of the Commission’s functions is to provide an independent, fair and accessible process for the resolution of complaints, including about:
| – Disability services | – Services for older people |
| – Discrimination | – Sexual harassment |
| – Services for children and young people | – Victimisation |
| – Health services
– Compliance with the rights of victims of crimes |
– Vilification |
The Commission provides individual advocacy for vulnerable members of the community and protects the rights of children and young people, and of people with disability (including those with mental health concerns).
The Commission also provides support, advocacy and assistance (including financial assistance) to victims of crime.
We only collect information about you in ways that are lawful and fair.
We only collect information about you with your informed consent or where we need it for, or it is directly related to, our work. This means we will try to collect as little information about you as possible.
Each of the Commissioners and their teams perform a number of different roles and responsibilities. The personal information we collect and hold will vary depending on what we need to help you or to meet our legal responsibilities.
The information we collect depends on what services you need, request or receive.
For example, we may collect:
– information about your identity (eg date of birth, country of birth, passport details, visa details and drivers licence)
– your name, address and contact details (eg phone, email and fax)
– information about your personal circumstances (eg age, gender, marital status and occupation)
– information about your employment at the Commission (eg job applications, work history, referee comments and pay)
– information about assistance we have provided to you to help you access our services.
For a description of the kinds of personal information each Commissioner and their teams collect and why, see our information collection table (Appendix 1).
We collect information from you in a variety of ways, including through complaint forms, in letters or emails to and from you, over the telephone and by fax or in person.
Generally, we will collect information from you directly when:
– we are required or authorised by law or a court or tribunal order to collect the information
– we are providing you with services or assistance
– we are handling a complaint
– you send us an email, including submitting a complaint or application for Victims of Crime Financial Assistance, via email. (Please note, you may choose to include sensitive information in your complaint or application, and we are not responsible for the level of encryption or protection you choose to apply to your own email. You can elect to provide your complaint or application in writing instead)
We may collect information about you from other people or organisations when we have your permission or are exercising our legislative powers.
For example, we are allowed to collect information about you from other people or bodies when exercising our powers under the HRC Act or related legislation, such as the Children and Young People Act 2007 or Victims of Crime Act 1994. Some Commissioners have specific powers to ask other service providers for information about your case or query. We can also require people to produce information or documents where we reasonably believe it is relevant to a complaint or a commission initiated consideration we are considering.
In certain circumstances, for example where it is required by law, we may also obtain information about you that was collected by other Australian, state and territory government bodies or other organisations.
We can also collect information about you from others where it is not workable, safe or reasonable to collect information directly from you. This will be in accordance with protections and safeguards under relevant legislation and the TPPs under the Information Privacy Act. For example, we may be unable to locate you or asking you for the information may place you in serious danger.
We also collect information about you from publicly available sources where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our functions.
The Commission will only collect information about you from the social media services we use (eg Twitter and Facebook) if you choose to:
These social networks may collect information about you according to their own privacy policies.
To perform some of our functions, we may receive information about you from another person or organisation under a specific law without having specifically asked for it. This is discussed further in section 4.5 below.
When we need to collect information about you, we will provide you with notice before we collect it or as soon as we can afterwards unless we are required or permitted by law not to tell you. This notice will set out:
We will normally give this notice in privacy statements. A privacy statement might be in writing or explained to you over the phone – it depends on how we are collecting your information. We also have a specific Online Services Privacy Statement for information collected through our website.
We realise that certain types of information about you are more sensitive than others. This includes information about your:
| – Racial or ethnic origin
– Political opinions – Membership of a – Philosophical beliefs – Religious beliefs – Experience of crime including |
– Sexual orientation, gender identity tices
– Membership of a trade union – Membership of a professional or – Criminal record – Physical or mental health – Genetic and biometric information |
We treat your sensitive information with greater caution. Except in strictly limited situations, we will not collect your sensitive information without telling you why we need to collect it and asking for your permission. The only times we may collect sensitive information without telling you are:
We are required to comply with the Health Records (Privacy and Access Act) 1997 when we collect and handle information about your health. This law says that we can only collect your ‘personal health information’ for a lawful purpose that is directly related to our functions.
We may receive information (including sensitive information) about you from other people or bodies, such as your representatives or someone who has made a complaint about you.
In some cases we receive information about you as part of reports made to us by government bodies so that we can oversee the services they provide to the community. This information is provided to us under relevant laws about child protection, mental health and personal violence.
As examples, the Community Services Directorate and Health Directorate may make reports to the Public Advocate under the Children and Young People Act 2008 and Mental Health Act 2015. The Victims of Crime Commissioner may also receive information from criminal justice entities, including ACT Policing, Director of Public Prosecutions and ACT Courts and Tribunals, in order to support victims of crime.
Where we receive information that we have not asked for, we will decide within a reasonable time whether we could normally have collected the information ourselves.
If we believe we would have been allowed to collect the information (because it is related to our functions), we will treat it as if we had collected it ourselves and will only use and hold the information in accordance with this policy and relevant legislation (such as the Territory Records Act 2002).
Where we receive information about you that is unrelated to our functions, we will either remove any identifying details or delete it within a reasonable timeframe.
We recognise that sometimes you may not feel comfortable sharing your information with us or identifying yourself.
Where possible, we will assist you to interact with us without identifying yourself or by using a made-up name.
However, at other times, such as where you make a complaint, we might need your name, contact details and other accurate information about you to respond to you in a way that is efficient and fair.
We recognise that when you provide us with information, you are trusting us to use it responsibly. For this reason, we normally will not use or disclose information about you unless you agree, or would reasonably expect us to do so for the particular purpose for which you gave us the information.
However, there are some situations discussed below where we collect information for one purpose but may then need to use or share it with another team for a different purpose or disclose it to a body outside the Commission.
As mentioned above (at 4.3), we will tell you why we need information about you when we collect it. We will only use information about you for that reason or for reasons that are directly related to that purpose.
Most often we will use information about you to try to resolve your concern or complaint, explore with you what services you may need and communicate with you. We also use information about you to consider what financial assistance you may be entitled to as a victim of crime, refer you to relevant services or assistance and investigate any system-wide issues that arise from your case.
Sometimes we will use information collected in relation to one complaint or contact made by you to assist with another complaint or enquiry that you make later. This is so we can provide a quick and convenient service to you or answer your questions as soon as we can. We try not to ask you the same questions more than once.
When we collect information for the purposes of education or training, we will only use it to keep a record of your attendance and to keep you informed about our activities (if you opt-in to this process).
We may use information from you for general research or service improvement, but we will not publish it without your consent or without de-identifying it.
We will only share or disclose your information to bodies outside the Commission with your informed consent or where we are allowed or required to by law, including when handling your complaint. Other examples include where:
We may suggest you contact other service providers, such as community services and legal services so that they can help you. However we will only release any personal information about you to providers with your consent.
We may also share your information so that service providers can provide answers to any questions you may have more quickly.
Courts and tribunals – If we are asked by a court or tribunal, we may be required to share your information.
Government agencies – As we are an independent agency that is separate to the ACT and Australian Governments, we will not normally share your personal information with other government agencies without your agreement unless we are required to do so by law or a court order.
Online services – We use third party providers for some web-based services, including SurveyMonkey for online surveys and EventBrite for registration at events organised or hosted by the Commission. This may mean that your information is shared in a secure way with these providers. Information about these services is available in our Online Services Privacy Statement.
Media – We will not provide identifiable information about you to the media without your permission.
We will normally be better placed to consider your concern, complaint, application or need for support where we know everything relevant about it. This includes knowing whether you have recently contacted the Commission in another way.
Your name, address, contact details and the issues you have raised will generally be used to assist us to provide you with the best support and assistance we can.
Your information may also be shared to identify, lessen or prevent a risk or threat to you or someone else’s life, safety, health or wellbeing as permitted by law.
We use third party providers for some web-based services, including SurveyMonkey for online surveys (see their privacy policy for more information on information stored in the United States and European countries), Mailchimp for newsletters (stored in the United States) and EventBrite for registration at events (stored in the United States). We also use Google Analytics for analysis of that information by service providers based in the United States of America. Web traffic information is disclosed to Google Analytics when you visit the Commission’s websites.
These services collect and host information about your use of their websites (eg your IP address) on servers located overseas in the United States of America and Europe and your ability to complain or seek redress under Australian law about their use or disclosure of your information is limited. Privacy policies for each are linked above.
Apart from using these services, we do not routinely disclose or store your information overseas. In rare cases where we need to share or store information about you with a body or person who is located overseas, we take reasonable steps before providing the information to ensure that the recipient treats your information in a way that is similar to the way it is protected under ACT law.
In some cases, the information will already be sufficiently protected under the law that applies to the overseas recipient, and will allow you to access mechanisms to enforce those protections.
If it is practical and reasonable to do so we will obtain your permission to overseas disclosure. However, there may be situations when we are unable to contact you, for example, where we are legally required to share information.
We take proactive steps to ensure your information is stored securely. Every effort is taken to protect your personal information from misuse, interference or loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
You have the right to ask for access to information that we hold about you under several laws, including:
If you contact us to ask for access to your personal information we must respond to you within 30 days. We must give you access to your information if it is reasonable and practicable and must do so in an appropriate manner. If documents containing information about you also include personal information about other people, we may redact their information in order to respect their privacy.
If we refuse to give you access to information about you, we must respond to your request in writing telling you why we are unable to provide you with access to that information. This includes when a particular law requires that we do not disclose certain information (eg sensitive information under the Children and Young People Act 2008 or information relating to complaints or the Commission’s inquiries under the HRC Act).
We will not charge you any fees for making the request or providing you with access unless a fee has been specifically determined for the information in question (such as court records).
The Commission is required to take reasonable steps to ensure information about you that we collect, hold, use or disclose is accurate, up-to-date and complete. We take the following steps to ensure this is the case:
If you access the personal information we hold about you and discover it is inaccurate, you can ask us to correct it. If we have shared this information with another agency, you can ask us to advise them that they also need to correct the personal information.
There are times when we may decline to change factual information about you, including when the amendment sought is not to personal information. We will write to you within 30 days to explain why we declined to change your information and how you can complain about our decision.
The Commission is required to take reasonable steps to ensure that information it holds about you is safe and secure.
The ACT Protective Security Policy Framework (ACT PSPF) requires all ACT agencies to take appropriate measures to protect its people, information and assets, at home and overseas.
The Commission has implemented a number of policies and procedures to meet the requirements under the ACT PSPF that help to ensure your personal information is protected. These include:
For example, we generally only use USB storage devices to store publicly available information (presentations), which will not contain personal information about identified individuals.
We will take all reasonable steps not to lose or misuse information about you.
If your information is accidentally released, or is lost, or accessed without authorisation (hacked or misused) we will deal with that situation by:
In view of the steps the Commission and our service providers take to keep your data secure, we do not believe an online security breach is likely to occur. We are nevertheless conscious of the importance of your information and so regularly review our processes and data security to minimise the likelihood of your information being accidentally released, lost or misused.
The Commission is also aware of the risks of natural disaster, and has in place a Business Continuity Plan so we can protect and access relevant information in the case of our records becoming inaccessible. Data is also backed up regularly.
The Commission is required to maintain records of its work under the Territory Records Act 2002. This means that we may keep it as part of our records securely and in accordance with the law.
If we hold information about you and we no longer need to use or disclose it or keep it in our records, we will take reasonable steps to remove any features that might identify you from it or otherwise destroy it.
If you are unhappy with how the Commission has handled information about you, we invite you to complain to us in writing (by letter or email). This will help us clearly respond to your complaint.
We will help you lodge your complaint with us if you ask.
You can also contact us with suggestions for how we could better handle your personal information.
The Commission is located on level 2, 11 Moore Street, Canberra ACT.
The Commission is open Monday to Friday, between 9.00am-5.00pm, except on public holidays.
Our mailing address for complaints and other letters is: ACT Human Rights Commission, GPO Box 158, Canberra, ACT, 2601. Our email is: human.rights@act.gov.au.
If you would like help in lodging a complaint, our phone number is: (02) 6205 2222
We will promptly tell you we have received your complaint when we receive it.
We will then consider your complaint to work out how we can appropriately resolve your issue and respond within a reasonable time (normally within four weeks).
If you are not satisfied with our response, in some circumstances, you can make a formal privacy complaint Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) who acts as the ACT Information Privacy Commissioner.
The OAIC including handling complaints of privacy complaints against ACT public sector agencies. For more information, including on making a complaint, you can contact the OAIC.
The OAIC’s mailing address is GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001. Their email is enquiries@oaic.gov.au. For more information, you can visit their website at https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-in-your-state/privacy-in-the-act/
| Commissioner | Functions | Information collected by the Commissioner | How the Commissioner uses that information | When the Commissioner shares that information |
| President | Governance, finance, resources and corporate administration of Commission | · Personal details
e.g. your name and contact details |
We use this information to stay in contact about your question or issue. | We will not share your information unless you agree or it is required by law. |
| · Employee information
e.g. applications for employment, work history, referee comments and remuneration |
Personnel files are kept to maintain records about all aspects of employment including recruitment, employment history, payroll, leave, equal employment opportunity data, workplace relations, security clearances, performance, workplace health and safety, rehabilitation and compensation. Records are kept for all permanent, contracted and temporary staff members/employees, including volunteers. | Personal information is disclosed to ACT Government Shared Services on a ‘need to know’ basis for the purposes of administering payroll, and to travel providers under the whole of government travel arrangements. | ||
| · Financial Information
e.g. bank account and payment details, TFN, information about business and financial interests |
We use this information to:
· make payments for goods or services; and · charge for goods or services. |
We will not share your financial information unless required by law. | ||
| · Territory records
e.g. records of all information created or collected as part of the work of the Commission |
We use this information to maintain a record of the Commission’s business operations | The Territory Records Act 2002 requires us to maintain and protect Territory records.
Secrecy provisions apply to all Territory records, preventing disclosure except as required by law. We may disclose Territory records in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2016, albeit only where disclosure would be in the public interest. |
||
| Reporting on systemic matters and reporting obligations | · Case study information
e.g. information about your story or case
|
We use this information to understand your experiences and how public authorities and organisations respect your rights. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to report to the Government, Legislative Assembly, community and media about specific problems or issues. |
| Commissioner | Functions | Information collected by the Commissioner | How the Commissioner uses that information | When the Commissioner shares that information |
| Human Rights Commissioner | Providing advice on human rights | · Statistics
e.g. number of people accessing our services · Case study information e.g. information about your story or case |
We may use your personal information to compile data and statistics about issues for research, service improvement or training and to inform advice and recommendations on human rights. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to provide training or community education. |
| Community education and training | · Statistics
e.g. number of people accessing our services · Case study information e.g. information about your story or case |
We may use your personal information to compile data and statistics about issues for research, service improvement or training, which may also inform advice and recommendations. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to provide training or community education. | |
| Systemic oversight and advice to Government | · Personal information
e.g. information about your story or case |
We use your personal information to consider whether agencies are meeting their human rights obligations and to develop advice and recommendations to Government. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to report to the Government, Legislative Assembly, community and media on specific problems or issues. | |
| Review effects of Territory laws on human rights including the monitoring of places of detention
|
· Statistics
e.g. number of people accessing our services |
We may use your personal information to compile data and statistics about issues for research, service improvement or training and inform advice and recommendations. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to provide training or community education. | |
| · Case study information
e.g. information about your story or case
|
We use this information to understand your experiences and how public authorities and organisations respect your rights. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to report to the Government, Legislative Assembly, community and media on specific problems or issues. |
| Commissioner | Functions | Information collected by the Commissioner | How the Commissioner uses that information | When the Commissioner shares that information | ||||
| Discrimination, Health Services, Disability and Community Services Commissioner | Consider complaints about unlawful discrimination, vilification and sexual harassment under the Discrimination Act 1991 | · Personal details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address and contact details
|
We use this information to stay in contact with you about your complaint and keep you updated. | We are required to share this information with the individual or organisation that you are complaining about so they can provide us with background to the issues.
We may share this information with a court or tribunal as required by law. |
||||
| · Complaint records
e.g. your name, address, date of birth, occupation, circumstances of the incidents in your complaint and personal health information |
We use this information to keep track of your complaint and to investigate it. | We are required to share this information with the individual or organisation that you are complaining about so that they can provide us with background to the issues.
We may share this information with other agencies to understand the issues. If we cannot help with your complaint we may be able to refer your issue to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them after receiving your permission. |
||||||
| · Investigation records
e.g. sensitive personal information about your sex or gender status, status as a parent or carer, relationship status, pregnancy, race, religious or political conviction, impairment, accommodation status, employer or employee organisation membership, age, employment records, criminal convictions, personal financial information, personal health information and medical opinion |
We have the power to ask for information, documents and other things as part of a complaint investigation. You must comply with a request from us.
You may be required to attend and answer questions about a discrimination complaint investigation. We use this information to help determine whether discrimination has occurred and to inform conciliation about a possible resolution. If we compel information from you, this information cannot be used against you in other criminal or civil matters. |
There are times when information you have provided for a complaint may be provided to another agency without your consent. This will only occur where there is a risk to your or someone else’s safety, or a risk to the general public.
The Commission is required to keep these records confidential in accordance with the Human Rights Commission Act 2005. If a discrimination complaint is closed, is withdrawn, or not successfully resolved, the Commission must offer the complainant the option to take their complaint to the ACAT. A complaint can only be referred to ACAT if the complainant agrees. We may need to provide information to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal to support the referral of complaints to the Tribunal. |
||||||
| · Conciliation information
e.g. notes from conciliations, draft conciliation agreements, records of compliance with conciliation agreements |
The Commission can only use information in a conciliation agreement with the consent of the parties. | The Commission is required to keep conciliation records and details confidential in accordance with the Human Rights Commission Act 2005.
Conciliation information is not admissible as evidence. The general terms of a written conciliation agreement will be registered with the ACAT, which can then be enforced as if it were an ACAT order. |
||||||
| Consider complaints about ACT health services; complaints about breaches of the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997. | · Personal details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address and contact details
|
We use this information to stay in contact with you about your complaint and keep you updated. |
We are required to share this information with the individual or organisation that you are complaining about so that they can provide us with background to the issues.
We may share this information with a court or tribunal as required by law. |
|||||
| · Complaint records
e.g. name, address, date of birth, occupation, circumstances of the incidents in your complaint |
We use this information to keep track of your complaint and to investigate it. | We are required to share this information with the individual or organisation that you are complaining about so that they can provide us with background to the issues.
We may share this information with other agencies to support us to gather information and understand the issues. If we cannot help with your complaint we may be able to refer your issue to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them after receiving your permission. |
||||||
| · Health records
e.g. GP visit notes, information about any conditions, mental health assessment, hospital treatment information, information about addictions |
We will use this information to help us decide if you have received appropriate care and treatment that is consistent with the rules applying to the health service provider. | Medical records can only be shared in accordance with the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 where sharing them is required or allowed by law. | ||||||
| · Investigation records
e.g. sensitive personal information about your sex, sex or gender status, relationship status, status as a parent or carer, pregnancy, race, religious or political conviction, impairment, accommodation status, employer or employee organisation membership, age, employment records, criminal convictions, personal financial information, personal health information and medical opinion |
We have the power to ask for information, documents and other things as part of a complaint investigation. You must comply with a request from us.
You may be required to attend and answer questions about a complaint investigation. We use this information to help determine whether there has been a failure of the health service provider to give appropriate care or to provide care in accordance with the applicable standards. |
If the Health Services Commissioner receives a complaint about a health practitioner, the Commissioner must tell the national board for the practitioner’s health profession about the complaint. The national board and Commissioner must try to reach agreement about how the complaint is to be dealt with.
Medical records can only be shared in accordance with the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 where they are required or allowed by law. There are times when information you have provided for a complaint may be provided to another agency without your consent. This will only occur where there is a risk to your or someone else’s safety, or a risk to the general public. The Commission is required to keep these records confidential in accordance with the Human Rights Commission Act 2005. |
||||||
| · Conciliation information
e.g. notes from conciliations, draft conciliation agreements, records of compliance with conciliation agreements |
The Commission can only use information in a conciliation agreement with the consent of the parties. | The Commission is required to keep conciliation records and details confidential in accordance with the Human Rights Commission Act 2005.
Conciliation information is not admissible as evidence. |
||||||
| Consider complaints about services for older people and people with disability and services for children and young people | · Personal details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address and contact details |
We use this information to stay in contact with you about your complaint and keep you updated. | We are required to share this information with the individual or organisation that you are complaining about so that they can provide us with background to the issues.
We may share this information with a court or tribunal as required by law. |
|||||
| · Complaint records
e.g. name, address, date of birth, occupation, circumstances of the incidents in your complaint and personal health information |
We use this information to keep track of your complaint and to investigate it. | We may share this information with other agencies to understand the issues.
If we cannot help with your complaint we may be able to refer your issue to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them after receiving your permission.
|
||||||
| · Investigation records
e.g. sensitive personal information about your sex, sex or gender status, relationship status, status as a parent or carer, pregnancy, race, religious or political conviction, impairment, accommodation status, employer or employee organisation membership, age, employment records, criminal convictions, personal financial information, personal health information and medical opinion
|
We have the power to ask for information, documents and other things as part of a complaint investigation. You must comply with a request from us.
You may be required to attend and answer questions about a complaint investigation. We use this information to help determine whether there has been a failure of the service provider to provide appropriate services or to provide services in accordance with the applicable standards. |
There are times when information you have provided for a complaint may be provided to another agency without your consent. This will only occur where there is a risk to your or someone else’s safety, or a risk to the general public.
The Commission is required to keep these records confidential in accordance with the Human Rights Commission Act 2005. |
||||||
| · Conciliation information
e.g. notes from conciliations, draft conciliation agreements, records of compliance with conciliation agreements |
The Commission can only use information in a conciliation agreement with the consent of the parties. | The Commission is required to keep conciliation records and details confidential in accordance with the Human Rights Commission Act 2005.
Conciliation information is not admissible as evidence. |
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| Commissioner | Functions | Information collected by the Commissioner | How the Commissioner uses that information | When the Commissioner shares that information |
| Public Advocate | Advocating for the rights of people with a disability including those receiving services under the Mental Health Act, and dealing with those service providers | · Personal details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address and contact details
|
We will use this information to support you by linking you to services that can provide services for people with a disability. | If we cannot help with your issues we may be able to refer one or more of them to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them after receiving your permission or where authorised or required by law. |
| · Statistics
e.g. number of people accessing our services |
We may use your personal information to compile data and statistics about issues for research, service improvement or training. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to provide training or community education. | ||
| · Case study information
e.g. information about your story or case |
We use this information to understand your experiences and how public authorities and organisations respect your rights. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to provide training or community education. | ||
| Advocate for the rights of children and young people and deal with services | · Personal details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address and contact details
|
We will use this information to help to support you by linking you to services that can provide services for children and young people. | If we cannot help with your issues we may be able to refer your issue to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them after receiving your permission or where authorised or required by law. . | |
| · Statistics
e.g. number of people accessing our services |
We may use your personal information to compile data and statistics about issues for research, service improvement or training. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to provide training or community education. | ||
| · Case study information
e.g. information about your story or case |
We use this information to understand your experiences and how public authorities and organisations respect your rights. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to provide training or community education. | ||
| Represent forensic patients in ACAT | · Personal details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address and contact details
|
We will use this information to contact service providers to collect information relevant to assisting you. | If we cannot help with your issues we may be able to refer your issue to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them after receiving your permission or where authorised or required by law. | |
| · Medical and mental health records
e.g. records of capacity assessments, advance consent directions, orders made by ACAT |
We use this information to understand your situation and your will and preferences and to advocate for your rights in the Tribunal. | We will be required to share this information with the Tribunal to help them decide how you can receive assessment and treatment, care or support in a way that is least restrictive or intrusive to you. | ||
| Listen to and investigate concerns | · Personal details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address and contact details
|
We will use this information to contact service providers to collect information relevant to assisting you. | If we cannot help with your issues we may be able to refer your issue to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them after receiving your permission or where authorised or required by law. | |
| · Concern records
e.g. name, address, date of birth, occupation, circumstances of the incidents in your complaint and personal health information |
We use this information to investigate your concerns. | We may share this information with other agencies to understand the issues
If we cannot help with your concern we may be able to refer your issue to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them after receiving your permission or where authorised or required by law. |
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| · Operations records
e.g. organisational policies, procedures, incident registers, contracts for goods and services |
We collect this information to understand the way organisations and service providers operate, and provide services as well as their corporate and administrative processes. | The Commission is required to keep these records confidential in accordance with the Human Rights Commission Act 2005.
We may be authorised or required to share this information under law. |
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| · Investigation records
e.g. sensitive personal information about your sex, sex or gender status, relationship status, status as a parent or carer, pregnancy, race, religious or political conviction, impairment, accommodation status, employer or employee organisation membership, age, employment records, criminal convictions, personal financial information, personal health information and medical opinion |
We use this information to help determine whether there has been a failure of a service provider or government agency to protect the interests of vulnerable people | There are times when information provided by a complainant may be provided to another agency without the consent of the complainant. This will only occur where there is a risk to the safety of the complainant or someone else, or a risk to the general public.
The Commission is required to keep these records confidential in accordance with the Human Rights Commission Act 2005. |
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| Monitoring services for the protection of children and young people | · Personal details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address, criminal history, details about your case, how you might have been treated, and contact details that are provided by service providers and operators of closed environments. |
We use this information to ensure service for children and young people are operating lawfully and effectively, including through reviewing registers of how certain powers are used (e.g. use of force or strip searching), reports of critical incidents and querying the basis for a decision about a child or young person. | The Commission is required to keep these records confidential in accordance with the Human Rights Commission Act 2005 and Children and Young Person Act 2008.
We may be authorised or required to share this information by law. |
| Commissioner | Functions | Information collected by the Commissioner | How the Commissioner uses that information | When the Commissioner shares that information |
| Children and Young People Commissioner | Consult with and listen to children and young people | · Consultation records
e.g. minutes of discussions, attendee lists |
We use this information to inform government about the views of children and young people. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to provide advice to government and service providers. |
| · Statistics
e.g. number of people accessing our services |
We may use data from your personal information to compile statistics about issues for research, service improvement or training. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to provide training or community education. | ||
| · Case study information
e.g. information about your story or case |
We use this information to understand your experiences and how public authorities and organisations respect your rights. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to provide training or community education. |
| Victims of Crime Commissioner | Manage victims services scheme and financial assistance scheme | · Personal details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address and contact details
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We will use this information to contact you and service providers to collect information relevant to assisting you. | If we cannot help with your issues we may be able to refer your issue to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them generally with your permission. |
| · Information about crimes
e.g. details about offence, offender, victim impact statements, records, sentence information |
We will collect this information to determine your eligibility, to assist you an relation to interactions with the criminal justice system and/or to assess your application for financial assistance | Secrecy provisions apply to this information under the Victims of Crime Act 1994 or the Victims of Crime (Financial Assistance) Act 2016
We will not share this information with anyone except as required by law. For example, we are required to make a mandatory child safety concern. |
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| · Financial Information
e.g. payment details, bank account details |
We collect financial details to allow us to make payments to you. | We will not share this information with anyone except as required by law. | ||
| · Personal details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address and contact details
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We will use this information to contact you. | If we cannot help with your issues we may be able to refer your issue to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them generally after we receive your permission. | ||
| Advocate for the interests of victims in the criminal justice system and of a forensic patient under the Mental Health Act 2015 | · Medical and mental health records
e.g. orders made by ACAT |
We collect health records to determine if an injury has resulted from a crime.
We use this information to identify what information can be provided to a victim about the forensic patient. |
The Victims Support scheme is declared to be a health service provider for the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 so all personal information about clients is treated as a health record.
We will use this information to provide information to the affected person on behalf of the Affected Persons register – in accordance with the Mental Health Act 2015. |
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| · Case study information
e.g. information about your story or case |
We use this information to understand your experiences and how public authorities and organisations respect your rights. | We may publish this information in a form that does not reveal your personal details to provide training or community education | ||
| · Personal details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address and contact details |
We use this information to contact service providers to collect information relevant to assisting you | If we cannot help with your issues we may be able to refer your issue to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them generally after we receive your permission. | ||
| Monitor and promote compliance with the governing principles | · Information about crimes
e.g. details about offence, offender, victim impact statements, court records, sentence information |
We will collect this information to assess whether justice agencies like the police, prosecution service, courts and corrective services are complying with their obligations to you as a victim. | Secrecy provisions apply to this information under the Victims of Crime Act 1994. We will not share this information with anyone except as required by law. | |
| · Personal and complaint details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address and contact details |
We will use this information to contact service providers to collect information relevant to assisting you. | If we cannot help with your issues we may be able to refer your issue to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them generally after we receive your permission. | ||
| Ensure concerns and formal complaints about compliance with the governing principles are dealt with | · Information about crimes
e.g. details about offence, offender, victim impact statements, court records, sentence information |
We will collect this information to assess whether justice agencies like the police, prosecution service, courts and corrective services are complying with their obligations to you as a victim. | Secrecy provisions apply to this information under the Victims of Crime Act 1994. | |
| · Personal and complaint details
e.g. your name, date of birth, address and contact details |
We will use this information to contact service providers to collect information relevant to assisting you. | If we cannot help with your issues we may be able to refer your issue to another agency that can help you by sharing this information with them. | ||
| Encourage and facilitate cooperation of justice agencies | · Information about crimes
e.g. details about offence, offender, victim impact statements, court records, sentence information |
We will collect this information to assess what needs you have and who is best placed to assist you to navigate the justice system. | We will share this information with justice system agencies so that can cooperating in good faith to provide the assistance and support that you require
Secrecy provisions apply to this information under the Victims of Crime Act 1994. |