Privacy & confidentiality

This document communicates the personal information handling practices of Lifeline Australia.

  1. About this Policy

    The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to:

    • Clearly communicate the personal information handling practices of Lifeline WA;
    • Enhance the transparency of Lifeline WA's operations; and
    • Give individuals a better and more complete understanding of the sort of personal information that Lifeline Australia collects, and the way that information is managed.

    For the avoidance of doubt, any reference to ‘personal information’ under this policy does not relate to the collection and management of information in relation to employees of Lifeline WA. Employee information is covered under separate policies and legislative requirements. Any such queries should be referred to the Human Resources Manager.

  2. Our obligations under the Privacy Act

    This Privacy Policy sets out how Lifeline WA complies with its obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) – ‘the Act’. The Act as amended may be accessed at: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Browse/ByTitle/Acts/Current#top

  3. Meanings

    In this Privacy Policy, 'personal information' has the same meaning as defined under section 6 of the Act: information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database), whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion.

    In this Privacy Policy, "we", "us" and "Lifeline" refers to Lifeline WA Limited ABN 84 081 031 263 and "our" has a similar meaning. "You" and "your" refer to an individual about whom we have collected personal information.

  4. Collection

    We will only collect personal information from you that is necessary for or directly related to our functions and activities. For example, we may collect personal information from you in order to:

    • Provide you with crisis support or suicide prevention services,
    • Take a donation from you,
    • Give you information or send you publications or resources,
    • Manage your employment with us if you are an employee,
    • Assess and register you as a volunteer, or
    • Engage emergency services or refer you to other service providers.

    You do not have to provide us with personal information unless you wish to do so. However, it may affect our ability to provide you with services or allow you to participate in our programs or events if you not give us personal information. Wherever possible, we will collect your personal information directly from you, rather than from another person. However, in some circumstances we will collect information from a third party including if it is necessary for a specific purpose such a referral to emergency services where we believe on reasonable grounds that it is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the life or health of the individual concerned or another person.

    In some cases, we may receive unsolicited personal information about you from a third party. If we do get personal information in these circumstances, we must determine whether we could have lawfully collected the information. If we could not, we will destroy the information or de-identify it.

    For further information about the management of donor information by Lifeline Australia, please see our Donor Management Policy.

  5. Cookies

    It is our usual practice to collect information about all visitors to our online services and resources using "cookies". Cookies are text files that a website can transfer to your computer when you access information on that site. Cookies allow websites to recognise you as you browse their website.

    We use Google Analytics to gather statistics about how the website is accessed. Google Analytics uses cookies to gather information for the purpose of providing statistical reporting.

    The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers located outside of Australia. No personally identifying information is recorded or provided to Google. If you are logged in to our website, information about your user account is not linked to data recorded by Google Analytics and is not provided to Google.

    Information gathered using Google Analytics and other tools includes:

    • The number of visitors to our website
    • How visitors arrive at our website, for example, did they type the address in directly, follow a link from another webpage, or arrive via a search engine?
    • Web chat
    • The number of times each page is viewed and for how long
    • Time and date of visit
    • Geographical location of the visitor
    • Information about what browser was used to view our website and the operating system of the computer
    • Information about whether the browser supports Java and Flash
    • The speed of the user's internet connection.

    You can opt out of the collection of information via Google Analytics by downloading the Google Analytics Opt-out browser add on. You can also disable cookies in your internet browser. Doing so will not affect most of our website, but some functions may not work properly if cookies are disabled.

  6. Use and disclosure

    Lifeline WA will only use personal information for the purposes for which it was given to us, or for purposes which are directly related to one of our functions or activities. We will not use or disclose personal information for other purposes unless:

    • The individual has consented; or
    • The individual would reasonably expect, or has been told, that information of that kind is usually passed to those individuals, bodies or agencies; or
    • It is otherwise required or authorised by law; or
    • On reasonable grounds it is believed that it will prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to somebody's life, health or safety or serious threat to public health or public safety; or
    • The individual has made threats to harm third parties; or
    • The individual has made threats against Lifeline;
    • The individual repeatedly makes nuisance contact including calls, chats or emails.

    We will also use disclose information to a law enforcement body (for example, the police) if we believe that it is reasonably necessary for an enforcement related activity (for example, investigating a crime).

    Information collected by Lifeline WA may also be used for quality assurance, research for service improvement, community promotion of Lifeline WA services (for example, Lifeline WA may use positive feedback on our service to promote Lifeline WA services online or via social media) and/or fundraising purposes. However, information will always be de-identified prior to such uses. Lifeline WA also uses contact details and information collected via individuals who subscribe to Lifeline Australia’s mailing list for marketing purposes.

  7. Data quality

    Lifeline WA will take steps to ensure that the personal information we collect is accurate, up to date and complete. These steps include maintaining and updating personal information when we are advised by individuals that their personal information has changed, and at other times as necessary.

  8. Information security

    We take steps to protect the personal information we hold against loss, unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure, and against other misuse. These steps include background checks, password protection for accessing our electronic IT systems, securing paper files in locked cabinets and physical access restrictions. Staff access to information is based on the "need to know" principle. We also regularly engage independent information security experts to review and test our systems and processes.

    When no longer required, personal information is destroyed or deleted in a secure manner.

  9. Access and correction

    You can ask us to access your personal information or to change it. To make such a request you need to: write to the Privacy Officer either via email to privacy@lifelinewa.org.au

    Provide us the following information (if relevant):

    • The date, time and number used to contact Lifeline’s 13 11 14 service; or
    • The date, time and IP address used to access Lifeline’s online crisis support chat service;
    • Provide proof of identity (this may be achieved through a number of means, including using the 100 point identification system or through a legal practitioner).

    We will carefully consider any request made. If we decline your request, we will tell you why. Please note that we will not release call records, call recordings, online crisis support chat transcripts and other sensitive material across the internet. Our preferred method is to send them via secure registered post.

  10. Retention of personal information

    We will retain personal information in accordance with our document retention policies. When personal information is no longer required and there is no other reason for us to hold the information, we will either destroy or de-identify it.

  11. Changes to this Privacy Policy

    This Privacy Policy may change from time to time, particularly as new laws or regulations are introduced.

  12. Contact Us

    If you are concerned about the way we have handled your personal information, our Privacy Officer will investigate any concerns that you send to us in writing.

    Please address any correspondence to the Privacy Officer at:

    Postal Address: PO Box 509, Subiaco WA 6904; or

    Email Address: privacy@lifelinewa.org.au

    If you are dissatisfied with our investigation of your concerns, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner who is independent of Lifeline WA.

    Personal information means information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database), whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained.

Overview

Lifeline WA’s work is only possible because of generous Western Australians who choose to make donations and support our fundraising and marketing campaigns. Therefore it is crucial that we maintain secure and accurate records of our supporters. Lifeline WA recognises that security of donor’s personal information is critical and embraces the Australian Privacy Principles.

Lifeline WA manages donor’s personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. This policy should be read together with our privacy policy which provides more general information about how Lifeline handles personal information.

How donor's personal information is collected

Lifeline WA collects personal information supplied to us such as name, address, phone, email, date of birth and bank/credit card details to process donations and promote fundraising campaigns.

Lifeline WA may also collect personal information through public sources, the purchase of commercial lists or third parties contracted to provide us with services.

Use of personal stories

To educate donors and the public about the services provided by Lifeline WA it is necessary to share stories about personal experiences.

By submitting a personal story through Lifeline WA's website form, you consent to its publication on the website. Lifeline WA reserves the right to edit or delete submissions that it, in its sole discretion, are deemed to be abusive, obscene, or are otherwise inappropriate.

We reserve the right to modify or edit stories that are too long.

When using a personal story for feature in a fundraising or marketing campaign, Lifeline Australia only publish your story and/or imagery with your prior written consent.

Types of personal information collected from donors

Lifeline WA may record information including but not limited to name, address, telephone number, email, gender, and date of birth.

Lifeline WA suggests that you provide a date of birth as a security measure for future use to confirm your identity should you wish to access or update your information. Lifeline WA will specifically request your date of birth when you provide bank or credit card details.

Lifeline Australia suggests that you do not send sensitive information or credit card numbers via email or facsimile because these mediums are not secure. Lifeline WA cannot be held responsible if you choose to provide your personal information to us via these mediums.

Lifeline Australia will offer donors the opportunity to remain anonymous where practical.

You may be photographed when you attend public events involving Lifeline WA. Wherever practical we will seek to obtain your written consent prior to using the image obtained.

How we store donor's personal information

Lifeline WA stores donor’s personal information in a Customer Relationship Management Database. Lifeline WA will undertake all reasonable steps to ensure the secure storage of personal information provided both in soft and hard copy.

Credit card and bank details provided for regular donations are stored securely and are encrypted in our database and third party payment gateway. This information may only be accessed by authorised staff.

If bank or credit card details were provided for the purpose of authorising an on-going payment against a donation pledge (for example a monthly gift) a hard or soft copy authorisation form will be stored in a secure location which can only be accessed by authorised staff.

For on-going payments authorised over the phone, a voice recording will be stored by Lifeline WA or the contracted third party.

Records of donations will be stored for a minimum of 7 years.

Confirming Identity

It may occasionally be necessary for Lifeline WA to contact donors directly to update or confirm their personal or credit card details. In this circumstance, we will only disclose the last four digits of the credit card number and the expiry date. We will make every effort to confirm your identity through other personal information made available to us.

Use and Disclosure

We may contract third party service providers for purposes including but not limited to conducting surveys, soliciting donations, managing databases, facilitating information collection and managing events. Some of these service providers may conduct all or part of their business overseas and so your personal information may be transferred overseas as a result.

Lifeline WA’s donor database is hosted on a secure off-shore server in the USA and accessed through the “cloud.” We will not transfer your personal information overseas or into the “cloud” unless we have taken reasonable steps to ensure that the information which is being transferred will not be held, used or disclosed by the recipient of the information in a manner which is inconsistent with the Australian Privacy Principles.

Lifeline WA may provide donor’s personal information to other separately incorporated Lifeline entities for local fundraising and marketing purposes. Lifeline entities may also supply personal information to Lifeline Australia when in accordance with their privacy policy.

Lifeline WA will not disclose donor’s personal information to a third party for their marketing purposes. We may include messages from partner organisations or sponsors in our direct marketing. We do not trade, rent or sell our donor lists.

How to correct personal information or change communication preferences

To update your information or to opt-out of marketing and fundraising communications, you may phone 9261 4414 or email fundraising@lifelinewa.org.au. We will endeavour to action your request within two weeks.

Some direct marketing communications involve a long production time. Therefore, in some cases you may still receive a communication within 90 days of your communication preference update.

Lifeline WA uses the eWAY Payment Gateway for its online credit card transactions. eWAY processes online credit card transactions for thousands of Australian merchants, providing a safe and secure means of collecting payments via the Internet.

All online credit card transactions performed on this site using the eWAY gateway are secured payments.

Payments are fully automated with an immediate response.

Your complete credit card number cannot be viewed by Lifeline WA or any outside party. All transactions are performed under 128 Bit SSL Certificate.

All transaction data is encrypted for storage within eWAY’s bank-grade data centre, further protecting your credit card data.

eWAY is an authorised third party processor for all the major Australian banks.

eWAY at no time touches your funds; all monies are directly transferred from your credit card to the merchant account held by Lifeline WA.

For more information about eWAY and online credit card payments, please visit www.eWAY.com.au.

After ordering online, you will receive an email confirmation from Lifeline WA and eWAY containing your order details (if you have provided your email address). We will normally confirm receipt of your order within a few minutes of ordering. We will attempt to send your goods within 5 working days; however if goods are unavailable delivery will take a little longer.

We can only ship to Australian addresses at this time.

If you wish to query a delivery please contact us at marketing@lifelinewa.org.au.

Lifeline WA does not provide refunds or exchanges on any of its products unless they are faulty or unsuitable for use as described.