Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy Details

HAWTHORN CATHOLIC PARISH, 345 Burwood Road, Hawthorn 3122
Archdiocese of Melbourne

Your privacy is important to us
This statement outlines the Parish's policy on how it uses and manages personal information provided to or collected by it. It does not relate to records collected and held by the Parish school. The school has a separate policy statement.

The Parish may from time to time review and update this policy to comply with all relevant legislation and to take account of changes in technology, changes to the Parish's operations and practices and to make sure that it remains relevant to the Parish environment.

This Parish is not bound by the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000. However, the Parish respects and values the personal information that the parishioners are willing to entrust on it, and will abide by the spirit and principles enshrined in that legislation.

What kind of personal information does the Parish collect and how does it collect it?
The Parish collects and holds includes personal information, including sensitive information about

Children and their parents and/or guardians and may be related to children receiving sacraments or pastoral care. It may relate to the child's enrolment at the Parish school, after school care facility or sporting association.
Adults receiving sacraments or pastoral care and witnesses to sacraments.
Job applicants, staff members, religious undertaking work in the Parish, volunteers and contractors.
Fundraising.

Personal information you provide
The Parish will generally collect personal information held about an individual by way of forms filled out either by the person or the parent/guardian, face to face meetings, interviews and telephone calls.

Personal information provided by other people
In some circumstances the Parish may be provided with personal information about an individual from a third party, eg a reference about an applicant for a position.

Exception in relation to employee records
This policy does not apply in relation to the treatment of an employee record, where the information is directly related to a current or former employment relationship between the Parish and the employee as these records are exempt from the application of the Commonwealth Privacy Act.

How will the Parish use the personal information you provide?
The Parish is restricted by the Privacy Legislation how it can use the information provided by the Parishioner.

Children and their parents and/or guardians
The Parish's primary purpose of collection is to enable it to administer the sacraments and pastoral care to children of the faithful. Collection may be required if the Parish offers after school care or social/sporting facilities. This information may be required to provide care for the child while under supervision.

The purposes for which the Parish uses personal information of children and their parents and/or guardians include:

Keeping parents and/or guardians informed about matters relating to the child's spiritual life, through correspondence and newsletters
Day to day administration
Looking after the child's spiritual and physical wellbeing
Seeking donations
Satisfying the Parish's legal obligations and allow the Parish to discharge its duty of care.

In some cases where the Parish requests personal information about a child or parent and/or guardian and the information is not obtained, the child may not be able to receive the sacrament or be enrolled in the Parish program.

Where the Parish is collecting information of this kind, it will issue a copy of the 'Standard Collection Notice' (see attachment 1 below).

Adults
The Parish's primary purpose of collection is to enable it to administer the sacraments and pastoral care to adult parishioners, Information is used for purposes similar to the use for children.
Where the Parish is collecting information of this kind, it will issue a copy of the 'Standard Collection Notice' (see attachment 1 below).

Job applicants, staff members, religious, volunteers and contractors
The primary purpose of collection is to assess the suitability of the person or persons for the role and, if successful, employ or engage the person or persons concerned.
The purposes for which the Parish uses this information include:

Administering the person's employment or contract.
For insurance purposes.
Seeking funds.
Satisfying. the Parish's legal obligations, eg, in relation to child protection legislation.

All applicants for jobs will be sent a copy of the 'Employment Collection Notice' (see attachment 2 below). All new contractors and volunteers will be sent a modified version of the 'Employment Collection Notice' (see attachment 3 below).

Fundraising
The primary purpose of collection of information is for raising funds now and into the future. It is also used for accounting purposes, including complying with taxation requirements.

Purposes for which the Parish uses this information include:

Seeking funds
Providing taxation receipts, where subject to a tax deduction.

Where the Parish is collecting information of this kind, it will issue a copy of the 'Standard Collection Notice' (see attachment 1 below).

Who might the Parish disclose personal information to?
The Parish is restricted by the Privacy Legislation as to whom this personal information may be disclosed to. The Parish is not allowed to send personal information about an individual outside Australia without obtaining the consent of the individual.

How does the Parish treat sensitive information?
In the Parish context, sensitive information could mean information relating to a person's parentage, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, trade union or other professional or trade association membership, sexual preferences or criminal record.

Sensitive information will be used and disclosed only for the purposes for which it was provided or a directly related secondary purpose unless you agree otherwise, or the use or disclosure of the sensitive information is allowed by law.

Management and security of personal information
The Parish's staff are required to respect the confidentiality of the information and privacy of individuals.

The Parish has in place steps to protect the personal information the Parish holds from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by use of various methods including locked storage of paper records and pass worded access rights to computerised records.

Updating personal information
The Parish endeavours to ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate, complete, and up to date. A person may seek to update their personal information held by the Parish by contacting the Parish Office - telephone: 8862 4000 at any time.

The National Privacy principles require the Parish not to store personal information longer than necessary for our purposes for use and disclosure.

You have the right to check what personal information the Parish holds about you
Under the Commonwealth Privacy Act and with some exceptions, an individual has the right to obtain access to any personal information, which the Parish holds, about them and to advise the Parish of any perceived inaccuracy. Children will generally have access to their personal information through their parents and/or guardians.

To make a request to access any information the Parish holds about you or your child, please contact Parish Office at Hawthorn Catholic Parish, 345 Burwood Road Hawthorn, 3122 in writing.

The Parish may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. The Parish may charge a fee to cover the cost of verifying your application and locating, retrieving, reviewing and copying any material requested.

Consent and right of access to the personal information of children
The Parish respects every parent and/or guardian's right to make decisions concerning their children's religious upbringing and care.

Generally, the Parish will refer any requests for consent and notices in relation to personal information of a child to the parent and/or guardian. The Parish will treat consent given by a parent and/or guardian as consent given on behalf of the child and notices to parent and/or guardians will act as notice given to the child.

Enquiries
If you would like further information about the way the Parish manages the personal information it holds, please contact the Parish Office by telephone or email, or in writing at Hawthorn Catholic Parish, 345 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, 3122.

Further details may be viewed Here