This policy outlines how New Horizons manages personal information
New Horizons is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of our Customers and other stakeholders in all aspects of their dealings with us by –
- Establishing transparent processes for the collection, management and disclosure of information;
- Informing individuals about their rights and responsibilities in respect of privacy provisions, and continually promoting their understanding of this;
- Only collecting relevant information and using this for its intended purposes in an ethical and responsible manner;
- Protecting the confidentiality of information with secure data management processes including limiting access to authorised users;
- Ensuring lawful disclosure of information at all times, particularly in circumstances where required by law (for example, to report child protection concerns).
‘Personal information’ is information or an opinion, whether recorded or not, about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. The Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles set out how organisations can collect, store, use and disclose personal information.
We may collect, store, use and disclose personal information of the following kinds –
- names
- signatures
- addresses
- dates of birth
- phone numbers
- email addresses
- bank account details
- photographs
- video and audio recordings
‘Sensitive information’ is a sub-set of personal information which is given a higher level of protection under the Privacy Act. We treat sensitive information very carefully because it is highly personal and if disclosed could cause severe embarrassment, result in identity theft or provide the basis for unjustified discrimination.
We only collect, store, use and disclose sensitive information with consent, except in specified circumstances as explained in Section 7 – Disclosure without Consent.
We may collect, store, use and disclose sensitive information of the following kinds –
- racial or ethnic origin
- religious or philosophical beliefs or affiliations
- sexual preferences or practices
- health and health services
- genetics
- criminal records
The most important of these is information or an opinion about –
- your health, including an illness, disability, injury or psychological condition
- your wishes about the future provision of your health services
- a health service provided, or to be provided, to you
- dispensing prescription drugs or medicines prepared by a pharmacist
- activities carried out in the course of providing aged care, palliative care or care for a person with a disability
New Horizons will only collect, hold and use personal information for the purposes of carrying out its business functions and activities. These purposes include, but are not limited to:
- Receiving enquiries about our programs and services
- Storing recordings of calls made to our Welcome Centre for the purpose of training, quality improvement and evidence of verbal consent
- Assessing Customer needs and identifying strategies to meet those needs
- Providing services to our Customers including but not limited to aged care, disability, housing and accommodation, humanitarian and justice, indigenous, mental health and youth programs
- Referring Customers to other programs or services
- Community and industry development activities
- Dealing with funding bodies and other trusted partners and organisations who work together with New Horizons
- Recruitment purposes
- Meeting contractual reporting requirements with our funding bodies
- Administrative activities
We collect personal information verbally, in writing or electronically, either directly or indirectly from an individual, a legal guardian, and/or authorised third parties, such as government and funding bodies.
The types of people and organisations we may disclose you personal information to include –
- Government Departments (e.g. Department of Family and Community Services, Department of Social Services, Centrelink and Medicare)
- Health & Wellbeing Professionals (e.g. general practitioners, other health specialists and hospitals etc.)
- Housing Providers
- Guardians (e.g. Trustee & Guardian, other appointed Guardians or Responsible Persons)
- Other National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) service providers
- Other relevant bodies such as employment and education related organisations
New Horizons will not release any personal information to other organisations for direct marketing purposes. New Horizons may send you information about New Horizons programs, products, services, fundraising or other activities that we think may interest you and you will have the option to opt out. The Spam Act 2003 prohibits the sending of unsolicited emails, SMS and MMS messages for commercial purposes from or within Australia or to people in Australia and bans the supply and use of software designed to harvest email addresses. As per the Act, even if we have your permission, New Horizons will always provide you with an opt-out mechanism as part of all electronic communications.
We may use personal information for internal research or statistical purposes if it has been de-identified and cannot be associated with a particular individual.
Some of our electronic systems that hold Customer personal information use cloud systems that are hosted overseas. Other organisations that Customers give us consent to share their personal information with may also store data overseas.We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that such personal information is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and any legal requirements which might apply in connection with our disclosure.
New Horizons has safeguards in place to protect personal information against loss, unauthorised access, disclosure or modification and misuse.
New Horizons makes every effort to ensure that the information we collect, hold and use is accurate, up to date, complete, relevant and not misleading. Please tell us if your personal information changes.
Under privacy laws, you may ask for access to your personal information (please refer Section 15 for contact information). Requests for access will be granted unless –
- Giving access poses a serious threat to someone’s life, health or safety
- Giving access may impact on the privacy of others
- The request is frivolous or vexatious (without merit)
- The information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings
- We suspect that unlawful activity or serious misconduct has been, is being, or may be engaged in
- Legislation or a law enforcement agency requires us to deny access.
The New Horizons website may use cookies to track site visits and navigation within the site. If you are concerned about the use of these cookies, your browser can be configured to notify you when you receive a cookie, and give you the opportunity to accept or reject it. You may refuse all cookies and choose to disable cookies at any time, however some functions may become unavailable.
New Horizons uses social media buttons and/or plugins on its website that allows you to connect with your social network. For these to work, social media websites including Facebook and Twitter, will set cookies through our website which may be used to enhance your profile on their website or contribute to the data they hold for various purposes outlined in their respective privacy policies. New Horizons encourages you to read the privacy policies of these websites.
If you wish to access or correct your personal information or have a complaint about how we have managed your personal information, please contact the Privacy Officer at New Horizons Enterprises Limited ABN 42 002 066 604 via any of the following methods:
- By phone: 1300 726 372
- By email: [email protected]
- By post: 15 Twin Road, North Ryde NSW 2113
Once contacted, we will:
- Acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days
- Make sure we understand your concerns
- Do everything we can to resolve the issues you’ve raised
- Keep you informed of the progress
- Keep a record of the complaint and our actions to resolve it
- Provide a final response within 21 business days.