Parent and Carers Reference Group EOI – Privacy Collection Notice
The Department of Social Services (department, we, us), is seeking nominations for parents and carers to join the Parents and Carers Reference Group (the PCRG) through an Expression of Interest (EOI) process.
The PCRG is being established to inform the implementation of the Early Years Strategy 2024–2034 (the Strategy) and Government decision-making.
As a part of this EOI process we are collecting information about individuals who would like to be part of the PCRG to assist our decision-making in filling membership positions for the PCRG. This notice is designed to ensure you are aware of the purpose and certain matters in relation to that collection, as required by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act).
Your personal information is protected by law, including under the Privacy Act.
What is ‘personal information’ and ‘sensitive information’?
Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.
Sensitive information is a subset of personal information. It includes information or an opinion about your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of associations or unions, sexual orientation or practices, criminal record, or health, genetic or biometric information.
What we collect
Through your EOI, we will collect a range of your personal information (some of which could be sensitive information) including:
- first and last name
- Email address
- home address
- gender
- age group
- parent/carer responsibility
- number of children in your care including the age of the youngest child
- demographic information
- information about your skills, interests and experience in relation to the Strategy
- whether you identify as being part of a group within the Australian community
- any other information about you that you choose to share, when you tell us about your connection with the Strategy.
We may collect personal information about you from other people as part of considering your EOI. For example, we may check information on the internet about:
- Your relevant experience, abilities and skills.
- The reasons for your interest in participating in a reference group focused on family and child policies.
How we collect your information
Your personal information will be collected if you choose to participate in the EOI. We will do this by:
- collecting information from your responses to the Engage.dss.gov.au EOI; or through an alternative channel such as email or post
- collecting information from you directly through an email submission
- internet or other queries as part of considering the information you give us in your EOI.
Why we collect your personal information
Your personal information is collected for the purpose of assisting our decision-making in filling membership positions for the PCRG.
If you do not provide your information to us in a way that tells us who you are, we will not be able to consider your nomination to be a part of the PCRG.
Who we disclose your personal information to
We may disclose your personal information to the following people, organisations or third parties:
- Minister for Social Services, the Hon Amanda Rishworth MP
- employees from the office of the Minister for Social Services, the Hon Amanda Rishworth MP
- other parties where the disclosure is authorised or required by law. This includes if the information discloses a serious risk to the welfare of any person.
All entities contracted by us are subject to strict confidentiality, privacy and security obligations.
No information about you will be disclosed overseas as part of the EOI process. If you are appointed to the PCRG, however, information about your participation in the PCRG will be published on the department’s website, and this information will be available overseas. This may include information collected from you as part of the EOI process.
If you are successful in your EOI, we will provide you with more information at that time about how your personal information will be handled as part of your participation in the PCRG.
Storage of your personal information
Storage of personal information (and the disposal of information when no longer required) is managed in accordance with the Australian Government records management regime, including the Archives Act 1983, agency-specific records authorities and general records authorities. This ensures your personal information is held securely by the department.
All personal information collected by the department is stored on Services Australia’s cloud storage, on servers located in Australia. Services Australia and the department retains effective control over any personal information held on our cloud, and the information is handled in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles.
Any information disclosed to third parties will be handled in accordance with the Privacy Act and stored in accordance with agreed security protocols.
More information
More information about how we handle your personal information is set out in our Privacy Policy. Our Privacy Policy contains more information about how you can access any personal information that we hold, and how to seek correction of that personal information. It also contains information about how to make a complaint about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles, as set out in the Privacy Act. If you have any concerns or questions, you can contact us at privacy@dss.gov.au.
Confirmation and consent
This section only applies if you are providing sensitive information as part of the EOI process. Please note that you do not need to provide your sensitive information if you do not wish to do so.
By providing your sensitive information as part of your response to the EOI, you consent to the department collecting your sensitive information and handling your sensitive information in accordance with this privacy notice.