A new approach to children and family programs – Privacy Collection Notice

Your personal information is protected by law, including under the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act).

The Department of Social Services (department, we, us, our), is inviting representatives from service providers and organisations to provide their views on a consultation entitled ‘A new approach to children and family programs’ (the Consultation).

The department collects personal information about individuals for a range of purposes to enable it to carry out its functions. More information about how we handle your personal information is set out in our Privacy Policy.

This privacy collection notice is designed to ensure you are aware of the purpose for which we are collecting your information, and certain other matters in relation to the department’s collection of your personal information as required by the Privacy Act.

Purpose of this Consultation

The purpose of this consultation is to seek feedback on proposed changes to the department’s investment in services for families, children and young people. This includes bringing the following 5 Families and Children Activity programs under a new, single national program to support children and families:

1. Children and Parenting Support
2. Family Mental Health Support Services
3. Communities for Children Facilitating Partners
4. Family and Relationship Services
5. Specialised Family Violence Services

There are multiple ways for stakeholders to have their say i.e., through making submissions in response to the Discussion Paper, by completing the survey or by attending the webinar or town-halls on Vimeo where you can make a comment on Slido.

The Discussion Paper includes questions for your feedback. By making a submission, you can share your views and address some, or all, of the questions outlined in the Discussion Paper by completing the form on DSS Engage.  You can also email your submission to us.

You can also complete a survey on the DSS Engage platform. We have designed the survey for service providers. However, anyone can complete it.

We do not ask for you to provide your phone number or address in your submission or survey, and you can submit your feedback to us anonymously or using an alias. The department’s intention is for individuals who wish to provide feedback to have the choice to not be identified or reasonably identifiable.

However, even where individuals choose to remain anonymous, it is possible that the individual may still be identifiable due to various factors (for example, if you include personal information in your submission, or in the free text boxes in the survey). It is also possible that other individuals may be identified, or reasonably identifiable, from the information you provide in your submission or survey response. Additionally, any emails sent directly to the department to ask a question, provide a copy of your submission or request a different method to complete the survey may include your name, email address and other identity details.

Where we are able to identify you (or reasonably identify you) from your submission or survey responses, we will handle your response in accordance with 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. This applies whether the personal information is true or not or recorded in a material form or not. For example, personal information can include an individual’s name, signature, residential address, phone number, email address, date of birth, photographs, employment information, location information from mobile devices and internet protocol addresses.

‘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. Health information includes any information regarding whether an individual has a disability and the nature of their disability.

Who is collecting your personal information?

Your personal information will be collected by the department.

In relation to the webinar and townhalls, which will be held on Vimeo and using Slido, the department will engage Eventbrite to assist with the registration process. If you register for the webinar or townhalls on DSS Engage, Eventbrite will handle your personal information on our behalf. For more information about the way Eventbrite handles your personal information, please refer to their privacy policy.

If you subscribe to receive updates in relation to the consultation, please note the department has engaged Swift Digital to manage its subscription. Access Swift Digital’s privacy policy.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in analysis of Discussion Paper submissions – OPT OUT

Unless you elect to opt out when providing your submission as set out below, the department intends to use AI to assist with reviewing submissions provided in response to the Discussion Paper.

The use of AI will help the department to efficiently and effectively compare, summarise and analyse the responses received. At this stage, the department intends to utilise Microsoft Copilot (isolated in the GovTEAMS controlled environment) to process submissions of individuals and organisations that do not opt out of AI processing.

GovTEAMS is a comprehensive whole-of-government collaboration service for the Australian Public Service that is hosted and operated by the Department of Finance. Further details can be found on the GovTEAMS website.

The department’s use of AI in relation to this Discussion Paper will be in line with our AI transparency statement. Read our AI transparency statement.

You can opt out of the department using AI in relation to your submission when you provide your submission by selecting ‘No, I do not want AI to be used to analyse my submission’ on the DSS Engage platform, or when you email us your submission by completing the email coversheet.

What personal information we collect

Individuals

If you are an individual completing the consultation, we will ask you if you are a parent, caregiver or family member of a child or young person. This information will be optional to provide.

Through your participation in this consultation, we may collect a range of personal information, some of which could be sensitive information. The questions are optional and you do not have to provide answers.

As part of the Consultation, we will not ask you to provide identifying information such as your name, phone number or address. However, any submissions emailed to the department may include your name, email address and other identifying information. You might also be identifiable from other information that you include in your response to the consultation or in your submission.

Where we are able to identify you (or reasonably identify you) from your response, we will handle your response in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Please only provide information about other individuals where they have consented to you sharing the information with us or you are otherwise authorised to disclose the information to us. Where appropriate, please provide a copy of this privacy notice to that individual. Please do not to provide identifying information about children, victim-survivors, or alleged perpetrators of family violence even if you have their consent, as there are unique sensitivities associated with these cohorts.

We may also collect personal (including sensitive) information from you:

• if you include personal information in your responses to survey questions or in your submission to the Discussion Paper
• if you submit an audio or video recording on DSS Engage with your feedback
• if you complete the survey or submission by an alternative method, such as by emailing us your answers to the discussion questions or emailing us a completed copy of the survey.
• if you register to attend the webinar or online town-halls s to be held on Vimeo and using Slido, and if you attend the Vimeo sessions, using Slido.

Organisations

If you are an individual making a submission or completing the survey on behalf of an organisation (such as a service provider, peak body or other organisation), we will ask you for your name, work email address, the name of the organisation on whose behalf you make the submission, the type of organisation it is, and your position at that organisation.

We will also ask:

• what state your organisation delivers services in, and whether this includes major cities, regional, remote or very remote area
• what type of service or support your organisation mostly providers

Where you make a submission or complete the survey on behalf of an organisation, you are confirming that you have authority to do so. Please do not provide personal information or information which could reasonably identify another individual (third-parties) without first obtaining their consent.

How we collect your information

Your personal information will be collected if you choose to make a submission, participate in the survey or attend the webinar or online sessions on Vimeo and using Slido. will do this by:

• collecting information from your via the DSS Engage platform
• collecting information from you directly, if you wish to provide additional information to your submission via email to families@dss.gov.au.
• collecting information from you by post, if you post your responses to us.
• if you register to attend the webinar or online town-halls on Vimeo.
• Any comments you make on Slido.

Why we collect your personal information

Your personal information is collected for the purposes of:

• informing policy development in relation to the department’s investment in programs for families, children and young people
• informing recommendations to the Minister for Social Services
• understanding and publishing aggregated information about the demographics of respondents
• publishing submissions on DSS Engage where you have consented
• developing policies in relation to children and families.

Responses collected as part of this consultation will be de-identified and summarised into a report, which will be provided to the Minister for Social Services and may be published on the DSS Engage website. The name of your organisation may be included in this summary report if you consented to your submission being made public. The names of individuals will not be included in the report, but aggregate summary statistics will be included.

Prior to publication of individual submissions, the department will remove any personal information that the author has not consented to the release of (such as name and email address) and personal information related to other individuals.

Individual survey responses will not be published.

The webinar and online town-halls will be recorded and published on the department’s website. If you make comments on Slido during the Webinar or town-halls, your comments may be included in the recording. As the Webinars and town-halls will be hosted on Vimeo, any personal information you provide here may be sent overseas for processing.

Where information that we collect from this consultation is to be used for research purposes other than the current consultations, the Australian Privacy Principles will apply to the handling of any personal information.

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
• Employees from the office of the Minister for Social Services
• If you consent to us using AI to analyse your submission, we may disclose your information to the Department of Finance which hosts the Microsoft Copilot, via GovTeams (read the GovTeams privacy notice)

We may also use or disclose your personal information to the following people, organisations or third parties:

• other commonwealth departments or organisations who support the Department in relation to their work on children and families.
• our ICT Contracted Services Provider, for the purposes of assisting the Department with information technology services; and
• other parties where the disclosure is required or authorised by law.

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.

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

The department’s Privacy Policy contains more information about how we handle personal information, 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 complaints@dss.gov.au.

Confirmation and consent

By providing personal information as part of your consultation response, you consent to the department’s handling of personal information in accordance with this collection notice and the department’s Privacy Policy.

Please note that you do not need to provide sensitive information if you do not wish to do so.

If you provide sensitive information as part of your responses to the consultation, you are consenting to the department collecting and handling your sensitive information in accordance with this collection notice and the department’s Privacy Policy.