National Summit on Women’s Safety – Privacy Notice

The Department of Social Services (department), in conjunction with the Office for Women at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, is leading the development of the next National Plan to end violence against women and children (next National Plan) on behalf of the Australian Government.  In some aspects of this work, the department is assisted by Services Australia, an executive agency in the Social Services portfolio.

In the course of our work the department may collect, use and disclose information, that is directly related to, or reasonably necessary for, one or more of our functions or activities in relation to the development of the next National Plan. In some circumstances, this information may include personal information that is protected under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). Because of the inherent sensitivity of the information we collect in relation to the next National Plan, We have decided to treat all information that we collect from individuals as if it is personal information under the Privacy Act. We will collect, or have collected, your information (including any personal information) for one or more of the above purposes. This notice is designed to ensure you are aware of certain matters in relation to that collection, as required by the Privacy Act.

What we collect

We have designed an on-line survey (the DSS Engage Survey) to obtain views and other information about a range of matters, which will help inform the next National Plan.

Through your participation in the DSS Engage Survey, we will collect a range of information about you, including your personal views about family, domestic and sexual violence, such as:

• details about your views about family, domestic and sexual violence, its effects, the services available and how the next National Plan can best address these issues in the future.

We ask that you do not provide your name, phone number, address or other information that could identify you.

Why we collect information about you

We collect information about you to help us provide recommendations to the Australian, state and territory governments to inform the development of the next National Plan.

We are also preparing a consultation report for the next National Plan. Monash University has been engaged by the department as our consultation partner, and is developing this report on our behalf. Information collected through the DSS Engage Survey will be used by Monash University to develop the consultation report. Only aggregated data from the DSS Engage Survey will be reflected in the consultation report. The consultation report, once finalised, will be made publicly available but will not contain information that identifies any individual.

If we are unable to collect information about you, we may not be able to represent your views about family, domestic and sexual abuse in providing recommendations to the Australian, state and territory governments to inform the development of the next National Plan.

Who will we disclose information about you to?

We may disclose information about you that we collect through the DSS Engage Survey to the following people, organisations or third parties:

• Our consultation partner, Monash University, for the purposes of preparing the consultation report and providing other services to us in relation to the development of next National Plan
• Other entities contracted to provide services to assist us with the development of the next National Plan, where required (which may include entities contracted to provide information technology and authoring/editing services)
• Individuals within agencies, organisations and bodies that will be working with the department on the development of the next National Plan, including Ministers and their staff, state and territory governments, and advisory groups to the Australian Government.
• Services Australia, for the purposes of assisting the department to administer the DSS Engage Survey and providing the department with other information technology services other individuals or entities where the disclosure of your information is required or authorised by law.

All entities contracted by the department are subject to strict confidentiality and security obligations.

No information about you will be disclosed overseas.

More information

More information about how the department handles personal information is set out in the department’s Privacy Policy.

More information about how the Office for Women handles personal information is set out in its Privacy Policy.

These Privacy Policies contains more information about our contact details, 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 1988 (Cth).