Privacy policy - Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

This is a privacy statement for the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (the department). The department's privacy practices are regulated by the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) (PPIPA) and the department's Privacy Management Plan (PMP).

We only collect personal information for a lawful purpose which directly relates to our primary function as a NSW Government agency and for obtaining feedback about our services. We will not collect any more information than is necessary for us to fulfil our functions.

The department will only disclose your personal information to another person with your consent, unless legally required to do so.

Anyone engaged to collect, store or use personal information for the department will be required to comply with the PPIPA and the department’s Privacy Management Plan.

Please note that the department does not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to from this website.

To help the department improve its website and provide better services to its users, we make a record of your visit and log the following information:

• the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the machine that has accessed it
• your top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc.)
• the address of your server
• the date and time of your visit to the site
• the search engine used to locate the site
• the pages accessed and documents downloaded, and
• the type of browser and operating system you have used.

The department will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent or otherwise in accordance with the PPIPA.

Cookies and tracking pixels

Some parts of our website use cookies and tracking pixels to collect your data, while others do not.

For information on what cookies are, how they work and how to delete them from your computer, you can visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

When website data may be disclosed

We may collect, use and disclose more extensive information than stated above in the following circumstances:

• unauthorised attempts to access files which are not published on our website
• unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on the site
• unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the site by other sites
• attempts to intercept messages of other users of the site
• communications which are defamatory, abusive, vilify individuals or groups which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed, and
• attempts to otherwise compromise the security of the web server, breach the laws of the State of NSW or Australia, or interfere with the enjoyment of the site by other users.

We reserve the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of this site raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed.

We may publish aggregated information about feedback, to the extent that it does not identify or cannot be used to identify individual users.

Use of online forms and services

When you submit a form on this website (such as via Feedback or Contact us) or provide information as part of using an online service, we collect information from this activity. This information may include personal and organisational details such as your full name, phone number, business name and ACN details, email and street address. This information allows us to properly investigate an issue you raise, or to respond to your feedback.

Clicking on the 'submit' button on the form acts as your consent for us to collect the information you have provided. Before you submit this information, we will take reasonable steps to inform you of:

• where applicable, any law that requires the information to be collected
• which fields are mandatory, and which are optional.

Online transactions using credit cards

The department understands the security concerns surrounding online financial transactions and has developed a safe and secure environment to address these concerns. In some cases, we take credit card payments over the phone.

The department does not store credit card details from the listed websites, or those obtained via telephone, in its computer systems.

The department uses encryption software to protect credit card information and to provide transaction security. This means that all personal information, including name, address and credit card number, cannot be read as a transaction travels across the internet from your computer to the department's computers, or from the department's computers to a bank.

Email management

If you email us, we will only retain and use your e-mail address for the purpose for which you have provided it. It will not be added to a mailing list without your consent. These email addresses are stored electronically in accordance with standards and authorities under the State Records Act 1998.

If you subscribe to an electronic mailing list, we will only send you information relevant to the purpose or project for which you have provided it. If you have recently completed a submission, we reserve the right to provide you with updates about the project, plan and policy et al for which the submission is for.

If you have subscribed to one of our online mailing lists or RSS services, you can easily remove your email details from the list by unsubscribing.

We operate in accordance with the Spam Act 2003 and will not send unsolicited electronic messages unless they are permitted by that Act. The Spam Act allows us to send unsolicited emails if they contain only factual information or if they relate to goods or services provided by the department. For more information about the Spam Act go to Industry ACMA website.

Submissions

When you make a submission to the department, we collect your personal information, including:

• name (including title)
• address
• email (if provided)
• internet protocol (IP) address (if the submission is made online)
• any other personal information contained in a political donation’s disclosure statement (if provided), and
• any other personal information contained in your submission.

Making a submission is entirely voluntary and you are under no obligation to provide us with any of your personal information, except as otherwise required by law.

How will your personal information be used when you make a submission?

We may publish some of your personal information online, including:

• Your submission
• Your name (unless you state that you want your name withheld)
• Your suburb
• Any political donations disclosure statement.

We may publish any personal information you have included in your submission on a proposal. Do not include any personal information in your submission that you do not want published.

We will use your contact details to send you notifications. For example, where there is a statutory requirement to notify submitters that an application has been determined.

Your submission may be published in reports, or other documents that are produced following the exhibition period.

We may forward your submission to third parties including other public authorities, Government agencies, local government, or to an applicant. There are statutory requirements to forward submissions on some applications to these third parties as part of the assessment process.

Complaints

If you feel there has been a breach of your privacy under the PPIPA, you have the right to make a complaint to the department. Refer to our Privacy Management Plan. For more information about your privacy rights, you can visit the Information and Privacy Commission.

More information

For more information about privacy at the department, please contact:

Governance, Information & Privacy
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
Email: gipa@dpird.nsw.gov.au