WQRA Privacy Policy < Policies < Home

Privacy Policy

Water Quality Research Australia Ltd (WQRA), ACN 127 974 261, is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information. We collect information from you (members and non-members) so that we can provide you with our services, manage our relationship with you and communicate with you effectively. We have robust systems and procedures in place to protect your privacy whenever we collect, store, use or disclose your personal information.

WQRA is subject to Australian federal and state legislation relating to the privacy of personal information collected by WQRA. The following sets out how WQRA will deal with personal information recorded through the use of its web sites and mailing lists, and other means.

For the purpose of this policy, the term ‘member’ includes WQRA member organisations, representatives of member organisations, staff of member organisations, and any affiliated organisations or individuals.

Web site
The WQRA web site is hosted by Worldweb Management Services Pty Ltd (“Worldweb”). Worldweb automatically logs usage of hosted websites. Worldweb may make a record of your visit and log any of the following information for statistical and business purposes - the user's address, the user's domain name, IP address, the date and time of the visit, the pages accessed and documents downloaded, the search words/phrases used, the previous site visited and the type of browser used. Identification of the user may also be requested and logged.

Postal and email mailing lists
WQRA maintains a database of personal information on subscribers to our postal and email lists. The personal information that WQRA collects may include your name, job title, address, telephone and fax numbers, email address, and any further information you provide. This information may occasionally be provided to a third party for specific purposes, for example to a mailing organisation for distribution of our print newsletters, or a conference organiser promoting a conference of which WQRA is a supporter or sponsor. You may request that your address be removed from our mailing lists at any time by requesting removal via our website: http://www.wqra.com.au or by returning the address sheet from print newsletters by mail or fax with the 'Delete' option marked.

Disclosure of Personal Information
Please be assured we will not disclose any personal information for any purpose other than those described here without your consent, except where the use or disclosure is required or authorised by or under law. WQRA will make its best attempt to protect any personal information it holds from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. WQRA does not sell, in whole or part, the personal information it collects and does not disclose it to other organisations, except as provided above.

What kind of personal information do we collect?
Personal information, including sensitive information, that WQRA collects and holds includes, but is not limited to:

  • Members' official and preferred names, titles,  address, telephonephotographs, department, organisation, e-mail and facsimile contact details (private and business).
  • Members' qualifications, education and academic history, work experience and skills, occupation and employer information.
  • Financial details including credit card numbers, bank account information, and subscriptions to WQRA publications.
  • Documents submitted when a party applies for funding, scholarships etc. This can include curriculum vitaes (CVs), project proposal information and budgets.
  • Information required to nominate members/students for scholarships and awards.
  • Information from persons who participate in WQRA sponsored seminars, conferences or other events and programs.

How we use your personal information
We will use your personal information to provide you with a particular product or service and to contact you about matters pertaining to WQRA membership, WQRA news, events and initiatives, and your registration on wqra.com.au. This includes (but is not limited to) the following:

  • Processing payments.
  • Providing membership services such as newsletters and other publications, project forums, project information, WQRA and industry newsand other member benefits.
  • Inviting you to partake in WQRA events. Including: technical seminars, annual general meetings, members’ meetings, professional development activities and networking activities.
  • Distributing materials to WQRA board and committee members.

We may use your personal information for purposes related or ancillary to the main reason we collect it, such as:

  • Internal accounting and administration.
  • Regulatory reporting and compliance.
  • Helping us to identify and inform you about other services that may be of benefit to you.

Disclosure of your personal information

WQRA may disclose personal information and sensitive information as defined by the Privacy Act, held about you to:

  • A membership committee/ board or panel to assess funding applications;
  • Members authorised to vote on candidates elected to office bearing positions and judging committees for awards and honours;
  • Members on the same Committee, project teamor group; and
  • A person or agency when you are nominated for a scholarship or award.

We treat all personal information held about you as confidential. This applies except where disclosure of your personal information is compelled by law, in the public interest, or with your consent.

Accuracy of your personal information

If we have accurate personal information about you, it enables us to provide you with the best possible service. We take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date whenever we collect or use it.

If you find that the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, please contact us immediately on info@wqra.com.au . Alternatively, you may correct this yourself through the ‘My Profile’ section of the website.


Access to your personal information

You may access personal information through the secure 'Member Staff Directory' area on our website. Alternatively, you can access your personal information through the ‘My Profile’ section of wqra.com.au.

Security of your personal information

WQRA protects any personal information that we hold about you from misuse and loss. We protect your privacy by restricting access to your personal information to those staff or authorised office bearers who need it, either to process information or to provide you with membership services. Our staff are responsible for handling personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Your personal information may be stored as hardcopy documents, or as electronic data. We maintain physical security over our paper and electronic data stores and premises. We also maintain computer and network security. WQRA will keep your information for as long as it is needed to provide you with services you have requested from us. We will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify personal information when we no longer need it.

Privacy Complaint Process

If you are concerned with the way WQRA has handled your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer using info@wqra.com.au, marking your query ‘Attention Privacy Officer’ in the subject line. We will make available to you a privacy complaint form, which you will be required to complete and return to us, if you wish to make a complaint. This will ensure the prompt investigation of your complaint. If we have not handled your personal information in an appropriate way we will take steps to remedy your concerns promptly.

Security
When purchasing from WQRA your financial details are passed through a secure server using the latest 128-bit SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption technology.128-bit SSL encryption is the current industry standard. If you have any questions regarding our security policy, please contact info@wqra.com.au and include “Security Policy” in the subject line of the email. Alternatively, call +61 8 7424 2445.