Purpose of PolicyNorwest Anglican Church (Norwest) respects your right to privacy. We are committed to dealing with personal information we collect from you in a careful and responsible manner. This policy sets out how we will handle your personal information. Although the Privacy Act 1998 (Cth) does not apply to us, we have been guided by the Australian Privacy Principles in our approach to your privacy.

*Application and scope* This policy covers the handling of personal information of individuals who are not officeholders or employees of the parish.

It applies to all parish staff, including officeholders and employees, as well as authorised volunteers, who handle personal information collected by the parish.

This policy must be read together with Faithfulness in Service: A national code for personal behaviour and the practice of pastoral ministry by clergy and church workers (as amended from time to time).

This policy applies in addition to safe ministry obligations, which are set out in Faithfulness in Service and other documents such as the Safe Ministry Blueprint For Churches published by the Office of the Director of Safe Ministry (as amended from time to time). These documents are available at link https://safeministry.org.au/resource-docs/.

This policy can be reviewed and amended by the parish at any time and does not form a part of any employee’s contract of employment and imposes no contractual obligations on the parish.

*Collection of personal information*Personal information is information or opinion that reasonably identifies an individual, such as an individual’s name, address, phone number and photos.

Sensitive information is a subset of personal information and includes information or opinion about matters such as an individual’s religious beliefs, sexual orientation and practices, health, and criminal record.

Generally, we collect personal information where reasonably necessary for ministry and related activities. The reason for collection will usually be made clear at the time of collection.

We only collect sensitive information about you and/or your children where reasonably necessary with your consent or when we are required or authorised by law to do so.

*Types of personal information we collect*The type of information we collect, store and use, will vary depending on the purpose of collection. We usually collect your personal information directly from you, including through our website. In some circumstances, we may collect your personal information via third parties (such as our online payment systems).

Examples of the types of personal information we may collect:

• • name
• • contact details
• • date of birth
• • family details, including personal details of any children
• • congregation and church status (visitor, newcomer, attendee, member)
• • your image, video and sound recordings
• • financial details

For safe ministry purposes, we also collect and hold the following personal information relating to individuals who are completing or have completed Safe Ministry training in our parish:

• • full name
• • date of birth
• • Working with Children Check (WWCC) clearance number
• • expiry date of WWCC clearance
• • date of last Safe Ministry training

*Use of personal information*We will use your personal information for the purposes stated at the time of collection, for other purposes within your reasonable expectations, and otherwise as set out in this policy.

Examples of how we use your personal information include:

• • to maintain a record of your involvement and attendance;
• • to record your attendance, payment and/or registration for our events and activities;
• • to answer your question/s or respond to feedback;
• • to comply with legal requirements;
• • to provide you with pastoral care and support;
• • to notify you of church news, including upcoming events and activities; and
• • to make available contact details to members of our church family.

We may use your personal information to generate aggregated statistical data and reports. These materials will be used for internal analytics to improve our ministries and outreach into the community.

We will not use your personal information for any other purpose without your consent, unless authorised or required by law.

*Security of personal information*Your personal information is stored on our electronic database and or repositories, and protected through encryption, firewalls, secure buildings and computer security systems. Your financial information is stored in protected files, in our online accounting system, in our banking system and in our online payment systems.

ChurchSuite secures your personal information using secure servers which are protected from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. For more information, please refer to the ChurchSuite privacy policy (https://churchsuite.com/privacy-notice/).

Only authorised persons have access to your personal information stored on ChurchSuite:

• • ministry and administrative staff have access to information you have provided about you and your family members;
• • ministry leaders (e.g. Community Group leaders, serving team leaders, Children Team Leaders) have access to some information you have provided to enable them to best care for the teams they support.
• • church members have access to your name and email address to be used for purposes related to the activities and ministries of the parish. You may change your preferences on information shared with church members in your congregation, ministry teams and Community Group via ChurchSuite or by emailing office@norwest.org.
• • the treasurer, church wardens, senior minister, administrative staff, auditor and external bookkeeping provider have access to your financial information.

*Access and correction of personal information*We will take reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is relevant, accurate, complete and up-to-date.

You may access or correct your personal information at any time if you have access to ChurchSuite, our electronic database. Otherwise, please email us at office@norwest.org. You will need to provide sufficient information for us to identify you, such as your name and email address, so that we can assist with your information request.

If you do not wish to receive our communications or would like us to delete your personal information, please use the unsubscribe feature (where available) or email us at office@norwest.org. We will comply with your request unless we need to retain your personal information for the purposes it was provided, or to comply with legal requirements.

*Questions and complaints*If you have a question about this policy or a privacy-related complaint, please contact us at office@norwest.org. We care about protecting your privacy and will seek to address your concerns promptly.

The post Privacy Policy appeared first on Norwest Anglican Church.