Privacy & Disclaimer Statement

Scope and Application

The day to day application of the Privacy Policy of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) is carried out through administrative procedures which apply in all activities. The major custodians of personal information at AHRI are Membership, Events, Professional Development, Accounting, and Communication, including publication subscriptions. All AHRI employees are responsible to adhere to privacy administrative procedures, and to the principles of the Policy.

AHRI provides these products, including access to online training resources, for use by HR Professionals. AHRI's responsibility and liability extends to ensuring the functioning of the products and the quality of the reports. AHRI disclaims any responsibility for the way the reports are used or the advice users provide to their clients. The tools do not constitute psychometric analysis and are designed to be used as online survey tools only.

Accountability

The Privacy Officer is responsible for complying with measures that give effect to the principles stated in the privacy legislation. The means of contacting the Privacy Officer in connection with this Policy is through the AHRI telephone or Internet site.

Identifying Purposes

The purposes for which personal information are collected shall be specified at the latest at the time of collection. Where personal information is required at AHRI, the purposes, primary uses, accessibility, storage and retention periods shall be documented and the information accessible by the Privacy Officer.

360 feedback

360-degree feedback involves the collection of email addresses and importance/capability ratings and comments for the purpose of performance development. Statistics are held on a remote secure server until the end of the 360 program, after which time they are deleted or stored (by request) for later comparison.

Climate surveys

Climate surveys involve the collection of email addresses and staff satisfaction/engagement scores and comments for the purpose of performance development. Statistics are held on a remote secure server until the end of the survey program, after which time they are deleted or stored (by request) for later comparison.

Performance and Development Planner

The Performance and Development Planner involves the collection of email addresses and performance planning objectives. Plans are held on a remote secure server for the life of the system, which may be installed in-house*.

Career Planner

The Career Planner stores no infomation — it simply creates a document within a single session which may be downloaded by the user for later reference.

*In-house installations involve entirley in-house collection of data: Pro Shop privacy policy is not applicable.

Consent

Personal information will be collected with the knowledge and consent of the person concerned, and directly from them, in accordance with applicable law. On such rare occasions when it is necessary to collect information without knowledge and consent, a note will be posted in the subject file to that purpose, and efforts will be made to communicate with the individual to advise them of the information collection. No information will be communicated to third parties without the consent of the subject, except as required or permitted by law.

Limiting Collection

AHRI will only collect information that is necessary for the explicitly stated purpose. In order to ensure this, those responsible for the collection, use or disclosure of information must perform a necessity test for all aspects of the information life cycle. Any personal information provided to AHRI in excess of what is necessary is not retained for purpose.

Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention

Personal information will not be used, made available or otherwise disclosed for purposes other than those specified, unless the consent of the individual is obtained or where AHRI is compelled by law to do otherwise. AHRI may use personal information if it has reasonable grounds to believe that the information could be useful in the investigation of a contravention of the law. AHRI may also use the information when acting in an emergency situation that threatens the life, health or security of an individual or the protection of property. Such special uses of personal information without consent will be documented and accessible to the individual in accordance with the privacy laws of Australia.

Personal information must not be kept for periods longer than are necessary to fulfill the identified purposes. It is the responsibility of all AHRI employees to implement retention schedules which minimise the storage of personal information. All retention schedules shall be based upon the following needs: administrative, legal, statistical and archival, and in the latter two cases, the information will be de-identified wherever feasible.

Accuracy

AHRI will ensure that the personal information it holds is as accurate as is necessary for the purposes stated. With respect to information that may not be current, we will corroborate with the person concerned, the personal information used in relation to a decision affecting the rights, benefits or status of an individual, before reaching the decision.

Safeguards

AHRI will put in place appropriate safeguards to protect against unauthorised access to personal information, as well as use, destruction and modification of data.

Openness

The policies and procedures of AHRI with respect to the management of personal information are consistent with those of our parent, Deakin University, and can be inspected by resort to Deakin University.

Individual Access

Individuals have the right to obtain confirmation of whether or not AHRI has personal information relating to them, subject to applicable law. Individuals may request access to their own personal information, and AHRI will respond to the request no later than thirty days, in the format requested, subject to reasonable availability. While it is our policy not to charge for personal information, AHRI reserves the right to charge reasonable fees for onerous requests.

Challenging Compliance

Any individual may challenge the compliance of AHRI to any of the principles set forth in its Privacy Policy, and to its privacy procedures. The Privacy Officer will investigate all challenges and attempt to resolve them. Individuals will be made aware of possible recourse that they might also have under applicable law and policy.

Accountability and Organisation

The Privacy Officer is accountable for this Privacy Policy and for its implementation. The Officer is accountable to the Executive Director of AHRI and his/her delegate. Every departmental manager is accountable for the information under his/her control, and for the policies and procedures under this Policy, for which he or she is responsible.

Access

AHRI encourages informal access to information by the concerned person in the regular course of business, but in no way wishes to substitute informal procedures in a manner that would deprive an individual of their rights under relevant law and policy. When an individual wishes to access the personal information about them that is held by AHRI, they may either contact enquiry@ahri.com.au or write, fax, or telephone. AHRI will require positive identification from the applicant before communicating any personal information. All formal requests for access to information are forwarded to the Privacy Officer. The Privacy Officer will work with the Membership Department to fulfill requests from the public, and with the Human Resources Department to fulfill requests from staff and job applicants.

We strive to respond to requests for personal information in ten business days.

If an individual obtains personal information and wishes to contest its accuracy, he or she may request a change or deletion of certain items. This request will be routed to the Privacy Officer. All reasonable requests will be honored, and in instances where the Privacy Officer determines that it is not appropriate to either change the information or delete the record, a notation will be added to the file explaining the case as represented by the individual. This notation will be sent to any parties that the individual deems should receive his/her comments.

Requests by individuals for their own personal information will be honored at no cost. AHRI reserves the right, in exceptional circumstances where extensive information has been requested and which requires excessive time and effort, to charge a reasonable amount before completing the request.

Complaints

If an individual is not satisfied with the results of an information request, or if the data subject is unsatisfied in any way with this AHRI Privacy Policy, with AHRI compliance with this Policy or with law, he or she may complain to the Privacy Officer for a review of the issue. The Privacy Officer will investigate all cases, conduct a review of the findings, and establish a dialogue with the individual to resolve the complaint. In cases where there are controversial issues, the Privacy Officer may refer the matter to AHRI's parent, Deakin University, establish an ad hoc committee to review the complaint, or with the permission of the individual, seek an outside mediator or consult privacy experts for independent opinions. All efforts will be made to resolve complaints internally.

Compliance

Compliance to the AHRI Privacy Policy is mandatory for all AHRI employees. Breach of such policies may result in disciplinary action, including termination of employment.