Privacy Statement

The Australian Shop & Office Fitting Industry Association Limited (ASOFIA) is covered by the Australian Privacy Principles, (the APP’s), as set out in the Privacy Act 1988 .

To comply with our obligations under the APP’s, we have a Privacy Policy that sets out how we manage privacy in our organisation. The Privacy Policy is set out below.

Privacy Policy

ASOFIA takes its obligations under the Privacy Act seriously and would like to take all reasonable steps in order to comply with the Act and protect the privacy of the personal information that we hold. This policy sets out how we intend to do this.

Privacy and Confidentiality

As a business organisation we appreciate the importance of confidentiality. Our privacy policy deals with any additional right to privacy and is independent of any contractual and ethical obligations.

ASOFIA may collect, use and hold the following personal information including, but not limited to:

  • Your name
  • Date of birth
  • Address
  • Email address
  • Telephone / Fax numbers
  • Occupation and industry licence numbers and details
  • Career history
  • References
  • Personal and business financial information including bank account and credit card details
  • References
  • Other information which may be collected when you visit our web site to read or download information, which may include your server address, domain name, the date and time of your visit to our website, the pages viewed and the information downloaded.

ASOFIA collects, uses and discloses the information in accordance with our Collection Statement.

Access to your personal information

ASOFIA will, in the appropriate circumstances, provide access to the personal information that we hold about you. Access will be provided in accordance with our Access Policy. If you require access to your personal information please contact the ASOFIA National Office at nationa********@**ofia.com.au or

Chief Executive Officer
Australian Shop & Office Fitting Industry Association
PO Box 6347
KINCUMBER NSW 2251

ASOFIA will make every reasonable effort to ensure that your information is up to date. If you are aware of any errors or out of date information in our files, please let us know so that we can correct that information and ensure that we deliver the best possible service to you.

Complaints

If you have any complaints about our privacy practices or wish to make a complaint about how your personal information is managed, please contact the Association’s Chief Executive Officer. Complaints will be handled under our Privacy Complaints Policy.

Storage

We will take reasonable steps to protect the security of the personal information that we hold. This includes appropriate measures to protect electronic materials and materials stored and generated in hard copy. We cannot absolutely guarantee however that our data is secure against cyber attacks and third party interference, and you provide us with your personal information at your own risk.

Collection Statement

ASOFIA will not collect personal information unless the information is necessary to enable us to undertake our activities.

Personal information may be collected by ASOFIA in the context of recruitment, provision of services (including to and for the benefit of members), payment of services, organisation of conferences and other functions, and visits to the ASOFIA website. Without limiting this, the contexts in which we may collect personal information include:

  • Membership applications (online & hardcopy)
  • Subcontractor forms (electronic & hardcopy)
  • Advertising booking forms (electronic & hardcopy)
  • Online event registration
  • Surveys
  • Member directory updates (online)
  • When we speak to you by phone
  • Direct Debit Request Authorisations
  • Credit Card Payment forms
  • Online Project Management or other courses or training
  • Setting up the ASOFIA Fitout Contract

In addition, ASOFIA routinely receives or obtains personal information about third parties (which can include you) from other members and from members of the public (including referees), as well as from publicly available records. If you are providing personal information to us about other persons, you must have their consent to do so and you warrant to us that you have all necessary consents

Type of personal information collected

In most cases the type of information collected will be that referred to above, including contact details, credit card details, employment information.

We may also collect information about your interests, preferences, occupation and other demographic information such as your gender, age and location, as well as information which may be collected when you visit our web site to read or download information, which may include your server address, domain name, the date and time of your visit to our site, the pages viewed and the information downloaded. Generally this latter type of information is not personal information to the extent that it cannot be used to identify you.

Use and Disclosure

All such information will, or may, be used for any or all of the following purposes:

  • consideration of applicants for membership, employment, and for various services and benefits;
  • membership records, administration, marketing of individual members to actual or potential clients;
  • elections;
  • membership drives;
  • dissemination to you of ASOFIA publications, releases and other information relevant to members and / or to the public;
  • marketing and organisation of events and conferences;
  • insurance records, administration marketing;
  • marketing, advertising, administration and records for other services offered to members or to the public;
  • general administrative and marketing purposes of the Association;
  • statistical analyses and reports;
  • marketing of ASOFIA, ASOFIA’s products and services; and of sponsors’ and partners’ products and services to you, to other members or to the public;
  • marketing of selected other products and services to you;
  • market or industry research
  • processing payments and pursuing monies owed to the Association;
  • providing reference checks and credit checks;
  • verifying your membership status;
  • providing assistance to members and providing industry participants with useful information;
  • administration of any and all of the above activities;
  • furthering the interests of the shopfitting industry; and
  • statutory and other legal obligations.

ASOFIA will usually only disclose information to:

  • Our insurers and brokers
  • Our solicitors and other professional advisers
  • Endorsed / recommended suppliers
  • Other members
  • Businesses operating as potential clients of or product / service providers to the shopfitting industry
  • Members of the public making enquiry
  • Third party service providers to ASOFIA who assist us in our administration and/or the delivery of our services, including printers, mailing houses, distributors, ICT service providers, event and function venues, and banks
  • Sponsors and advertisers

Disclosure Overseas

ASOFIA does not presently transfer or disclose information outside of Australia, except in the following circumstances. Where ASOFIA organizes its national conference or other event overseas, it  may disclose personal contact information to venues and other providers associated with those events. ASOFIA also uses ICT providers who store data on servers located overseas in the Asia Pacific region. While these arrangements generally do not involve the disclosure of information to the ICT service providers concerned, as ASOFIA retains control of the information
concerned, ASOFIA reserves the right to disclose personal information to those providers, including overseas, if required for the provision of the services concerned.

Video / Photographic Images

In some cases information we collect will include a video or photographic image of you. Our cameras located at our networking activities and function will collect this. This is collected on a
random basis and is done as part of our general promotional strategy. These images may appear in Association publications, on our web site and on other promotional material prepared by or on
behalf of the Association.

Award Competitions

From time to time the Association conducts awards and competitions. The information collected will be used solely for the purpose of the particular competition, unless clearly stated otherwise.

Your Consent

Unless you advise us otherwise, in supplying personal information, you hereby agree to any or all of the above uses of your personal information that you supply to ASOFIA. You also hereby agree
to similar use of other personal information that we may obtain about you from other sources mentioned above. We will not use your personal information for purposes you have expressly told
us you do not consent to, including where you inform us by way of a new member consent form signed on becoming a member.

Subject to the Privacy Act, if we acquire any of your personal information in other ways, or if we use your personal information for purposes other than those listed above (or other than purposes
reasonably related to, or reasonably implied from, those), we will use reasonable endeavours to notify you and seek your consent. Whenever reasonably practicable we will seek such consent in
advance of, but in any case as soon as practicable after, such event. At such times, we will take reasonable steps to inform you of:

  • the purpose/s for which the information is collected;
  • any law – where applicable – that requires us to collect that information; and
  • the main consequences if you refuse or fail to supply any item or items of information, or to authorise its collection or its use.

Legal reasons why we collect the personal information

We may collect information in order to comply with our legal obligations.

What happens if you choose not to provide the information
You’re are not obliged to give us your personal information. However, if you choose not to provide ASOFIA with personal details we may not be able to provide you with the service / process your payment in a particular way or process your application for membership.

Web site

Our web site records some information beyond the on-line forms. Whenever a page is requested from our web server, we record the time, date and URL of the request, along with information on
the browser software that is being used.

Our web site also includes links to other websites. ASOFIA does not make any warranties with respect to the privacy of your personal information whilst you are using or browsing these sites.

Information Storage and Security

We take reasonable safeguards to ensure that records held by us, which contain your personal information, are protected against loss, against unauthorised access disclosure use or modification, and against other misuse.

We will also do everything reasonably within our power to prevent unauthorised use or disclosure of any personal information contained in any record that we may need to give to any third party.

Risk of using the Internet

Transmitting information via the internet carries a security risk, which we cannot and will not attempt to control. Before using the internet for communication, please assess the attendant
risks, and proceed only if you are prepared to accept those risks.

Access

You can gain access to the personal information that ASOFIA holds about you. If you wish to do so please refer to our Access Policy.

Access Policy

This Policy is directed to those individuals whose personal information is held by ASOFIA.

Purpose

The purpose of this Policy is to set out how ASOFIA will provide you with access to your personal information. The Policy is part of our Privacy Policy and our desire to provide for, maintain and
give affect to our privacy obligations.

Overriding principles

At all times the conduct under this Policy will be governed by the following principles:

  • All requests for access will be treated seriously
  • All requests will be dealt with promptly
  • All requests will be dealt with in a confidential manner
  • Your request to access your personal information will not affect your existing obligations or affect the commercial arrangements between you and ASOFIA.

Form of Access

ASOFIA will provide access by allowing you to inspect, take notes of or receive copies or print outs of the personal information that ASOFIA holds about you.

You can make your request in writing by contacting:

Chief Executive Officer
Australian Shop and Office Fitting Industry Association
PO Box 6347
KINCUMBER NSW 2251

To obtain access you will have to provide proof of your identity. This is necessary to ensure that personal information is provided only to the correct individuals and that the privacy of others is not
undermined.

When will Access be denied

Access may be denied if:

  • The request does not relate to the personal information of the person making the request;
  • Providing access would create an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others;
  • The request is frivolous and vexatious;
  • The request relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings
  • Providing access would prejudice negotiations with the individual making the request;
  • Access would be unlawful;
  • Denial of access is authorised or required by law;
  • Access would prejudice law enforcement activities;
  • Access discloses a “commercially sensitive” decision making process or information;
  • Providing access would pose a serious imminent threat to life or health of a person;
    or
  • Any other reason that is provided for in the APPs set out under the Privacy Act.

Where possible, ASOFIA will favour providing access. It may do so by providing access to the appropriate parts of the record or by using an appropriate “intermediary”.

Where there is a dispute about the right or forms of access these will be dealt with in accordance with ASOFIA’s Grievance Procedure.

Time

We will take all reasonable steps to provide access within a reasonable time of your request. In cases where the request is not complicated or does not require access to a large volume of
information, we will provide information more quickly.

Costs and Charges

ASOFIA may impose the following charges inclusive of GST:

  • Photocopying – $2 per page
  • Delivery cost of information stored off-site – where information is stored off-site, the cost of obtaining access to the information – $30 per hour
  • Access to electronic database – $30 per hour
  • Postage Costs

Privacy Complaints: How we handle privacy complaints

Introduction

ASOFIA sees the importance of privacy to the organisation, its customers and other stakeholders. As such ASOFIA is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information that we hold. This is part of our organisation’s:
(a) Legal obligations under the Privacy Act 1988
(b) Ethical and business obligations
(c) Service to you

ASOFIA places high priority on affectively dealing with any complaints about privacy that you may
have.

Overriding principles

At all times the conduct under this policy will be governed by the following principles:
(a) All complaints will be treated seriously
(b) All complaints will be dealt with promptly
(c) All complaints will be dealt with in a confidential manner
(d) Any privacy complaints will not affect your existing obligations or the commercial arrangements that exist between this organisation and you.

Who may complain under this policy?

If you have provided us with personal information you may make a complaint, have it investigated and dealt with under this policy.

What is a privacy complaint?

A privacy complaint relates to any concern or dispute that you have with our privacy practices as it relates to your personal information. This could include matters such as:
(a) How personal information is collected
(b) How personal information is stored
(c) How this information is used or disclosed
(d) How access is provided
(e) How accurate the information is that we hold

What do I do if I have a complaint about privacy practices?

If you have a complaint about privacy, please contact the Chief Executive Officer of ASOFIA. The Association will record details of all complaints, and you may complain orally or in writing.

Grievance Procedure

The goal of this policy is to achieve an affective resolution of your complaint within a reasonable timeframe.

Once the complaint has been made, we can then resolve the matter in a number of ways:

  1. Request further information and investigation: We may request further information from you. You should be prepared to give as many details as possible including details of any relevant dates and documentation. This will enable us to investigate the complaint and determine an appropriate and useful solution. All details provided will be kept confidential.

    A complaint will be investigated. ASOFIA will try to do so as soon as possible. It may be necessary to contact others in order to proceed with the investigation.

  2. Discuss Options: We will discuss options for resolution and if you have suggestions about how the matter might be resolved you should discuss these with us. We may also suggest other solutions or give examples of how the personal information can be revised or stored in a different way.
  3. Refer to National Council: If your complaint is not resolved initially, it will be referred to the Association’s National Council. The National Council would be provided with the history and may discuss the complaint with the employees, or other parties that are involved.
  4. Resolution: You will be informed of the outcome and the reasons for the decision. If this does not resolve the complaint, the matter will be referred to a mutually agreed intermediary.
  5. If after the above steps have been followed you are still dissatisfied with the outcome you may refer the complaint to the Australian Privacy Commissioner (see https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/ contact-us-page or call 1300 363 992).

Records

ASOFIA will keep a record of your complaint and the outcome.

Anonymous complaints

ASOFIA is unable to deal with anonymous complaints as we are unable to investigate these properly and follow-up such complaints.

Information

For any further information about this policy please contact the Association’s Chief Executive Officer at nationa********@**ofia.com.au or

Chief Executive Officer
Australian Shop & Office Fitting Industry Association
PO Box 6347, Kincumber NSW 2251