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Privacy statement

1. Overview

The Australian Academy of the Humanities (the Academy) is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information. This Privacy Statement provides a concise overview of how we handle this information consistent with the Privacy Act (1988) and Australian Privacy Principles.

Our full Privacy Policy provides more detail on how we collect, use and disclose your personal information and how you can access or correct that information. A full copy of the policy can be downloaded HERE. 

2. Personal information

Personal information includes a broad range of information, or an opinion, that could identify an individual. What is personal information will vary, depending on whether a person can be identified or is reasonably identifiable in the circumstances.

The Personal Information the Academy may collect about you will depend on your interactions with us.

You do not have to provide us with your personal information. Where possible, we will give you the option to interact with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym. However, if you choose to deal with us in this way or choose not to provide us with your personal information, we may not be able to provide you with certain services or otherwise interact with you.

3. Sensitive information

Under certain circumstances the Academy may request sensitive information from you. Sensitive information is collected for purposes such as diversity monitoring, compliance with reporting obligations, and ensuring accessibility at events.

If we collect your sensitive information, we will do so only with your consent, if it is necessary to prevent a serious and imminent threat to life or health, or as otherwise required or authorised by law, and we take appropriate measures to protect the security of this information.

4. Collection of information

We may collect your personal or sensitive information when you:

  • interact with us, including in person, over the phone, via email, via mail, or online;
  • subscribe to our mailing lists;
  • are nominated for membership to the Academy or for an award;
  • apply for a grant or an award;
  • register to attend one of our events;
  • participate in surveys or questionnaires;
  • apply for a position with us as an employee, contractor or volunteer; and/or
  • make a payment or donation to us.

In some cases, where it would be unreasonable or impracticable to obtain your personal information directly from you, we may seek to obtain it from a publicly available source, or a third party with whom you have a direct connection.

5. Use of information

The Academy may use your personal or sensitive information for purposes in connection with our operations and activities.

We may send you information about Academy activities and events. You may opt out of receiving these communications at any time.

From time-to-time, the Academy may survey its Fellowship on a range of issues. These surveys help us to identify and analyse the ongoing needs of our Fellows and the quality of our products and services. Fellows who do not wish to participate in these surveys, can opt out of the survey.

6. Retention of information

We will not retain your personal information for longer than we need to. In most cases, this means that we will only retain your personal information for the duration of your relationship with us unless we are required to retain your personal information to comply with current legislation and/or reporting and retention obligations, for example record-keeping obligations.

7. Third-party disclosure

The information you provide will not be disclosed to third-parties except in the instances where the third-party is carrying out a function that allows the Academy to deliver on an expected service, in which case only the minimal necessary information will be exchanged to perform the service. In such instances the third-party is required to sign a confidentiality agreement with the Academy.

The Academy does not permit third-parties to use information about you for any other purpose than to perform the services that the Academy has instructed them to provide.

The Academy will not disclose personal information, without your consent, for any purpose other than for the primary purpose of fulfilling our business commitments to you, except where:

  • it is required or authorised by law, or for purposes of law enforcement and matters directly related to law enforcement, or the prevention of unlawful activity; and
  • the Academy reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent any serious and imminent threat to any person’s life, health or safety or the public’s health or safety.

8. Overseas disclosure

Personal information may be stored in secure cloud infrastructure located in Australia or overseas, including the United States and other jurisdictions where our service providers operate. Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps to ensure compliance with APP 8.

9. Website and cookies

Our website (www.humanities.org.au) may also automatically collect hardware and software information about your computer or device.

Our website may also collect usage information from users. Broadly, this information may relate to how you use and navigate the website.

We use cookies and similar technologies to improve website functionality and analyse traffic. You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings.

10. Security and data breaches

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Measures include physical security controls, restricted access, secure IT systems and encryption.

We do not store credit card or debit card details. Payments are processed securely by third-party providers that comply with PCI DSS standards.

If an eligible data breach occurs, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

11. Access, correction and complaints

You may request access to the personal information we hold about you and request correction if it is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.

If you wish to complain about an interference with your privacy we request you follow the process below:

  • the complaint must initially be made to us in writing, using the contact details under “Further Information” below. We will have a reasonable time to respond to the complaint.
  • If the privacy issue cannot be resolved, you may take your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Access requests and complaints should be directed to:

Privacy Officer
Australian Academy of the Humanities
490 Northbourne Avenue
Dickson ACT 2602

Telephone: 02 6189 6982
Email: enquiries@humanities.org.au

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au

Acknowledgement of Country

The Australian Academy of the Humanities recognises Australia’s First Nations Peoples as the traditional owners and custodians of this land, and their continuous connection to country, community and culture.