This statement sets out Holstein Australia’s (HA) policies relating to the collection and use of your personal information.

Your personal information is important to us

HA respects and is committed to protecting your privacy. We are bound by the National Privacy Principles in the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000.

When we collect your information, if appropriate, we will tell you why we are collecting it and how we plan to use it. HA recognises that your privacy is very important to you and that you have a right to control your personal information. We know that providing personal information is an act of trust and we take that seriously. Unless you give us explicit consent to act otherwise, the following policy will govern how HA handles your personal information and safeguards your privacy. HA is committed to protecting your personal information and giving you choice in who can use your personal information and how it can be used. We believe that our privacy policy not only complies with relevant laws but also represents best practice.

Where appropriate, we will handle personal information relying on the related bodies corporate exemption in the Privacy Act.

Collecting personal information about you

We occasionally collect information such as your name, address, telephone number, financial details and curriculum vitae details. We use this information to provide our services to you, to fulfill administrative & legal functions associated with these services, to enter into contracts with you or third parties. As a general rule we do not collect sensitive information. However, if we do, we will seek your consent to collect it, unless the law allows us to collect it without your consent.

Using and disclosing your personal information

HA recognises the trust you place in us when you give us personal information. HA will not use or disclose any information about you without your consent, unless:

• required or provided by law;
• we believe it necessary to provide you with a service which you have requested;
• to implement or fulfil our business or commercial purposes for collection;
• to protect the rights or property of HA, our clients, or any member of the public;
• to lessen a serious threat to a person’s health or safety: or
• on a confidential basis to service providers, agents and contractors to help us to provide our services to you. If we do this we require these parties to protect your information in the same way we do.

However, HA will not be held responsible for events arising from unauthorised access to your personal information

We will not give any of your personal information to any other organisation without your express consent.

Storage and security of your personal information

HA will endeavour to take all reasonable steps to keep secure any information which we hold about you, and to keep this information accurate and up to date. This includes taking all reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

In addition, all our employees and the contractors who provide services related to our information systems are obliged to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by HA.

Future changes

From time to time, our policies will be reviewed and may be revised. HA reserves the right to change its privacy policy at any time and notify you by circulating an updated version of the policy.

What to do if you have a problem or question

If you have any further queries relating to our privacy policy, or you have a problem or complaint, please contact the Chief Operations Officer (COO).

You have a right of access to personal information we hold about you in certain circumstances. If we deny your request for access, we will tell you why. Please contact the COO to ask for access to your information or if you have a complaint concerning your information privacy.

If you would like more information about our approach to privacy, please contact Holstein Australia, AgriBio, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, 3083 telephone 03 9835 7600, facsimile 03 9835 7699 or email at enquiry@holstein.com.au.

For more information about privacy issues in Australia and protecting your privacy, visit the Australian Federal Privacy Commissioner’s website at www.privacy.vic.gov.au.

Guidelines for HA Staff and Contractors

General Guidelines

HA staff and contractors are required to comply with the above policy in relation to personal information collected by HA from an external entity or individual. All employees and contractors are obliged to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by HA under the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000. Breach or non-observance of any obligation in respect of the HA Privacy Policy will be considered serious misconduct by HA.

Employees and contractors can play an important role in keeping personal information secure, by maintaining the confidentiality of any password and accounts used on the HA IT systems or by ensuring physical storage areas are secure.

HA will ensure employees and contractors understand issues in relation to the collection,disclosure, use, storage and security of specific personal information within their areas of the business.