Refuge Victoria is committed to the protection of personal, sensitive and health information in accordance with privacy laws and to informing clients and those who interact with our website about privacy and use of their personal information.  

What is personal information?  

Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether that information or opinion is true or not. Personal information can include name, address, a photograph of a person, financial details, or affiliations.  

Sensitive information is a type of personal information that is afforded a higher level of protection by privacy laws. It includes health, genetic and biometric information as well as information about race or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of political, professional or trade associations or trade unions, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or practices and criminal records (Source: Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) s 6(1))  

Why do we collect information?  

We try to only collect the information about you that we need. This information helps us to assess risk and potential harm, to identify what your needs are and how we can best support you. While we prefer to get this information from you, at times we will seek information from other sources, which we will do with your consent (see Sharing and disclosing information section below). Having a full picture about what is happening for you and your family assists us to understand your situation and how we can help.  

How do we store your personal information and who has access?  

Any information that is collected is securely stored and accessible only by Refuge Victoria staff in line Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) (PDP Act) 

Accuracy of information  

We will always endeavor to have current and correct information about the people accessing our services. To help us do this we ask that you provide us with any updates to changes in your personal information.  

Sharing and disclosing your personal information  

We will share information when a client has provided specific informed consent to disclose information to a third party. This consent may be withdrawn at any time by the client.   

We will only disclose your information when it is necessary and when we have your consent to do so. In these situations, staff will seek your consent, preferably written and explain why they are seeking consent to share or request information about you. This may include contacting services already involved with you to determine how we can best work together to meet your needs.  

Online privacy 

We are committed to protecting your personal information on our website and when you communicate with us and take great care to ensure these details are securely protected from unauthorised access. 

Feedback survey 

Our online survey contains questions to find out what we can do to improve our services. If you include contact details with your feedback, we will not share them with any third parties or use them to contact you about unrelated matters. Your feedback will only be shared with the appropriate Refuge Victoria manager in the interests of service improvement.  

Email contact 

Email addresses provided via this website will only be used to respond to specific user queries.  The details of your message will not be disclosed to any third parties and are generally kept by us for only as long as it takes to respond to your enquiry.  

Donations 

When donations are made to Refuge Victoria, we collect contact and payment or card details for the purposes of processing and recording the donation. These details are kept in the strictest of confidence and used only to process payments, receipts and thank you letters, and not shared with any third parties. When this personal information is no longer required it is disposed of in a secure manner.  

E-News subscriptions 

If you subscribe to receive email updates from Refuge Victoria, we will not share them with any third parties or use them to contact you about unrelated matters. You may unsubscribe to our email updates at any time by contacting info@refugevictoria.org.au 

Website data 

This website’s visitor logs are used for statistical purposes only to collect details about visits to our website, length of visit and pages viewed.  Refuge Victoria will not attempt to identify specific users or their browsing activity.