Privacy Policy


Introduction

Megaphone is owned and run by the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC). VTHC is the peak body representing affiliated Victorian trade unions and the interests of over 400,000 workers across Victoria. VTHC is committed to protecting your privacy and providing you with information and services relevant to you. VTHC complies with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This Privacy Policy (Policy) should be read in conjunction with the Privacy Act and the APPs.


How this policy applies

This Policy applies to personal information VTHC collects from you:

  • via one of our websites;
  • via social media;
  • via telephone;
  • via email;
  • via fax;
  • in person; and/or
  • in writing.

This Policy also applies to personal information VTHC collects from its affiliated Victorian trade unions or any other third party, about you.


VTHC websites

VTHC websites collect two types of information. The first type is anonymous information. The web server makes a record of your visit and may log statistical information also. The second type of information that VTHC websites collect is personal information. Personal information is requested in order to provide personalised and enhanced services that are not available to anonymous users. Cookies may be used on VTHC’s websites. Our websites may contain links to other websites and social media pages including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We are not responsible for the privacy policies of the entities responsible for those websites.


The kinds of personal information we may collect from you

From time to time when you sign a petition you may voluntarily supply your personal information to VTHC. Depending upon the circumstances, you may provide to VTHC, and VTHC may collect, information such as, but not limited to:


  • your name;
  • your contact details;
  • your social media details (e.g. blogs, twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn);
  • your gender;
  • your educational qualifications;
  • your political opinions;
  • your political party membership (if any);
  • your union membership (if any);
  • your racial or ethnic origin;
  • your sexual orientation;
  • any disabilities, illnesses or injuries you may have; and/or
  • any other health information.

VTHC Use of reCAPTCHA

VTHC uses the Google service “reCAPTCHA’ in order to protect the Megaphone platform from spam and bots. ReCAPTCHA determines whether a user is a real person or a ‘bot’ to stop malicious attacks. In order to perform this task reCAPTCHA collects and analyses the following data:


  • Typing patterns of the user;
  • The amount of mouse clicks a user has done on the site or touches on an app;
  • What language the user’s browser is using;
  • Google cookies that have been placed on the site;
  • The answers to question fields on the site;
  • CSS information; and/or
  • Plug-ins installed on the user browser.

Users of Megaphone and their use of reCAPTCHA is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. ReCAPTCHA is not used for any purpose other than to fight spam and abuse on the Megaphone platform.


The purposes for which personal information is collected, held, used and disclosed

VTHC collects, holds, uses and discloses your personal information including your email address to:


  • assist you with industrial relations and employment matters;
  • inform and engage you about industrial, social and political campaigns;
  • inform and engage you about your rights at work;
  • inform and engage you about changes to legislation;
  • refer you to an appropriate union;
  • improve our service delivery;
  • manage the VTHC’s relationship with you;
  • conduct surveys and research;
  • enable our affiliated unions and/or labour councils to promote and market their events or services to you;
  • enable the creator of a petition you have signed to update you on the progress and/or outcome of their campaign;
  • provide you with an opportunity to join a union if you are not already a member;
  • provide educational services and professional development; and/or
  • to subscribe you to VTHC’s email newsletter(s).

Using your information for direct marketing

You consent to our use and disclosure of your personal information for the purposes of direct marketing which may include providing you with information about campaigns, events, products or services which may be of interest to you.


Unsubscribing and opting out

If you no longer wish to receive direct marketing or other communications, you may request at any time to cancel your consent to such communications by communicating in writing to us. You may also unsubscribe from our email communications by clicking the “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of our emails.


Disclosure of your personal information

VTHC may disclose your personal information, in connection with or to further the purposes outlined above, to:


  • affiliated trade unions;
  • related trades halls or labour councils, both in Victoria and interstate;
  • organisations to whom we outsource administration functions (such as information technology providers, print service providers, mail houses);
  • organisations that work with us on specifically-marked campaigns as "partnership organisations";
  • the creator of a petition you have signed;
  • otherwise as you have consented; and/or
  • otherwise as required by law.

By providing your personal information to VTHC, you consent to us transferring your personal information to such other organisations.


How VTHC holds personal information

Wherever reasonably practicable VTHC holds electronic personal information on data servers that are owned and controlled by VTHC in Australia, however in some cases, some data may be stored on servers located in the United States. The data servers are password protected and login secured. VTHC will take reasonable steps to ensure that any third party providers comply with the APPs, or are subject to a law or scheme that is at least substantially similar to the way in which the APPs protect information.


Government Identifiers

We will not adopt as our own identifier a government related identifier of an individual, such as a tax file number or Medicare card number and will only use or disclose a government related identifier where the use or disclosure:


  • is reasonably necessary for VTHC to verify your identity for the purposes of our activities or functions;
  • is reasonably necessary for VTHC to fulfil its obligations to an agency or a State or Territory authority;
  • is required or authorised by or under an Australian law; or
  • is reasonably necessary for one or more enforcement related activities conducted by, or on behalf of, an enforcement body.

How you may seek access to, correction to and/or deletion of personal information held by VTHC

You have the right to request access to your personal information and request that it be updated, corrected or deleted. In most cases you can gain access to your personal information that VTHC holds. To request access to, correction of, or updating of any personal information held about you, please write to the VTHC Data Lead Organiser at the following address:


VTHC Data Lead Organiser
Victorian Trades Hall Council
54 Victoria St, Carlton South
VIC 3053
E: [email protected]


VTHC requires that you provide proof of identity in order to seek access to your personal information. VTHC may refuse to provide access if permitted to do so by law or under the APPs. VTHC will seek to provide you with access to your personal information within 30 days of receipt of a valid request and may charge you a reasonable fee for doing so.

You can contact VTHC to let us know if any of your personal information has changed. Please contact the VTHC Data Lead Organiser in writing to update any personal information. VTHC may also take steps to update your personal information by reference to publicly available sources such as telephone directories or electoral rolls.


How you may complain about a breach of the APPs

To make a complaint about an alleged breach of the APPs please write to or email the VTHC Data Lead Organiser at one of the following addresses:


VTHC Data Lead Organiser
Victorian Trades Hall Council
54 Victoria St, Carlton South
VIC 3053
E: [email protected]


All complaints must be written. Please provide all details about your complaint as well as any supporting documentation to the VTHC Data Lead Organiser.


How VTHC will deal with complaints

VTHC will seek to deal with privacy complaints as follows:


  • complaints will be treated seriously;
  • complaints will be dealt with promptly;
  • complaints will be dealt with confidentially;
  • complaints will be investigated by the VTHC Data Lead Organiser; and
  • the outcome of an investigation will be provided to the complainant where the complainant has provided proof of identity.

VTHC will seek to respond within 30 days of receipt of a valid complaint.


Variations to the policy

This Policy may be varied from time to time and an updated version will be posted on the VTHC’s websites. Please check our websites regularly to ensure that you have the most recent version of the Policy. If you have any questions about our policy listed above, please contact [email protected]