Privacy & legals

Accessibility

Commonwealth departments and agencies are required by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 to ensure that online information and services are accessible by people with disabilities.

The National Indigenous Australians Agency website has undergone significant re-design in order to meet the Government Online standards that relate to access for people with disabilities. The re-design work has drawn on the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Further information on this initiative is available on the Web Accessibility Initiative website.

There may be some data on the website held in non-HTML formats. This data is in the process of being converted and is currently available to most environments supporting assistive technology. If, however, there is data that you require and it is in a format that you cannot access, or if you experience any other accessibility difficulties, please advise the Web Administrator via the site Contact Us facility or by writing to:

National Indigenous Australians Agency
PO Box 6500
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Australia

Privacy

Our privacy obligations

The National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) has obligations for handling personal information as outlined in the:

'Personal information' means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

'Sensitive information' is a subset of personal information and includes information or an opinion about an individual's:

  • racial or ethnic origin
  • political opinions
  • religious beliefs or affiliations
  • philosophical beliefs
  • sexual orientation
  • criminal record
  • health information
  • genetic information.

You can learn more about the Privacy Act and the Privacy Code on the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Why we collect personal information

We may collect personal information about you when it's reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, one or more of our functions or activities.

We may collect sensitive information about you where you consent, when the collection is authorised or required by law, or the collection is otherwise allowed under the Privacy Act. Find out more about our functions here: who we are.

We collect personal information for purposes which include:

  • invitations for public submissions and feedback on review or reform processes;
  • invitations to subscription services so that individuals who subscribe can get information from the NIAA;
  • undertaking recruitment, maintaining employment records and facilitating travel;
  • facilitating events and official visits;
  • facilitating appointments;
  • coordinating responses and providing recovery assistance in relation to a time of emergency or disaster; and
  • administering programmes and grants
  • managing complaints and enquiries.

How we collect personal information

The NIAA may collect personal information from a person directly, or their authorised representative, or via a third party if permitted by law. We may collect personal information in a range of ways, including through surveys, email and phone communication, forms or notices, online portals, and via our website. 

How we safeguard personal information

The NIAA takes seriously its obligations to protect the personal information it holds. We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information against misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. These steps include:

  • classifying and storing records securely as per Australian government security guidelines;
  • Internal access to information is on a 'need to know' basis and only by authorised personnel;
  • monitoring system access which can only be accessed by authenticated credentials;
  • ensuring our buildings are secure; and
  • regularly updating and auditing our storage and data security systems.

When personal information is collected from a third party, we take steps to inform of the collection. This may occur through this Privacy Policy, notices or discussions with our staff.

If personal information that we hold is lost, or subject to unauthorised access or disclosure, we will respond in line with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's Data breach preparation and response —a guide to managing data breaches in accordance with the Privacy Act . We aim to provide timely advice to affected individuals if a data breach is likely to result in serious harm.

The types of information we hold

In performing our functions, the NIAA may collect and hold the following kinds of personal and sensitive information:

  • identity and contact details for individuals (e.g. name, phone, email and postal address),
  • photographs, video recordings and audio recordings of individuals,
  • information relating to personal circumstances (e.g. age, gender, cultural and linguistic background, disabilities and other family circumstances including spouses, carers and dependents),
  • information relating to financial affairs (e.g. payment details, bank account details),
  • other information relating to identity (e.g. date of birth, citizenship and visa status, passport details, drivers licence),
  • information about employment (e.g. employment status and work history, education status, referee comments, salary), and
  • government identifiers (e.g. tax file number).

We may also collect information about how you use our online services and applications. For example, we use social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to talk with the public and our staff. When you talk with us using these services we may collect your personal information to communicate with you and the public. These social networking services will also handle your personal information for their own purposes. These services have their own privacy policies. You can access the privacy policies for these services on their websites.

Refer to our Website Privacy Notice for further information about our collection of information about online and though other internet activities.

How we use and disclose information

The NIAA may use and disclose collected personal information for the purpose it was first collected. We will take reasonable steps to give you information about the reason for collection at the time of collection, or as soon as possible. The NIAA will only use and disclose your personal information for a secondary purpose if APP 6 allows it.  It should be noted that regulation 9.2 of the Public Service Regulations 1999 provides authority for personal information about APS employees to be disclosed by the NIAA in the exercise of certain powers.

We may disclose personal information to overseas entities (such as a foreign government or agency) where this is a necessary part of our work. We will only do this with your consent or in other circumstances allowed by APP 8.

We may also use third party providers or website such as Facebook, Twitter, Campaign Monitor, LinkedIn, YouTube and others to deliver or otherwise communicate content. Such third-party sites have their own privacy policies and may send their own cookies to your computer. We do not control the setting of third-party cookies and suggest you check the third-party websites for more information about their cookies and how to manage them.

Under the Agency's shared services arrangement with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC), we may share relevant personal information with DPMC for the purpose of DPMC providing shared services to the Agency.

Website analytics

To improve your experience on our site, we may use 'cookies'. Our website also uses Google Analytics, a service which transmits website traffic data to Google servers in the United States. Google Analytics does not identify individual users or associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. We use reports provided by Google Analytics to help us understand website traffic and webpage usage.

By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner described in Google's Privacy Policy and for the purposes set out above. You can opt out of Google Analytics if you disable or refuse the cookie, disable JavaScript, or use the opt-out service provided by Google. Our website may also contain links to other websites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. When you go to other websites from here, we advise you to be aware and read the respective privacy policies.

Accessing and correcting personal information

You have a right to request access to personal information we hold about you, and to request its correction.  We will respond to requests for access or correction within 30 days.

The Privacy Act allows us to refuse access in certain cases, including where an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) would apply. Where we have refused access, we will give you reasons in writing. We will also provide you with information about how you can dispute the decision.

To request access to, or correction of, your personal information please contact our Privacy Officer. Discussing your request with our Privacy Officer will help us give you early guidance about your request. This may include guidance about whether your request is best dealt with under the Privacy Act, the FOI Act or another arrangement.

How to make a privacy complaint

If you are not satisfied with how we have collected, held, used or disclosed your personal information, you can make a formal complaint to our Privacy Officer.

Your complaint should include:

  • A short description of your privacy concern,
  • Any action or dealings you have had with staff of the Department to address your concern; and
  • Your preferred contact details so we can contact you about your complaint.

If we do not resolve your privacy complaint to your satisfaction, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

The OAIC can receive privacy complaints through:

  • the online Privacy Complaint form (refer to the OAIC's website)
  • by email (email that is not encrypted can be copied or tracked) at enquiries@oaic.gov.au
  • by mail (if a person has concerns about postal security, they might want to consider sending their complaint by registered mail):
    Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
    Sydney Offices
    GPO Box 5218
    Sydney NSW 2001
  • by fax: 02 9284 9666.

How to contact our Privacy Officer

Contact the NIAA's Privacy Officer if you want to:

  • Ask questions about our Privacy Policy, or if you need a copy of this Policy in an alternative format;
  • Obtain access to or seek correction of your personal information held by the NIAA; or
  • Make a privacy complaint about the NIAA.

Emailprivacy@niaa.gov.au
Post: The Privacy Officer
National Indigenous Australians Agency
PO Box 2191
CANBERRA  ACT  2600
Phone:   02 6152 3080

We review this Policy regularly, and may update it from time to time.

Copyright

The National Indigenous Australians Agency encourages the dissemination and exchange of information provided on this website.

The Commonwealth owns the copyright in all material produced by the National Indigenous Australians Agency.

All material presented on this website is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence, with the exception of:

  • the Commonwealth Coat of Arms
  • this Agency's logo
  • content supplied by third parties.

The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons website, as is the full legal code for the CC BY 4.0 license.

CC-By logo  

Attribution

Material obtained from this website is to be attributed to this Agency as:
© Commonwealth of Australia 2021.

Third party copyright

Wherever a third party holds copyright in material presented on this website, the copyright remains with that party. Their permission may be required to use the material.

This Agency has made all reasonable efforts to:

  • clearly label material where the copyright is owned by a third party
  • ensure that the copyright owner has consented to this material being presented on this website.

Using the Commonwealth Coat of Arms

Terms of use for the Coat of Arms are available on the PM&C website.

Disclaimer

This website is presented by the Commonwealth for the purpose of disseminating information free of charge for the benefit of the public.

The Commonwealth monitors the quality of the information available on this website and updates the information regularly. However, the Commonwealth does not guarantee, and accepts no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this website or on any linked site.

The Commonwealth recommends that users exercise their own skill and care with respect to their use of this website and that users carefully evaluate the accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance of the material on the website for their purposes.

This website is not a substitute for independent professional advice and users should obtain any appropriate professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances.

The material on this website may include the views or recommendations of third parties, which do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commonwealth, or indicate its commitment to a particular course of action.

Links to external websites

This website may contain links to other websites that are external to the site. This site takes reasonable care in linking websites but has no direct control over the content of the linked sites, or the changes that may occur to the content on those sites. It is the responsibility of the user to make their own decisions about the accuracy, currency, reliability and correctness of information contained in linked external websites.

Links to external websites do not constitute an endorsement or a recommendation of any material on those sites or of any third party products or services offered by, from or through those sites. Users of links provided by this website are responsible for being aware of which organisation is hosting the website they visit.

Security of the site

This site applies a range of security controls to protect its website from unauthorised access. However, users should be aware that the World Wide Web is an insecure public network that gives rise to a potential risk that a user's transactions are being viewed, intercepted or modified by third parties or that files which the user downloads may contain computer viruses, disabling codes, worms or other devices or defects.

The Commonwealth accepts no liability for any interference with or damage to a user's computer system, software or data occurring in connection with or relating to this website or its use. Users are encouraged to take appropriate and adequate precautions to ensure that whatever is selected from this site is free of viruses or other contamination that may interfere with or damage the user's computer system, software or data.