Save the Children Australia's privacy statement

Personal information collected by Save the Children Australia is protected by Australian privacy legislation. Personal information is any information or an opinion that identifies you and includes sensitive and health information.

Principles

Save the Children Australia complies with the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 in handling personal information collected from clients/beneficiaries, business partners, donors, members of the public and Save the Children Australia personnel (including members, volunteers, employees, delegates, candidates for volunteer work and prospective employees).

The Statement is available in hard copy on request. It contains information about Save the Children Australia's responsibilities, your rights, the information that may be collected by Save the Children Australia, and how it would be used.

The primary purpose for collecting personal information from individuals is to provide services to vulnerable children, including planning, funding, monitoring and evaluating our services. The kind of information we collect will depend on your relationship with Save the Children Australia (eg as a client, donor, business partner, employee, volunteer, member or online user of the Save the Children Australia website).

What information is collected and how?

The type of information collected and retained by Save the Children Australia includes personal information about:

  • job applicants
  • staff
  • volunteers
  • contractors
  • members
  • donors
  • people receiving a service from Save the Children Australia
  • other people who come into contact with Save the Children Australia

Personal information collected by Save the Children includes (without limitation):

  • names and addresses
  • bank account details or credit card information (for direct debit of donations)
  • dates of birth
  • telephone numbers
  • email addresses
  • information from previous employers

Save the Children Australia collects personal information about an individual by way of forms filled out, face-to-face meetings and interviews, telephone calls, facsimiles, email and sometimes through use of contractors/consultants.

When collecting information, only information necessary for the activities of Save the Children Australia will be collected and recorded. Information given in confidence will remain confidential.

Do we use cookies?

Yes – cookies are pieces of information that will be sent by Save the Children when you log onto our website. These will be stored on your computer's hard drive, to allow us to recognise you as a user when you next visit.

You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is sent. Each browser is different, so check the "help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.

If you disable the use of cookies on your web browser or remove or reject specific cookies from our website or linked sites, you may not be able to use the website as it is intended.


Google

This site uses Google analytics and Google fonts. Some data is shared to enable these features.

Personal information provided by other people

In some circumstances, Save the Children Australia may receive personal information about an individual from a third party – for example, references or referrals. This information forms part of the personal information described in this statement.

Save the Children Australia's use of personal information

Save the Children Australia will collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for purposes including (without limitation):

  • to verify your identity
  • to provide programs to you, to manage and account for the programs provided and to improve those programs
  • to report to government or other funding bodies how funding is used
  • to process donations and provide receipts
  • to manage our relationship with you
  • to communicate with you about how your donation is used or to provide you with information about events, causes, programs, products or service that we believe may interest you
  • to respond to your feedback or complaints
  • to facilitate our international business operations
  • to provide information to our third party service providers in connection with any of the above

Save the Children Australia does not disclose personal information without your permission unless the disclosure is either:

  • in accordance with this Privacy Statement or any agreement you enter into with us, or
  • required or authorised by law, including without limitation the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act.

Some of your information may be transferred, stored, processed, used or disclosed overseas by Save the Children Australia if our service providers are located overseas or if the information is required to be used or disclosed overseas for the purpose for which it was conveyed to Save the Children Australia by the individual. Save the Children Australia takes reasonable steps to ensure that the overseas recipients of your personal information do not breach the privacy obligations relating to your personal information.

Management and security of personal information

As a condition of employment, Save the Children Australia's staff are required to respect the confidentiality of information and the privacy of individuals. Save the Children Australia will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information it collects, uses, retains or discloses is accurate, complete and up to date and is protected from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Contacting Save the Children Australia regarding access and correction, and privacy complaints

An individual may:

  • request access to and seek correction of their personal information held by Save the Children Australia at any time
  • make a complaint in relation to a breach of their privacy
  • submit a query or concern about this Privacy Statement or Save the Children Australia's information handling processes.

This can be done by contacting Save the Children Australia's privacy officer in writing at supporter.care@savethechildren.org.au or c/o Save the Children Australia, 33 Lincoln Square South, Carlton, Vic 3053.

You will be required to provide proof of identity in order to obtain access to your personal information. Save the Children Australia aims to provide access to your personal information within 30 days of receipt of a valid request.

At all times, privacy complaints will be:

  • treated seriously
  • dealt with promptly
  • dealt with in a confidential manner.

Save the Children Australia's privacy officer will commence an investigation into your complaint. You will be informed of the outcome of your complaint within a reasonable period of time following completion of the investigation.

Privacy-related complaints about Save the Children Australia may be investigated by the Privacy Commissioner, who has the power to conduct investigations, impose penalties and/or award compensation in appropriate cases.

Communications preferences

To update us with your communications preferences, including electing NOT to receive further information from us, please contact our Supporter Care Team on 1800 76 00 11 (FREECALL, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm ADST). We can change the types of communications you receive, or stop all communication from us. Please allow 28 days for your request to be processed and your preferences to take effect.

If we have contacted you by email or text message, you can use the unsubscribe function in that email or text message to notify us that you do not want to receive further information via that channel.

This privacy statement applies to the personal information collected by Save the Children Impact Fund Limited (ACN 634 440 145) in its capacity as trustee of Save the Children Impact Investment Fund.

Our commitment to you

We have five core service principles that underpin our commitment to you:

  1. We are responsive when you contact us
  2. We are always professional in our dealings with you
  3. We value your feedback and we listen and are engaged
  4. We respect your privacy
  5. We are accessible to you through many different contact channels

If you would like to read our full Service Charter, please click here.

After all, without your support, we would not be able to continue dramatically changing the lives of children around the world.

However, we know that there may be times when we do not meet our own high standards. When this does happen, we want to hear about it, resolve the situation as quickly as possible and put measures in place to stop it happening again.

We take complaints very seriously and we treat them as an opportunity to develop. This is why we are always very grateful to hear from people who are willing to take the time to help us improve.

So, how can you tell us your thoughts?

How to make a complaint

Call 

You can call us on 1800 76 00 11. One of our friendly Supporter Care Team will be ready and willing to help. Our phone lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

Outside of these hours, you can always leave us a message and a contact number and someone will return your call within one working day.

Email

You can email us at supporter.care@savethechildren.org.au

Write

You can write to us at:

Save the Children Australia
33 Lincoln Square South
Carlton VIC 3053

Please include your name, address and a contact telephone number in your email or letter so that we can get back in touch with you easily.

How long will the complaint process take?

You will receive an acknowledgement of your complaint within two days of receipt. We will endeavour to respond fully and conclusively to all complaints within ten working days. Wherever possible, we will investigate the matter more quickly. In more complex situations where an immediate response is not possible, we will investigate the matter and get back to you as quickly as we can. In the past, we have found the best way to resolve a problem quickly is by telephone. This way we can make sure that we fully understand the issue and can gather all of the information that we need to resolve the problem in a fast and effective way.

Our approach to resolving complaints

We will work hard to resolve problems, correct mistakes and address concerns to reach a fair and reasonable outcome. When contacting us about a complaint, please feel free to let us know how you think it could be resolved.

We will always treat you with courtesy and respect, listen to what you say, keep you informed about our progress, provide you with a prompt response and tell you who to go to if you want to escalate your complaint further.

From time to time, we receive complaints that do not relate directly to something that Save the Children Australia has done or that we are not able to comment on. We are a charity with limited resources and we must use these in the best way possible. This can mean not engaging in lengthy debates on issues that are unrelated to Save the Children Australia's work.

There may be rare occasions when we choose not to respond to a complaint at all.

These include:

  • When a complaint is about something that Save the Children Australia has no direct connection to. We may choose to reply to clear our name but we are not obliged to.
  • When someone pursues a complaint that we have already responded to, with no new issues raised. They will be given escalation points but we may choose not to reply again. We will always inform you of our decision to do this.
  • When a complainant is being obviously abusive, prejudiced or offensive in their manner.
  • When a complainant is harassing a staff member.
  • When a complaint is incoherent or illegible. When a complaint has clearly been sent to us and numerous other organisations as part of a bulk mailing or email. In this instance we can choose whether it is necessary for us to reply.

Save the Children Australia cannot respond to complaints made anonymously. However, we can give general information and advice to anonymous callers. We can also investigate the complaint and use the information to improve in any way that we can.

For privacy reasons, we don't collect information about third parties who aren't directly involved in the matter, such as friends, other family members and neighbours.

What if you are not happy with our response?

We hope we are able to resolve your complaint by reaching a fair and reasonable outcome you're happy with. However, if you are dissatisfied with our resolution, you can write directly to our Supporter Care Manager.

Please outline the details of the complaint, why you have not been satisfied with our response up to now, and what you would like us to do to put things right.

Supporter Care Manager
Save the Children Australia
33 Lincoln Square South
Carlton VIC 3053
Email: supporter.care@savethechildren.org.au

If we can't help you

Save the Children Australia is a member of the Fundraising Institute of Australia (FIA) and is committed to the highest standards in fundraising practice. If your complaint is to do with fundraising and you feel that it has not been resolved satisfactorily by us, then the FIA can investigate your complaint.

For the matter to be investigated, you must contact FIA within two months of receiving your response from us.

Fundraising Institute of Australia
PO Box 642
Chatswood NSW 2057
Tel: 1300 889 670
www.fia.org.au

Alternatively, if your complaint is related to another area of our work and you do not feel completely satisfied by our response, then you can contact the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) at the address below:

The Australian Council for International Development
Private Bag 3
Deakin ACT 2600
Tel: +61 2 6285 1816
Email: main@acfid.asn.au
www.acfid.asn.au

If you're part of a DSS-funded program and have feedback or a complaint that Save the Children can't resolve, we encourage you to contact DSS:

Telephone: 1800 634 035
Email: complaints@dss.gov.au
Online Complaints Form

If you need more information

We treat all feedback and complaints as an opportunity to improve. We are happy to acknowledge and apologise for mistakes we have made and then try to prevent them from happening again in the future. Thank you for helping us to provide a better service.

Where you feel unable to raise a concern through the above standard feedback channels because of reasonable grounds to fear reprisal, you may use the mechanisms provided by our Whistle-blower Policy.

To provide effective protection over disclosures, including allowing continuous discussion with anonymous reporters we has chosen to use an external, secure, online service from Whispli.

This is the preferred and easiest mechanism for making a protected disclosure and can be used by anyone with internet access and a browser by going to: https://app.whispli.com/save-the-children-au.


Last modified: Friday, 4 November 2022, 5:03 AM