Policies

Child Safe Policy

This policy sets out Baptist Mission Australia’s approach and commitment to creating a child safe organisation. Baptist Mission Australia is committed to upholding the right of all people with whom we are involved, including children, to be treated appropriately and with respect. Maintaining integrity in our relationships with children and absolute excellence in conducting our ministry are considered vital to fulfilling our commitment. 

The purpose of this policy is to: 

1. Work towards an organisational culture safety of children. 
2. Facilitate the prevention of child abuse by ensuring that: 
   1. all team members are aware of their responsibilities in: 
      1. identifying possible circumstances when child abuse may occur; 
      2. establishing controls and procedures for preventing and/or 
      3. detecting such abuse should it occurs; and 
   2. team members are advised they are absolutely forbidden from committing any form of child abuse. 
3. Provide guidance to Baptist Mission Australia as to action that must be taken where they suspect any abuse within, or outside, the organisation. 
4. Ensure that all known cases of actual or suspected abuse are reported and fully investigated. 
5. Set out Baptist Mission Australia’s commitment and approach to creating a child safe organisation, and ensure this policy and the noted practices are acknowledged, consistent with and continue to reflect the:
   1. National Principles for Child Safe Organisations; 
   2. Australian Baptist Response to Working with Children and Youth;
   3. The ACNC External Conduct Standards
6. Whichever is applicable; and each State/Territory’s child safe and child protection standards and procedures.

Full child safe policy >>
Child safe guide >>
Police and WWCC requirements >>

Privacy Policy

Baptist Mission Australia is committed to protecting your privacy and complies with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. This Privacy Policy (Policy) should be read in conjunction with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.

 

This policy applies to all management and staff of Baptist Mission Australia as well as any volunteers, visitors and contractors.

This policy aims to:

• ensure the confidentiality of personal information collected by Baptist Mission Australia
• ensure that personal information collected is used only for the purpose for which it was collected

This policy also relates to all personal information collected from:

• employees
• volunteers
• donors
• churches
• any other source

This Policy applies to personal information that Baptist Mission Australia collects from you:

• via our website, social media, telephone, email, fax, in person and/or in writing, via surveys or banking and financial institutions

This Policy also applies to personal information that Baptist Mission Australia collects from Australian Baptist Churches or any other third party, about you.

 

The Baptist Mission Australia website collect two types of information. The first type is anonymous information. 
The web server makes a record of your visit and logs the following information for statistical purposes:

• the user's server address
• the user's top level domain name (e.g. com, .gov, .net, .au, etc.)
• the date and time of the visit to the site
• the pages accessed and documents downloaded
• the previous site visited and
• the type of browser used

No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the internet service provider's logs.
Another way information may be collected is through the use of "cookies". A cookie is a small text file that the website may be placed on your computer. Cookies may be used, among other things, to track the pages you have visited, to remember your preferences and to store personal information about you.

You can adjust your Internet browser to disable cookies or to warn you when cookies are being used. However, if you disable cookies, you may not be able to access certain areas of the Website or take advantage of the improved web site experience that cookies offer.

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 and we recommend that you review the privacy policies applicable to any other websites you visit.

Collection of information
The following are kinds of information that Baptist Mission Australia may collect about you.  From time to time you may voluntarily supply your personal information to Baptist Mission Australia. Baptist Mission Australia will record your e-mail address if you send us a message, subscribe to an email newsletter, or complete a form if this information is requested.

When you provide your personal information, it allows us, for example, to assist you with enquiries regarding past or ongoing donations made by you. Baptist Mission Australia only collects personal information that is necessary in performing its functions and/or activities.

Depending upon the circumstances you may provide to Baptist Mission Australia, and Baptist Mission Australia 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 date of birth
• your marital status
• your church membership details
• your enquiry or complaint details and
• your involvement in Baptist Mission Australia activities
• your Bank account and/or credit card details

Where you provide information to Baptist Mission Australia in relation to a job application the personal information you provide will only be collected, held, used and disclosed for the purposes of considering your potential employment with Baptist Mission Australia.

Where you provide the details of referees, you confirm that you have informed the referees that you are providing their contact information to Baptist Mission Australia and they have consented to Baptist Mission Australia contacting them and discussing the personal information you have provided in relation to the job application.

We will collect personal information directly from you unless:

• you have consented to Baptist Mission Australia’s collection of your personal information from third parties - for example, a Baptist church , or your representatives or
• when we are legally required to do so or
• it is unreasonable or impractical to do so

Where we have collected personal information about you either directly or by other means as set out above, we will notify you at the time, or as soon as practicable, to ensure that you are aware of such collection and its purpose.

You can choose to interact with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym where it is lawful and practicable. For example, you may wish to participate in a blog or enquire about a particular campaign anonymously or under a pseudonym. Your decision to interact anonymously or by using a pseudonym may affect the level of services we can offer you. For example, we may not be able to assist you with a specific enquiry or investigate a privacy complaint on an anonymous or pseudonymous basis. We will inform you if this is the case and let you know the options available to you.

If we receive unsolicited personal information about or relating to you and we determine that such information could have been collected in the same manner if we had solicited the information, then we will treat it in the same way as solicited personal information and in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles. Otherwise if we determine that such information could not have been collected in the same manner as solicited personal information, and that information is not contained in a Commonwealth record, we will, if it is lawful and reasonable to do so, destroy the information or de-identify the information.

 

Baptist Mission Australia collects, holds, uses and discloses your personal information to:

• assist you with donor relations and employment queries
• inform you about fundraising campaigns
• inform you about changes to legislation
• improve our service delivery
• manage our relationship with you
• conduct surveys and research
• to make payments to you by cheque or electronic funds transfer for the purposes of refunds or other payments

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 events, products or services which may be of interest to you. If you do not want us to use your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may elect not to receive direct marketing at the time of providing your personal information.

 

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 as follows:

• If subscribing to an email newsletter you may "unsubscribe" at any time from the newsletter mailing list
• You may contact us at any time by mail or email directed to our Privacy Officer

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

• Government bodies or agencies (including the Fair Work Commission, the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Australian Tax Office, an anti-discrimination body, a work/occupational health and safety regulator)
• Organisations to whom we outsource functions (including information technology providers, print service providers, mail houses)
• Insurance companies where Baptist Mission Australia holds a policy that covers you (eg Travel Insurance or Professional Indemnity insurance etc)
• Web host provider
• Auditors appointed by Baptist Mission Australia to conduct audits in accordance with legal requirements
• Otherwise as you have consented and/or
• Otherwise as required by law

If any of these organisations are located outside Australia, you expressly consent to us disclosing your personal information to those organisations. We take reasonable steps to ensure that each organisation that we disclose your personal information to is committed to protecting your privacy and complies with the Australian Privacy Principles, or is subject to a law or scheme that is at least substantially similar to the way in which the Australian Privacy Principles protect information. By providing your personal information to Baptist Mission Australia, you consent to us transferring your personal information to such other organisations.

 

Wherever reasonably practicable, Baptist Mission Australia holds electronic personal information on data servers that are owned and controlled by Baptist Mission Australia, in Australia. The data servers are password protected and login secured. However, by providing personal information to Baptist Mission Australia you consent to your information being stored and processed on a data server or data servers (e.g. cloud services) owned by a third party or third parties that may be located outside of Australia. Baptist Mission Australia will take reasonable steps to ensure that any third party providers comply with the Australian Privacy Principles. If personal information is only routed through servers located outside of Australia - this is not regarded as a disclosure.

Wherever reasonably practicable Baptist Mission Australia holds physical personal information in access controlled premises.
When Baptist Mission Australia no longer requires your personal information for a specific purpose and we are not required to keep it to comply with any laws, we will take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to destroy your personal information or to ensure that the information is de-identified.

 

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 Baptist Mission Australia to verify your identity for the purposes of our activities or functions
• is reasonably necessary for Baptist Mission Australia 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

You have the right to request access to your personal information held by Baptist Mission Australia and request that it be updated or corrected. In most cases you can gain access to your personal information that Baptist Mission Australia holds. To request access to, correction of, or updating of any personal information held about you, please write to the Privacy Officer at the following address:

The Privacy Officer
Baptist Mission Australia
PO Box 4343
Auburn South VIC 3122

Or email the Privacy Officer

General enquiries can be made via telephone by calling the National Office on 1800 329 165.

Baptist Mission Australia requires that you provide proof of identity in order to seek access to your personal information. Baptist Mission Australia may refuse to provide access if permitted to do so by law or under the Australian Privacy Principles. Baptist Mission Australia 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.

It is important that we keep our details up to date, you should contact Baptist Mission Australia when your personal information details change. Baptist Mission Australia may also take steps to update your personal information by contacting you directly by phone, letter, email or by reference to publicly available sources such as telephone directories or electoral rolls.

 

To make a complaint about an alleged breach of the Australian Privacy Principles please write to or email the Privacy Officer at one of the following addresses:

The Privacy Officer
Baptist Mission Australia
PO Box 3085
Auburn VIC 3123

Or email the Privacy Officer
All complaints must be written. Please provide all details about your complaint as well as any supporting documentation to the Privacy Officer.

 

Baptist Mission Australia 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 Privacy Officer

The outcome of an investigation will be provided to the complainant where the complainant has provided proof of identity.  Baptist Mission Australia 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 here on Baptist Mission Australia’s website.