Our Privacy Policy 

ABC Friends Ltd. (ABN 56642876800) and ABC Friends affiliated States/Territories associations (collectively referred to we, us and our) values and respects the privacy of the people we deal with and is committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) as contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and other applicable privacy laws and regulations.

The APPs can be found at https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/australian-privacy-principles/ 

Our privacy Policy applies to ABC Friends Ltd. (ABN 56642876800) and ABC Friends affiliated States/Territories associations listed as follows:

• Friends of the ABC (NSW&ACT) Incorporated [ABN 54530872593]
• ABC Friends Incorporated (Victoria) [ABN 83262013759]
• Friends of the ABC (SA) Incorporated (SA/NT) [ABN 50869031090]
• ABC Friends (WA) Incorporated [ABN 42355868060]
• Friends of the ABC Association Inc. (Qld) [ABN 83864884993]
• ABC Friends Tasmania Inc. [ABN 90688026504]

Collectively referred to as ABC Friends.

This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information, and how we maintain the quality and security of your personal information.

What is personal information?

“Personal information” means any information or opinion, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. In general terms, this includes information or an opinion that personally identifies you either directly (e.g. your name) or indirectly.

What personal information do we collect?

The personal information we collect about you depends on the nature of your dealings with us or what you choose to share with us.

The personal information we collect about you may include:

• Title;
• name;
• mailing or street address;
• email address;
• mobile number;
• phone number.

You do not have to provide us with your contact information. Where possible, we will give you the option to interact with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym. However, if you choose to deal with us in this way or choose not to provide us with your personal information (for example, providing dietary information if attending a catered function) we may not be able to provide you with our services or otherwise interact with you. Donations to us cannot be made anonymously or using a pseudonym due to obligations under taxation and electoral and other laws and regulations.

How do we collect your personal information? 

We collect your personal information directly from you when you:  

• interact with us over the phone;
• interact with us in person;
• interact with us online;
• participate in surveys or questionnaires;
• attend ABC Friends events;
• subscribe to our mailing list;
• apply for a position with us as an employee, contractor or volunteer;
• respond to ABC Friends information and/or membership forms collected at community stalls, fetes, markets, writer’s festivals, conferences etc. 

Collecting personal information from third parties 

We may also collect your information from Third Parties or from publicly available sources. We collect information from these Third Parties to communicate with you.  

How do we use your personal information? 

We use personal information for many purposes in connection with our functions, activities and events, including: 

• responding to a request for information or services;
• if you have signed a petition and/or call for action;
• purchasing merchandise;
• improve the quality of the services we offer;
• internal administrative purposes;
• marketing and research purposes;
• fundraising activities.

Disclosure of personal information to third parties 

We may disclose your personal information to third parties in accordance with this Policy in circumstances where you would reasonably expect us to disclose your information. For example, we may disclose your personal information to:

• our third party service providers (for example, our IT providers);
• our marketing providers;
• our professional services advisors;
• statutory/regulatory authorities in accordance with applicable laws/regulations.

Transfer of personal information outside Australia 

Some of the third-party service providers we disclose personal information to may be based in or have servers located outside of Australia.

Where we disclose your personal information to third parties overseas, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that data security and appropriate privacy practices are maintained. We will only disclose to overseas third parties if:

• you have given us your consent to disclose personal information to that third party; or
• we reasonably believe that:
  • the overseas recipient is subject to a law or binding scheme that is, overall, substantially similar to the APPs; and
  • the law or binding scheme can be enforced; or
• the disclosure is required or authorised by an Australian law or court / tribunal order.

How do we protect your personal information?

ABC Friends will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information that we hold about you is kept confidential and secure, including by:

• having a robust physical security of our premises and databases / records;
• taking measures to restrict access to only personnel who need that personal information;
• having technological measures in place.

Online activity 

The ABC Friends website uses cookies. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers the website puts on your device if you allow it. These cookies recognise when your device has visited our website(s) before, so we can distinguish you from other users of the website. This improves your experience with the ABC Friends website(s).

We do not use cookies to identify you, just to improve your experience on our website(s). If you do not wish to use cookies, you can amend the settings on your internet browser so it will not automatically download cookies. However, if you remove or block cookies on your computer, please be aware that your browsing experience and our website’s functionality may be affected.

Website analytics 

Our website uses analytics to help us better understand visitor traffic, so we can improve our services. Although this data is mostly anonymous, it is possible that under certain circumstances, we may connect it to you.

Direct marketing

We may send you direct marketing communications and information about our services, opportunities, events and fundraising activities that we consider may be of interest to you if you have requested or consented to receive such communications. These communications may be sent in various forms, including mail, SMS, fax and email, in accordance with applicable marketing laws, such as the Australian Spam Act 2003 (Cth). You consent to us sending you those direct marketing communications by any of those methods. If you indicate a preference for a method of communication, we will endeavour to use that method whenever practical to do so.

You may opt-out of receiving marketing communications from us at any time by following the instructions to “unsubscribe” set out in the relevant communication and/or contact us.

In addition, we may also use your personal information or disclose your personal information to third parties for the purposes of advertising, including online behavioural advertising, website personalisation, and to provide targeted or retargeted advertising content and fundraising (including through third party websites).

Retention of personal information

We will not keep your personal information for longer than we need to. In most cases, this means that we will only retain your personal information for the duration of your relationship with us unless we are required to retain your personal information to comply with applicable laws/regulations, for example record-keeping obligations.

How to access and correct your personal information 

ABC Friends will endeavour to keep your personal information accurate, complete and up to date.

If you wish to make a request to access and / or correct the personal information we hold about you, you should make a request by contacting us and we will usually respond within 7-days if possible. We will deal with such a request by following the procedure outlined below: 

• We are primarily a volunteer organisation but will endeavour to respond to your email communication within the above timeframe.

Links to third party sites  

The ABC Friends website(s) may contain links to websites operated by third parties. If you access a third party website through our website(s), personal information may be collected by that third party website. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of any third party provider or website and we are not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of any third party provider or website. Third party providers / websites are responsible for informing you about their own privacy practices and we encourage you to read their privacy policies.

Inquiries and complaints

For complaints about how ABC Friends handles, processes, manages and protects your personal information, please contact us at the email/postal address below. Note we may require proof of your identity and full details of your request before we can process your complaint.

Please allow up to 7-days for ABC Friends to respond to your complaint. It will not always be possible to resolve a complaint to everyone’s satisfaction. If you are not satisfied with ABC Friends’s response to a complaint, you have the right to contact the Office of Australian Information Commissioner (at www.oaic.gov.au/) to lodge a complaint. 

Changes to our Privacy Policy

We may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes to this Privacy Policy will be displayed as an updated version on our website. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy so that you remain informed about how we handle and manage your personal information.

How to contact us

If you have a question or concern in relation to our handling of your personal information or this Policy, you can contact us for assistance as follows:

Email: admin@abcfriends.net.au 

Post:
Privacy Officer
ABC Friends
Ross House, 247-251 Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000 

This Policy was last reviewed and updated on: 30 July 2025