Privacy Policy

Checked Australia Privacy Policy 19/02/2024

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Our commitment to your privacy

At Checked Australia Pty Ltd t/as Checked Australia (Checked.com.au) (‘Checked Australia’) we are committed to respecting the privacy of our customers.

We are committed to ensuring that you feel secure whenever you deal with us.  It’s also important that you understand how we protect your privacy as well as how, when and where we may use your details.

This Privacy Policy outlines how we manage personal information that we collect and handle about you as a customer, supplier, visitor to our site, a job applicant or as someone who engages with us through social media, other digital services, correspondence or in person as a member of the public.

Legislation Relevant to our organisation regarding Privacy and Information Protection:

As an Australian Privacy Principles ('APP') bound entity, we adopt and are bound to carry out our functions or activities under the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), as detailed in schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act).

The APP's outline how most Australian and Norfolk Island Government agencies, large private sector and not-for-profit organisations, private health service providers and some small businesses (collectively called ‘APP entities’) must handle, use and manage personal information.

These APP's cover:

• the open and transparent management of personal information including having a privacy policy
• an individual having the option of transacting anonymously or using a pseudonym where practicable
• the collection of solicited personal information and receipt of unsolicited personal information including giving notice about collection
• how personal information can be used and disclosed (including overseas)
• maintaining the quality of personal information
• keeping personal information secure
• right for individuals to access and correct their personal information

Additional to these requirements and guidelines, we maintain an active involvement and engagement with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), whose function is in managing privacy advice, facilitating investigations, complaints and administration with regards to the application of the Privacy Act.

What types of personal information do we collect?

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

If you are a customer, the personal information we may collect about you might include, for example, your name, gender, date of birth, contact details, address history, employer or employment detail, as well as copies of your identity documents to ensure we have adequately identified you as an individual.

We will also collect other information, some of which may be personal information, including information about your order history with Checked Australia, which areas of the site you visit (see the section “cookies”, below) and records of your communications and interactions with us.

In all cases, the personal information that we collect will depend on the nature of your interaction with us and will only be information necessary for one of our functions and activities.

How do we collect and hold your personal information?

Where it is reasonable and practicable to do so, we collect your personal information directly from you when you sign on as a user, order checks, enter into arrangements with us, correspond with us or provide feedback to us. We will record, collect and hold information in relation to your transactions with us. We may monitor and record your communications with us (including email and telephone) for security, dispute resolution and training purposes.

We hold personal information electronically and in hard copy form (typically electronically through web forms, and when in hard copy, in a secured, controlled and classified manner), both at our own premises and with the assistance of our service providers. Our main database, where all verified records are held, is located in Australia. We implement a range of measures to protect the security of that personal information. We also take measures in respect of destroying or de-identifying personal information that is no longer needed for any lawful purpose.

We will reasonably ensure that personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up to date.

Why do we collect your personal information?

If you are an individual user

The main reasons why we would collect personal information about you are:

• to check and verify that the information you have provided and the personal information located from other sources is correct;
• to place your personal, police check and career information on Checked Australia systems so that prospective employers and employment agencies and other relevant persons authorised by you may view the information through our secure website;
• to administer and provide our products and services to you;
• to communicate with you, our customer;
• to understand the needs of our customers and continuously develop and improve our products and services;
• to protect against fraud or other misuse or loss of data; and
• to ensure your security when visiting our website and to learn which areas of the site are of most interest to you (see the section ‘cookies’ below).

If you are a business/corporate user

The main reasons why we would collect personal information about you are:

• to check and verify that the information you have provided and the personal information located from other sources is correct;
• to comply with our legal obligations to know who has access to the personal information of individuals on our system;
• to administer and provide our products and services to you and your employer;
• to better communicate with our customer;
• to understand the needs of our customers and continuously develop and improve our products and services;
• to protect against fraud or other misuse or loss of data; and
• to ensure your security when visiting our website and to learn which areas of the site are of most interest to you (see the section ‘cookies’ below).

All information will be collected lawfully, fairly and not in an intrusive way.

Why will we disclose information to another organisation?

Checked Australia will disclose your information only in accordance with the professional services we provide.

We want to provide our customers with the very best products and services. At times we may partner with another organisation to support the products and services we offer. Some of our service providers provide services to us entirely or partly from overseas locations (such as employers from other countries confirming details for an for overseas Checking Services). In order to receive those services, we will need to occasionally transfer personal information overseas (this does not include information collected for the fulfillment of the NCCHC).

If you are a customer, to electronically verify certain information (such as employer references, identity documents), it may be necessary to disclose those details to a third party supplier (such as the Document Verification Service or Visa Entitlement Verification Service for the NCCHC). In other situations (with exception to the NCCHC), that third-party who may operate overseas. To conduct a check, it will be necessary to disclose some of your personal information to the entity that will verify the accuracy of your information. For a check relating to another country, that entity will be in that other country and so your information must be disclosed overseas.

In any of these instances, we will ensure that we adequately request your consent and provide you with information relating to which country and who this information will be disclosed to.

If we have asked you to verify information, it will be necessary to share your personal information with our customers when we confirm that you have verified the information.

As you will appreciate in certain circumstances we may be compelled by law to disclose your personal information to various authorities, but it would only be under these circumstances.

This is to your benefit and helps us to provide the products and services you would expect from Checked Australia.

The NCCHC and Accreditation with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC):

Checked Australia is a duly accredited body, in accordance with its agreement, under the 'Agreement for controlled access by duly Accredited Bodies to Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks' ('Agreement') in order to undertake the fulfillment NCCHC's for eligible applicants.

This agreement sets out the obligations and requirements necessary for Checked Australia to maintain accreditation status and access to the National Police Checking Service.

Disclosure of Police History Information

With respect to the disclosure of Police History Information for the NCCHC, we will only disclose this information to those organisations, third-parties that you have expressly consented to, unless we are required by law to do so otherwise.

Disposal of Police History Information

We will only retain Police History Information for as long as required to fulfil the purpose of the NCCHC, or as otherwise contractually obligated. In the case of the NCCHC, the retention period for police history information is 12 months, after which point the information is destroyed. If you, or an employer require verification of the result after this date, you will need to request another check.

Direct communication of offers and information

The details you give us may be used to inform you about any offers or promotions we think will be of interest to you and to update you on new products and services or changes to our website.

We may also send you details of offers or services provided by our business partners and related Checked Australia entities.

You may at any time choose not to receive these communications.  Doing so will not cost you anything and we will aim to ensure you stop receiving any unwanted communications as soon as possible.

Access to your personal information

You have a right to access your personal information held by Checked Australia.  There is no charge to put in a request to see your information and we can easily provide you with general information such as your name, address and contact details.

If you believe that any information is incorrect or out of date you may of course ask us to correct it.

However, we may need to charge you a small administration fee to cover our costs if you want to access more detailed information or take copies of information on your file.

If you wish to access information or to lodge a complaint about the privacy practices of Checked Australia please put your request or complaint in writing and send it to:

• Privacy Officer
• Checked Australia Pty Ltd t/as Checked Australia (Checked.com.au)
• Level 10, 157 Walker Street
• North Sydney, NSW, 2060
• or send an email to: [email protected]

How safe and secure is the information we hold about you?

We take great care with the information we hold about you.  All information stored electronically is either password protected and/or encrypted at rest using 256-bit encryption algorithms.

In order to ensure we maintain a continuous improvement approach to information security, we maintain and regularly update an Information Security Policy ('InfoSec Policy'). The purpose of this policy is to support the management, and ongoing compliance of our organisation to a set of standards and systems to facilitate protection of personal information.

In essence, the Information Security Policy sets out to ensure that any details are securely protected from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by way of maintaining:

• Dedicated privacy, information security, and ICT roles across our team members;
• Physical (hard copy, media and soft copy) security by preventing unauthorised access to our premises;
• Computer network security including password security to prevent unauthorised access;
• Incident prevention and management reporting structures;
• Strong password policies, including use of two-factor authentication and password managers to adopt best practices;
• Communication security;
• Undertaking regular staff training regarding security best practices, and prevention measures;
• Limiting access to authorised staff and contractors of Checked Australia, and undergoing background clearances for all staff with access to personal information.

When the information is no longer needed we will take reasonable steps to destroy or de–identify personal information.

What are ‘cookies’ and how do they work?

Cookies are small data files that are downloaded from our web servers and stored on your hard drive.

A cookie is a string of letters and numbers that uniquely identify the computer you are using and the Username and password you may have used to register at the site.

Two types of cookies are used on the Checked Australia site.

The first tracks a visitor’s journey through our site.  This allows us to see at a glance which pages and information is of most interest to visitors.  This type of cookie contains no personal information at all; it is simply a record of your journey through the site.

The second type of cookie exists only for the actual time you are logged on.  These cookies ensure greater security for you by authenticating and identifying whether you are registered for the secure areas of the site - without the need for you to re–enter information.

Most browsers can be configured to refuse to accept cookies.  You can also delete cookies from your hard drive. However, doing so may hinder your access to valuable areas of information within our site.

What if I have a complaint?

At Checked Australia we value our customers.  We will always aim to be fair and responsive.

If you have a complaint you have the right to expect that we will handle it in a friendly and professional way.

When we receive a complaint we look on it as valuable feedback that may help us to improve the services we offer and to ensure your needs are met in a satisfactory and appropriate manner.

If you wish to complain at any time about the handling, use or disclosure of your personal information just write to us at the following address:

• Privacy Officer
• Checked Australia Pty Ltd t/as Checked Australia (Checked.com.au)
• Level 10, 157 Walker Street
• North Sydney, NSW, 2060
• or send an email to: [email protected]

We will make all efforts possible to investigate your complaint and advise you of the outcome as soon as possible.

If the matter is not resolved to your satisfaction you can then refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner who can be contacted through the following website: OAIC Website.

More information

You can request further information about the way we manage the personal information that we hold by writing to:

• Privacy Officer
• Checked Australia Pty Ltd t/as Checked Australia (Checked.com.au)
• Level 10, 157 Walker Street
• North Sydney, NSW, 2060
• or send an email to: [email protected]