Privacy Policy

Last updated: 8 October 2025

The Social Policy Group Privacy Policy

1. Who are We

We are The Social Policy Group (ABN 81 158 840 325) of 46 Jardine St, Kingston ACT 2604, Australia (We, Us or Our). This document is Our privacy policy. We respect your rights to privacy under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). Our privacy policy sets out how we collect and manage your personal information.

2. What is the purpose of this Privacy Policy

2.1. This Privacy Policy will inform visitors to and users of Our Website and Apps (as defined below) (You, Your) as to how We collect and process Your personal information including through Your use of https://socialpolicy.org.au and https://www.myausapp.com/ (Websites) or Our mobile applications (Apps) including MyAus App.

2.2. We collect, use and disclose some personal information about you in order to be able to provide Our Websites and Apps.

2.3. We may also request additional information from You so that We can provide content that may be of interest to You and provide You with email updates or notifications. We (or third parties acting on Our behalf) may use and disclose Your personal information to send You direct marketing communications about Our Apps, Websites and/or other services and information that We consider may be of interest to You, but only in accordance with applicable marketing laws, such as the Privacy Act, the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth) and the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). We may communicate with You for marketing purposes by push notifications in Our Apps and by email. and by email.

3. What happens if You do not want to provide Us with Your personal information

3.1. If You do not wish to provide Your personal information and that personal information which We want to collect is:

(a) necessary to operate Our Websites or Apps, then We may not be able to supply You with Our products or services; or

(b) not necessary to operate Our Websites or Apps, then You will still be able to use Our Websites and Apps but We may not be able to provide You with all of the content or content that We think may be of interest to You, or We may not be able to send You updates or notifications.

4. Changes to and translation of Our Privacy Policy

4.1. Any changes We may make to Our Privacy Policy will be posted on Our Websites or in Our Apps. If You continue to use the App or Websites after We have made any changes to Our Privacy Policy, You are taken to accept the updated Privacy Policy.

4.2. We have the right to amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. The amended Privacy Policy will be notiﬁed to You via the Apps or will be posted on Our Websites and will take eﬀect from the date the amended Privacy Policy is posted on the Apps or Websites or notified to You (if earlier). The latest date of this Privacy Policy is as set out in this Privacy Policy.

4.3. Where there is any conflict in meaning between the English version of this Privacy Policy and any translation into a language other than English, the English version will apply.

5. The personal information We collect about You

5.1. As defined in the Privacy Act, “personal information” means any information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable (whether the information or opinion is true or not and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not). Generally speaking, personal information is any information that can be used to identify You. This may include Your name, address, telephone number and email address, amongst other things. It does not include information where the identity of the individual has been removed (anonymous data).

5.2. We may collect, use and disclose Your personal information, including:

(a) Your contact information: Your name, phone number, email address, postal or street address or other contact information.

(b) Your user account information: Your name, email address, date of birth, user ID number, login or password.

(c) Your answers to Our profile quiz: Your name, gender, whether You are applying for student, refugee, tourist, or other visa stream (but not Your specific visa type), if You are travelling alone or with family, where You plan to live in Australia, and other information about You, Your interests or preferences.

(d) Technical information about Your device: The model and specifications of Your device, its operating system and version, and crash logs and performance data.

(e) Cookies (Websites only): Details of Your visits to Our Websites, including traffic data, location data, website usage and other communication information. Please also refer to section 10 below (Our Websites and Apps) for more information about how Cookies collect data about You.

6. How is Your personal information collected?

6.1. We generally collect personal information directly from You where possible, including when You:

(a) contact Us by post, telephone, email or otherwise;

(b) visit, use and interact with Our Websites or Apps;

(d) create an account on Our Apps; or

(e) complete any profile quiz so that You can receive content in Our Apps that may be of interest to You.

6.2. We may also collect personal information from publicly available third party sources (such as the White Pages) (including in circumstances set out in this privacy policy or where it is otherwise unreasonable or impracticable for us to collect personal information directly from you).

7. Purposes for which We will collect or use Your personal information

7.1. We collect, use and share Your personal information for all or any of the following purposes:

(a) to create Your user account and profile;

(b) to administer and protect Our Websites and Apps (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data);

(d) to provide You with Our products and services including the Websites and Apps;

(e) to use data analytics to develop or improve Our Websites, products, services, visitor relationships and Your experiences;

(f) to send You email updates where You have requested to receive them;

(g) to provide content that may be of interest to You where You have created account and completed a profile quiz;

(h) to report to government or other funding bodies how funding is used;

(i) to process donations or purchases and provide receipts;

(j) to enable You to participate in or invite You to participate in Our events;

(k) to gain an understanding of Your communication needs, to perform research and analysis to improve the way in which We engage with You;

(l) to verify Your identity; or

(m) to communicate with You about how donations are used or about Our services, causes, events, products and services, which We believe may be of interest to You.

7.2. It may also be used for:

(a) any other specific purpose for which it was requested and which was advised to You in Our collection notice at the time, and

(b) directly related purposes.

8. Who do We disclose Your personal information to?

8.1. We may transfer or share Your personal information with any of the persons set out below:

(a) third parties in connection with any of the purposes listed in this privacy policy who help Us provide, maintain, market, promote or improve Our goods and services, including third parties who assist us to administer, develop or maintain this Websites or Apps (such as Our Website operator, hosts, website analytics providers, data storage providers, payment processors, information technology service providers, software developers, printers and internet service providers);

(b) professional advisers, including lawyers, bankers, auditors, audit assessors and insurers who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance, credit assessment or accounting services;

(c) third parties, including regulatory authorities or courts, where We are legally obliged to disclose Your personal information to them; and

(d) to regulatory authorities or funding bodies when We report to government or other funding bodies of how funding is used.

9. Storage and security of Your personal information and transfer of it to a location outside Australia

9.1. We are based in Australia and hold Your personal information in Australia. In some circumstances We may transfer or share Your information with others.

9.2. For example, We use Google Analytics to understand the performance of Our Websites or Apps and We may use a payment processor so that You can make a purchase from Us online. In these cases, these third parties may transfer and use Your information outside Australia, including in the United States of America.

9.3. We may need to disclose Your personal information to a third party located overseas, including in the United States of America, for a purpose set out in this Privacy Policy. In this case, We will only do so to the extent necessary. We will also take reasonable steps to ensure that the third party handles Your personal information in accordance with Australian privacy laws.

9.4. We may also disclose Your personal information to overseas organisations where You tell us to do so, or You expressly consent to us doing so. In such cases, it may not be possible or appropriate for us to take the steps set out above in relation to the management of Your personal information. We will tell You about this at the time.

10. Our Websites and Apps

Cookies and IP addresses

10.1. Our Websites use cookies.

10.2. Cookies are small data files which are placed on Your computer or other devices, including phones or tablets, as You browse the website. They are used to remember when Your computer or device accesses Our Websites or Apps. Cookies are necessary for Our Websites or Apps to run effectively and to enable You to use some of Our products and services.

10.3. You can set Your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert You when websites or apps set or access cookies. If You disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of Our Websites or Apps may become inaccessible or not function properly.

10.4. Some of Our cookies are provided by third parties, such as Google Inc., and are subject to their privacy policies.

10.5. We use the following types of cookies:

Security of Our Website and Apps

10.6. We do not guarantee the security of transmission of any information that you send to Us via Our website or by email. We also cannot guarantee that the information you provide to us electronically (including over the internet) will not be intercepted while being transmitted.

10.7. Our Websites and Apps may include links to other websites of third parties. Clicking on those links will take You to websites that We do not control, which have their own privacy policies, and which may allow third parties to collect, use or share information about You.

10.8. We do not control third party websites and are not responsible for their privacy policies or collection, use and disclosure of Your information. When You leave Our Websites or Apps, We encourage You to read the privacy policy and terms of use of every website You visit.

11. Your rights

11.1. You have the right:

(a) to request access to any personal information that We hold about You and to ask Us to correct Your personal information that you consider is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading;

(b) to update Your account profile; and

(c) to opt-out of receiving marketing communications from Us by contacting Us (using the contact details in section 13 below) or by using opt-out facilities provided in any email that We send to You. We will give effect to Your opt-out request within a reasonable time (and in any event within the time required by applicable law).

11.2. If You wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact Us as set out below in section 13.

11.3. We may need to request specific information from You to help Us confirm Your identity and confirm Your right to access Your personal information (or to exercise any of Your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who does not have the right to receive it.

11.4. We may also contact You to ask You for further information in relation to Your request to help speed up Our response.

11.5. We will try to respond to all legitimate written requests by You requesting access to or the correction of Your personal information within 30 days after receiving them. Occasionally it may take Us longer if Your request is particularly complex or You have made a number of requests. In this case, We will let You know and keep You updated.

12. Privacy Complaints

12.1. If You consider that We have breached the Privacy Act when handling Your personal information, You can make a complaint to Us using the contact information below. We may ask that You provide details of Your complaint so that we can investigate it. We will treat Your complaint confidentially, investigate Your complaint and aim to ensure that We respond to Your complaint within a reasonable time (typically within 30 days and in any event within the time required by the Privacy Act, if applicable).

12.2. If You are not satisfied with Our response to Your complaint, You have the right to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. You can find contact details for the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au/contact-us.

13. How You can contact Us

13.1. If You have any questions about this privacy policy or any concerns about how We handle personal information, or wish to exercise Your rights as set out in this Privacy Policy or under applicable law, please contact Us as follows:

(a) By post: 46 Jardine St, Kingston ACT 2604, Australia or PO Box 4758, Kingston ACT 2604, Australia

(b) By email: info@socialpolicy.org.au

12.2. You may also make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints/

Note: This page is available in English only.

First published: 11 May 2021

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