The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA)/Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation NSW Branch (hereafter referred to as “we”, “us” or “the Association”) is the union representing nurses and midwives in NSW.
The Association is committed to promoting and adhering to high standards of protection and accountability in its governance to ensure the protection and privacy of your personal information.
This policy outlines how the Association will comply with privacy requirements in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). Find out more from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
Please read this policy carefully as it describes how we handle your personal information.
The Association collects your personal information in order to conduct its activities of advocating for, and representing, the interests of its members related to the profession of nursing and midwifery and the employment of nurses and midwives. We also collect information to inform you or provide you with products and services.
This policy is to let you know what information is collected about you, how this information is used, to whom it is disclosed or shared and your ability to have any incorrect personal information amended.
This policy also applies to personal information the Association collects about you from any other third party.
NSWNMA online includes NSWNMA websites, social media and membership online.
Personal information means information/opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable – whether or not the information or opinion is true or recorded in a material form. This may include sensitive information which means information or an opinion about such matters as an individual’s membership of a trade union, identity as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander or racial or ethnic origin. The Privacy Act allows the Association with your consent to collect sensitive information where it relates to the Association’s activities.
The Association collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information to enable it to carry on its functions and purposes of advocating for, and representing, the interest of its members for activities including but not limited to:
By providing your personal information to the Association, you consent to the Association collecting, holding, using and disclosing your personal information (whether obtained directly from you or from a third party) for these purposes.
The Association collects personal information in a number of ways including via:
The Association only collects your personal information that is necessary to perform our functions and/or activities.
In addition, we use online tools to gather information about you to make it easier and more rewarding for you to use our sites:
The Association may disclose personal information to other organisations, in connection with, or to further, its objects and purposes, provided that reasonable steps are taken to ensure that each organisation to which the personal information is disclosed is committed to protecting privacy and complies with the APPs, or is subject to a law or scheme that is at least substantially similar to the way in which the APPs protect information.
By providing your personal information to the Association, you consent to the Association disclosing personal information to such other organisations:
By providing personal information to the Association you consent to your information being stored and processed on a data server or data servers (such as cloud services) owned by a third party or third parties that may be located outside of Australia.
The Association is committed to complying with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). Generally the Association sends you factual messages that are not commercial, making them exempt from the Spam Act. When sending you messages the Association will make every endeavour to:
Payments made to the Association online are processed in real time using a secure payment gateway.
Individuals may request to deal with the Association anonymously or through a pseudonym. We will accommodate your request if it is lawful, possible and practical to do so.
The Association takes all reasonable steps to ensure that personal information collected, held, used, disclosed, stored and handled is complete, accurate, relevant and up-to-date.
You have the right to request access to your personal information and either update it yourself online or request that it be updated or corrected by contacting the NSWNMA Privacy Officer at:
NSWNMA50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo, 2017or gensec@nswnma.asn.au
Verification of your identity will be sought before disclosing any personal information.
The Association may refuse to provide access if permitted to do so by law or under the APPs.
You may elect to unsubscribe or opt out to certain communications at any time directly yourself via logging onto and editing your member profile, or by contacting us by phone, mail or email directed to the NSWNMA Privacy Officer.
All reasonable steps are taken to ensure the security of personal information by storing it in a secure environment. Personal information kept electronically is handled with care and secured by user identifiers, and passwords accessed only by authorised personnel. The Association’s internal databases are secured by a firewall and anti-virus software to ensure, so far as practicable, that they are not accessed by unauthorised parties.
If third party providers are used in connection with the storage of personal information it is standard practice to require these third party providers, through agreements with them, to comply with the Association’s security guidelines and this Privacy Policy. The Association requires our employees, contractors and third party service providers to respect and protect the confidentiality of personal information held.
NSWNMA online has security measures designed to protect against the loss, misuse and/or alteration to personal information under the Association’s control. Secure pages on the Association’s website are protected by a 128-bit SSL certificate. However, because of the nature of the internet, security of personal information cannot be guaranteed. All unencrypted information exchanged via the internet may be accessed and used by people other than those for whom it is intended.
The Association’s security arrangements are monitored and reviewed regularly and all staff made aware of organisational systems for the processing, storing and transmitting of personal information and the protective security policies associated with this.
When the Association 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.
Personal information provided to the Association in relation to a job application will only be collected, held, used and disclosed for the purposes of considering potential employment with the Association. By applying to the Association you consent to your records being retained securely for up to 12 months for future recruitment purposes, thereafter your records are deleted.
Employee records are exempt from the operation of the Privacy Act.
Please contact the Association if you become aware of any breach of security. If reasonable grounds establish there has been a personal information security breach, we will comply with all our obligations and responsibilities under all relevant privacy laws in Australia, including any obligation to notify you of any security breach and take effective remedial action to protect your personal information.
Queries or notices about data breaches should be made to the NSWNMA Privacy Officer at:
NSWNMA 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo, 2017 or gensec@nswnma.asn.au
To make a complaint about an alleged breach of the APPs please write to or email the NSWNMA Privacy Officer at:
Please provide all details in writing about your complaint together with all supporting documentation. The Association will seek to deal with any privacy complaints confidentially, seriously and promptly.
Complaints will be investigated by the NSWNMA Privacy Officer; and the outcome of an investigation will be provided to the complainant where the complainant has provided proof of identity.
The Association will seek to respond within 30 days of receipt of a valid complaint.
Alternatively, the Association may refer the concern or complaint to an independent mediator or the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.