Privacy Collection Notice
Learn how the Commission's Investigation and Conciliation Service (ICS) collects and uses personal information when handling enquiries and complaints.
Summary
We collect personal information about enquirers, complainants, respondents and third parties in the course of receiving and handling complaints made under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act.
Learn about what information we gather, how we use it to assess and resolve complaints, and when it may be shared with others.
The Australian Human Rights Commission (Commission) collects and handles personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Archives Act 1983 (Cth) and our Privacy Policy.
By providing us with your personal information and sensitive information as part of the Commission’s complaints process under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth) (AHRC Act), you consent to us collecting your personal information and sensitive information and using it for the purposes set out below.
We collect personal information about enquirers, complainants, respondents and third parties in the course of receiving and handling complaints made under the AHRC Act. Personal information about an individual may be collected by the Commission from an enquirer, complainant, respondent or third party and may be received in various ways, including through our complaint form, responses to complaints, surveys, by email, by letter or by phone.
We will use the personal information provided to us for the purposes of administering our functions under the AHRC Act, including to assess, investigate and conciliate a complaint, analyse trends, prepare statistical data and report on complaints received by the Commission and maintain the Commission’s conciliation register.
If we accept a complaint, we will usually provide a copy to the person or organisation being complained about. Where necessary, we may also provide a copy to others who are related to, or are named in, the complaint. We may also share other information provided by a complainant, respondent or third party with other parties to the complaint and any third party who may be relevant to the complaint for the purposes of handling the complaint.
To properly handle a complaint, it may be necessary for us to disclose personal information we collect as part of our complaints function to an overseas recipient.
For example, where:
- a party to a complaint is based overseas
- an Australian-based respondent is the related body corporate to an overseas company
- you have complained to an overseas entity and the Commission about the same or a related matter.
If we receive the personal information of third parties who are not a party to a complaint, we will also collect this information. We may not inform those third parties that their information has been collected and will only use their personal information to the extent necessary to perform our functions under the AHRC Act.
Information provided in making, responding to, or providing a contribution related to a complaint, including information about parties and allegations made in a complaint, may be used for statistical or research purposes, as case studies, as examples, and to improve our service delivery. This includes any survey responses related to the complaints process. Any published information, case study or example will not include names or information that may identify an individual.
Our Privacy Policy sets out how you can access or seek correction of your personal information, how you can make a complaint about how we have handled your information and how we will deal with your complaint.
