Privacy Policy

Purpose

This privacy policy explains how Certification Oceania handles information and complies with the requirements of the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) ("Privacy Act"), 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and relates to Certification Oceania's collection and handling of information that is covered by the Privacy Act, but is not intended to cover other types of information not covered by the Privacy Act.

Collection of Information

Certification Oceania collects and holds information from employees, clients, contractors and accreditation authorities. We collect and hold this information when it is necessary for business purposes.

The main types of information Certification Oceania collects and holds relates to the contact details and organisational information of our clients and other business contacts. Typically, this information includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and job titles. In the course of providing services to our clients, we may collect and hold more detailed information, such as potential health and safety risk exposures and environmental aspects relevant to an organisation - for Certification purposes.

We collect most information directly from clients when we deal with them. The information we collect may be provided in application forms filled out by clients, email messages, telephone conversations, enquiries from our websites or on social media. Because of the nature of our business, it is generally impracticable for us to deal with clients on an anonymous basis or through the use of a pseudonym.

Use of Information

The main purposes for which we collect, hold and use information are:

1. to provide our services;

2. to respond to an enquiry;

3. to maintain contact with clients;

4. to informed contacts of the services we offer, standards and industry developments that may be of interest to them, and to notify them of events we may be holding within their countries; and

5. for general management and accreditation body reporting purposes, such as invoicing and account management;

Security of Information

Information that we have collected (eg, application for certification, or for a Certification Oceania services or marketing events), is stored electronically. Relevant information is available to Certification Oceania staff and contracted assessors and is used in accordance with this policy and Certification Oceania’s Information/Data Security Policy.

Certification Oceania will endeavour to take all reasonable steps to keep secure any information which we hold, keeping the information accurate and up to date and not retaining information once there is no longer a legal or business need for us to do so.

Disclosure of Information

Certification Oceania endeavours, so far as is reasonably practicable, not to disclose information to other organisations unless:

1. it is to protect the rights, property or personal safety of any member of the public, or the environment or a client of Certification Oceania or the interests of Certification Oceania; or

2. some or all of the information may be transferred to another organisation as part of the sale of some or all of Certification Oceania's business; or

3. the owner of the information gives written consent; or

4. such disclosure is otherwise required or permitted by law, regulation, rule or Certification Oceania’s scheme rules.

Clients and organisations outside of Certification Oceania will sometimes have access to information held by Certification Oceania. This may include, but is not necessarily limited to Certification Oceania’s contractors, travel and accommodation service providers, cloud-based security storage providers, information technology contractors, event managers, and debt collecting agencies.

We require our external service providers to adhere to our Privacy Policy and not to keep, use or disclose information we provide to them for any purposes that are not consistent with this Policy.

Our Website

This Privacy Policy and our Information/Data Security Policy also applies to any information we collect via our website www.certificationoceania.com including information you provide to us  such as when you make an enquiry.

Access to Information

We will provide access to information upon request by an individual, except in situations where release is unauthorised by the owner of that information and in situations where granting such access would infringe another person's privacy or a client’s request for anonymity.

When you make a request to access information, we will require you to provide some form of identification (such as a driver's licence, or passport) so we can verify that you are the person or client’s authorised representative to whom the information relates.

If you believe that information we hold about you, or the organisation you are authorised to represent, is either incorrect or out of date, or if you have concerns about how we are handling your information, please contact us and we will try to resolve those concerns.

If at any time you want to access information you believe we hold, you may contact us by emailing us at contact@certificationoceania.com

Transfer of Information Outside Australia

In addition to disclosures permitted under this Privacy Policy, Certification Oceania may disclose information to organisations such as accreditation bodies within the Certification global network. These organisations are not Australian entities and are not or regulated by the Australian Privacy Act, and accordingly may not be subject to privacy laws that provide the same level of protection as Australia’s.

Any such disclosure, or transfer, of information does not change our commitment to safeguard information, consistent with our Information/Data Security Policy.

Concerns or Complaints

If Certification Oceania becomes aware of any ongoing concerns or problems relating to our Privacy Policy, we will take these issues seriously and work to address any concerns that have been brought to our attention.

If you have any further queries relating to our Privacy Policy, or you have a problem or wish to make a compliant, please contact us on contact@certificationoceania.com or contact us via our Complaints Handling Information for Interested Parties process.

If you are not satisfied with our handling of your concern or complaint you may make a complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner (www.oaic.gov.au).

Review and Amendment

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time to keep abreast of our changing operating environment or legislative changes. Each time this Policy is changed it is given a new version, by date if issue. It is not our policy to give any specific notices regarding changes to this Policy, other than posting the updated version on our website.

Last updated: 9 December 2020

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