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Introduction

We understand the importance of privacy and are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information with integrity and in accordance with our legal obligations.

The Institute has opted-in to the provisions of the Australian Privacy Act 1988 which explains how we will handle your personal information.

If you are a resident in the European Economic Area, you should also refer to the EU General Data Protection Regulation which provides additional important information.

The Institute may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, which is continuously published on our website and will be effective from the date of posting. This Privacy Policy was last updated January 2019.

What types of personal information do we collect?

General

• contact details, such as name, address, email and telephone number
• personal details and information about you, such as title, post-nominals, date of birth, gender, education and qualifications
• professional and employment information including employer, job title, employment history, curriculum vitae and referee reports
• information associated with applications or enquiries for enrolment in a CPD program, accreditation or certification program including results or outcomes
• applicant’s details, such as information supplied as part of an application for a particular membership category or to becoming an RPEQ
• skills assessments and reports that you or your authorised representative provide to us or which we or our authorised representatives facilitate, including ‘Competency Demonstration Reports
• contractor and service provider information and details that are provided to us in connection with our procurement or our contract or engagement with such entities
• any personal information collected or obtained by us in connection with any events, seminars, career expos or conferences that we facilitate or participate in, such as the sessions you attended, any dietary preferences and your partner’s name
  
• complaints or feedback you provide to us
• the products and services that we provide to you including any member resources and subscriptions
• any surveys responses you complete which are not completed on an anonymous basis
• details and reports of your communications or interactions with us

Sensitive personal information

We may collect ‘sensitive personal information’ within the meaning of the Privacy Act such as information about your ethnic origin or your membership of another professional or trade association.

Website

• Our website(s) including https://www.ipweaq.com and our event sites may store ‘cookies’ on your computer to help improve its functionality. We use cookies for analytical purposes.
• We also use Google Analytics which is a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. Google Analytics uses cookies. We use Google Analytics to improve our business practices and obtain information about the way in which visitors use our website so that we can improve our business practices.
• The data generated and processed by Google Analytics may be used and stored by Google on global servers outside our region. Google may use this data in accordance with its policies including for the purpose of generating reports on website activity and internet usage. More information about Google Analytics and how Google uses data is available on their website. 
• If you do not wish to receive cookies, you may change the settings on your browser to refuse cookies.

How do we collect personal information?

Members

We collect the personal information of our members through:

• the provision of member services and support via the telephone, email or other technological means
• the use of, and interaction with, the information and services provided through our websites, online portals, inquiry, feedback and other forms
• the use of, and interaction with, the products and services provided in connection with the Institute’s campaigns, competitions, events or initiatives
• communications and interactions generated as part of our dealings with you through social media channels including Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter
• applications for skills or qualification assessment, RPEQ or other membership categories;
• your connection and involvement in Working Groups, Steering Committees etc
• payment transactions that members or their representatives make to us
• enrolment, registration or attendance at conferences, events, symposia or other continuing professional development sessions that we facilitate or participate in
• nominations for awards or for a position on our Board or Branch committees or other representative body
• interaction with our business units for example, the Queensland Water Directorate aka qldwater and/or the use of their products and services
• the receipt and investigation of complaints and feedback relating to the Institute or its members
• requests to join a ‘mailing list’ or to be contacted for further information about our products or services
• responses to surveys or research conducted by the Institute or by third party service providers on our behalf;
• marketing and promotional campaigns, for example, the process of developing a feature news story for a magazine, electronic newsletter, promotion, scholarship, social media, journal or other Institute-generated content
• other information that you or your authorised representative provides to us as part of your (or your authorised representative’s) communications or interactions with us.

Non-members

The Institute collects the personal information of non-members (for example, employment applicants, service providers, prospective members and other non-members) through many of the same channels set out above where relevant. In addition, we collect information of non-members through:

• applications or enquiries for membership, skills or qualification assessments
• applications or enquiries for enrolment in our professional development program, RPEQ or other certification or assessment program
• the contractor and service provider information and details that such entities provide to us or that we obtain in connection with our procurement or contract for products or services or our engagement with such entities
• the information you provide to us or that we obtain in connection with our employee or contractor recruitment and selection process including applications for employment

Information from third parties

We usually collect your personal information from you directly. In rare circumstances we may collect personal information about you from third parties that you have consented or authorised to provide that information to us. We may also collect information about you from third parties where we are legally permitted to do so.

Publicly available information

Where legally permitted we may in some circumstances source certain personal information such as email addresses, from publicly available information, for example, websites.

Anonymity

You may make a request to engage with us on an anonymous basis or using a pseudonym. However, due to the nature of the products and services that we provide, it will usually not be practicable for us to engage with you on this basis.

What are the consequences if you do not supply your personal information?

If you do not provide your personal information to us or our third party providers (where applicable), we may not be able to do one or more of the following:

• provide the requested products or services to you, either to the same standard or at all
• review and approve your membership application or any other application or assessment
• provide you with information about products and services that you may want, including information about discounts, sales or special promotions
• organise your participation in our events, seminars, conferences and activities
• tailor the content of our websites to your preferences and, as a result, your experience of our websites may not be as enjoyable or useful

In some cases, you may also have a contractual requirement to provide us with certain personal information. Where you do not provide personal information to us we may be no longer able to continue our contract with you or provide you with some or all services under that contract. You may also be in breach of your contract with us.

Why do we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information?

Depending on the circumstances, we may collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

• to provide services and products to you, including membership services and networking support such as, the provision of magazines, journals, electronic newsletters, event alerts, networking opportunities with industry partners and other member benefits
• to communicate with you, including to answer enquiries and provide information about us and our products, services or membership
• to assess or verify membership applications, membership status and skills assessments to ensure that application and assessment criteria are met
• to process payments for services, including membership applications and assessments
• to process applications or enquiries for enrolment in a professional development program, RPEQ assessment or other accredited or registration programs
• for quality assurance, including to monitor our communications and transactions to ensure service quality, compliance with law and regulations and to combat fraud
• to perform an assessment of your eligibility for engagement by us or employment with us and to conduct our recruitment and selection process
• to verify your identity when you interact with us including when you seek access to information that we hold
• to provide you with access to our website, portals and community platforms
• to make decisions on any nomination or election to a position on the Board, Branch Committees or other constituent groups, or to process a nomination in regard to an award and/or other recognition
• to send marketing and promotional materials or communications including emails for products, services or events including those sent on behalf of or about our sponsorship and commercial partners
• to enable us to facilitate or organise conferences, seminars and professional development and networking events that you have expressed an interest in, or will attend for example, to organise catering or accommodation in connection with such events
• to include your name, post-nominals and, with consent, contact details on any national registers owned or administered by the Institute including the National Register of Bridge Inspectors and to respond to third party enquires in relation to members
• to elect, recruit, manage, support and contact and communicate with our committee members, office bearers and volunteers in the performance of their roles and duties
• for accounting and administrative function, including to contact our Board, panel and committee members to distribute business papers and other documentation related to the performance of their roles and duties
• to facilitate procurement and to enter into contracts with suppliers and contractors
• to process and respond to any feedback, claim or complaint made by you; and
• to comply with any law, rule, regulation, lawful and binding determination, decision or direction of a regulator or to co-operate with any governmental authority of any country

In some circumstances, and subject to appropriate legal safeguards to protect your personal information, we may use certain personal information for statistical or analytical purposes. We use this data to assess and analyse the demographics of our members, the attendees of our conferences and events and the users of our services and offerings in order to better understand our members and users and to improve our business offering.

Your personal information will not be shared or disclosed other than as described in this Privacy Policy and GDPR Schedule. We will never sell your personal information for commercial benefit.

To whom may we disclose your personal information?

For the purposes described above, we may (depending on the circumstances) disclose your personal information to:

• fellow committee members, office bearers and other volunteers
  
• fellow members but only with your consent
• our professional advisers for example, legal, financial, business or other advisers
• third parties with which we have sponsorship or commercial agreements for business, marketing, and related purposes
• any third party for an authorised purpose with your consent or where we are authorised by law to do so eg to a Regulator.

Additionally, we may provide the following information about our members to persons who make an enquiry:

• the fact that a member is a member of the Institute;
• the category of membership
• when the member joined
• whether their membership is current or has been suspended.

Do we disclose your personal information overseas?

We may although it is unlikely, disclose your personal information to entities located outside of Australia however we would only disclose personal information outside of Australia in accordance with our legal obligations.

Direct marketing

The Institute will only engage in direct marketing in accordance with all applicable laws. We may send you direct marketing communications and information about our products, services and offerings that we consider may be of interest to you.

These communications will be sent electronically in accordance with applicable marketing laws, such as the Privacy Act and Spam Act 2003 (Cth). If you indicate a preference for a method of communication, we will endeavour to use that method whenever practical to do so. 

You may opt-out of receiving direct marketing communications from us at any time by contacting us or by using the opt-out facilities provided in the marketing communications or (if applicable) by updating your communication preferences in your online portal. On receipt of your opt-out request, we will then ensure that your request is actioned in accordance with your preferences. 

How can you access and correct your personal information?

You may request access to any personal information we hold about you at any time by contacting our Chief Executive Officer (see details below).

Where we hold information that you are entitled to access, we will try to provide you with a suitable means of accessing it. Subject to law, we may in some circumstances charge you a reasonable fee to cover our administrative costs in providing the information to you. We will not charge you for simply making the request and will not charge you for making any corrections to your personal information.

There may be instances where we cannot grant you access to the personal information we hold for example, we may need to refuse access if granting access would interfere with the privacy of others or if it would result in a breach of confidentiality. If that happens, we will give you written reasons for any refusal.

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up to date. We regularly audit our information and request our members to update their records whenever possible.

If you believe that personal information we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request us to amend it by contacting our Relationship Manager on 07 3632 6802. 

Please note that if your representative seeks to access or correct your personal information on your behalf, to protect your privacy and to comply with our legal obligations, we will require evidence to our satisfaction of the representative’s legal authority to do so before processing any access or correction requests.

Retention and security of personal information

We will hold your personal information in electronic form. We will comply with our legal obligations for the protection of your personal information from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

We will keep personal information for as long as it is needed to fulfil any purpose for which we may lawfully use or disclose it. 

As our website is linked to the internet and the internet as a whole is insecure, we cannot provide any assurances regarding the security of transmission of information you communicate to us online. We also cannot guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the internet. Accordingly, any personal information or other information which you transmit to us online is transmitted at your own risk.

What is the process for making a complaint?

If you have a complaint about the way we have collected, stored, used or disclosed your personal information, a detailed complaint should be made to our Chief Executive Officer (see details below) so that a full investigation may be undertaken. We will advise you of the outcome in writing.

If you are unsatisfied with the outcome of our investigation, you may refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (‘OAIC’).

Contacting us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, would like to update your details or have any concerns or a complaint regarding the treatment of your personal information or a possible breach of your privacy, please inform our Chief Executive Officer, Leigh Cunningham on 07 3632 6810.