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Privacy Management

Strathfield Council manages Privacy and Personal Information in accordance with relevant legislation and Council’s Privacy Management Plan.

The Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 deals with how, as a public sector agency, Council must manage personal information that it collects and holds as a result of its activities. Strathfield Council must comply with the provisions of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (“the Act”). This means, amongst other things, that we must:

Tell you how we will use any personal information we might collect from you
Let you know how you can find out what personal information we might have recorded
Advise you of how you apply to amend this information if it is incorrect.

Broadly your rights under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act are expressed in the twelve information protection principles in the Act. These require Council to:

Restrict personal information that we may collect and who we may collect it from; tell people who we collect information from certain things
Take steps to ensure that the information we collect is good – eg accurate, is not excessive and is collected without unreasonable intrusion
Protect personal information, dispose of it securely, not keep if for longer than necessary and prevent unauthorised use or disclosure
Help people find out what personal information we keep and what personal information we have about them, and help them to access that information
Alter personal information if asked to do so by the subject of the information if it is appropriate to do so, or make note if it is inappropriate to alter the information
Check that personal information is relevant, up to date, complete and not misleading before we use it
Only use personal information in accordance with our Privacy Management Plan
Not disclose the information except in certain limited circumstances as noted in the Plan.

The principles are contained, in full, in Council’s Privacy Management Plan.

What is Personal Information?

Personal information is defined in the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act and the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 as any information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database and whether or not recorded in a material form) about an individual (whether living or dead) whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion.

What type of Personal Information does Council Collect?

In order to deliver its wide range of services to the community Council collects a range of personal information about ratepayers (including businesses) and those who receive services. This information includes:

names, addresses and contact details;
property ownership information; and
for those who may have provided it to make payments for rates/services- credit card/bank account details.

From time to time Council may need to assess and meet specific community needs and/or determine public opinion and may also seek demographic details such as age, income and education or employment information.

Council only collects information that is required for a purpose ie. we will not collect superfluous personal information.

The information we do collect will only be held as long as it is required.

How is my privacy protected under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW)?

Government information sometimes identifies people. Under the GIPA Act a record that would reveal an individual’s personal information would not generally be disclosed unless there are strong public interest considerations in favour of disclosure.

In deciding whether to disclose personal information about you to a person applying for access to information, Council will consider whether you are likely to be concerned about the release of the information and whether those concerns are relevant to the public interest. If so Council will:

consult with you; and
take into account any objections you may have to the release of the information.

If the Council consults you and decides to release the information anyway they:

must tell you of this decision and your right to have it reviewed; and
must not release the information while you still have the right to seek review.

Public Registers

A public register is a register of personal information that is required by law to be, or is made, available to the public or open to public inspection.

In some circumstances, where the safety or wellbeing of any person would be affected, an individual may request that his or her personal information should not be made public.

The Act says that where personal information is contained, or is proposed to be contained, in a public register that we keep, an individual can request that we remove or not place information on the register or disclose the information from the register to the public. You can make an application for Council to suppress some or all of your personal information held on any of these public registers. For more information contact Council’s Privacy Contact Officer or complete the Suppression of Personal Information from a Public Register form, which can be downloaded below.

You can make application to Council to request whether Council holds personal information or to access personal information on yourself. Application forms are available for download below.

If you wish to access to personal information on these public registers relating to people other than yourself Council must be satisfied that those seeking the access to intend to use of the information in accord with the purpose of the register.

If you want to access personal information for someone other than yourself from a public register Council will generally ask you to make a statutory declaration as to your intentions.

Want to find out more?

If you would like more information about how Council manages personal information it collects then you may like to read Strathfield Council’s Privacy Management Plan below.

If you would like more information about the provisions of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 visit the Privacy NSW website.

Or you can call Council’s Privacy Contact Officer on (02) 9748 9999 or make contact via email at council@strathfield.nsw.gov.au.

If you are interested in knowing more about what personal information Council collects from this website and how we manage that please read our Website Privacy Statement.

Changing any Personal Information that is Incorrect

Under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 you can apply to access records of personal information we hold about you, and then apply to amend or correct personal information.

You can make an application to amend your personal information Council has recorded (form can be downloaded below). Note: you will need to present some personal identification when you make an application so Council staff can verify that you have the authority to amend the information.