Close the Gap (CTG) is a social justice campaign focused on Indigenous Australians’ health, in which over 50 peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous health bodies, NGOs and human rights organisations work together to achieve health equality in Australia.

The purpose of this privacy policy is to tell you what kind of information we collect from you, how we collect it, how we use that information, and whether we will disclose it to anyone else. It also explains how we store the information you provide to us, how you can access or correct it, and how you can contact us if you have questions or complaints.

We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected and that any personal information we collect from you will be used in accordance with this privacy statement and Australian law.

What is your personal information?

When used in this privacy policy, the term “personal information” has the meaning given to it in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). In general terms, it is any information or an opinion that can be used to personally identify you, whether the information is true or not, and whether it is recorded in material form or not. This includes your name, address, telephone number, email address and profession or occupation. If the information we collect personally identifies you, or you are reasonably identifiable from it, the information will be considered personal information.

What personal information do we collect?

The types of personal information we collect include your name, address, telephone number, email address, date of birth and bank/credit card details and any information you provide to us through our office, surveys or visits by our representatives.

We collect personal information from you in a number of ways, including through your online interaction with us on our website and social media sites, when you purchase merchandise or make donations to us, during conversations between you and our representatives and when you apply to volunteer or work with us.

If we collect personal information about you from someone else, or the personal information is unsolicited, we will not store or use that information unless we take reasonable steps to ensure you are made aware the information has been collected.

Where it is lawful and practicable to do so we will offer you the option of interacting with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym.

Sensitive information

We will not collect other sensitive information about you, including information about your political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices, or criminal record unless you have consented for us to do so, or the collection of the information is required or authorised by Australian law.

How do we use your personal information?

We will collect your personal information when the information is reasonably necessary for any of the following purposes:

• Connecting people and organisations in the pursuit of reconciliation;
• Providing policy advice, frameworks, resources and toolkits;
• Monitoring national progress towards reconciliation;
• Running our website and social media accounts;
• Distributing our online newsletter;
• Processing your donations, and providing you with receipts; and
• Communicating with you about our programmes, partnerships, activities, and events.

We may sometimes use or disclose personal information for another purpose other than those listed above. However, we will only do so where you have consented for us to do so, you would reasonably expect The Close the Gap Campaign to use or disclose the information, or the disclosure is required or authorised by Australian law.

We will not sell, rent, loan or otherwise disclose your personal information to enable any third party to contact you on their own behalf unless required or permitted by Australian law.

Direct marketing

The Close the Gap Campaign does not engage associated third parties for the purposes of direct marketing.

Cookies and other online activity

When you visit our website, we collect and store your computer’s assigned IP address, the date and time of your visit, the information accessed and the referring page. Like many websites, our website uses ‘cookies’ from time to time. Cookies are small text files that the website transfers to your computer through your web browser to enable the website’s systems to recognise your computer. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser.

We collect this information to enable us to keep track of what you view on our website. We also measure traffic patterns, with platforms like Google Analytics, to determine which areas of our website have been visited and to measure transaction patterns, gather broad demographic information and generally improve your online experience.

Data quality and security

When we collect personal information from you, we expect you will only provide information that is accurate, complete and up to date. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect is correct and relevant.

We will take reasonable precautions to maintain the confidentiality of all the information that we hold about you, and will endeavour to protect the information from misuse, interferences and loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

All personal information is securely held by the Close the Gap Campaign , with access restricted to authorised staff only. Where personal information is stored by third parties the Close the Gap Campaign takes steps to ensure that it is securely stored.

We will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify personal information about an individual if it is no longer needed and is not required to be retained by law.

Accessing information

We will make this privacy policy publicly available on our website at closethegap.org.au and will take reasonable steps to provide a copy of this policy, free of charge, to anyone who asks for it.

On request, we will take reasonable steps to let you know what sort of personal information we hold about you, for what purposes, and how we collect, hold, use and disclose that information. If you ask, we will give you access to your personal information within a reasonable time, unless there is a law that allows or requires us not to.

We may charge you for giving you access to the personal information if it is appropriate, however the charge will not be excessive.

If we refuse to give you access to your personal information we will give you a written explanation of our reasons, and notice of the available mechanisms to make a complaint, unless it would be unreasonable to do so.

Correcting information

We aim to ensure that all personal information held by the Close the Gap Campaign is accurate, up to date, complete, relevant and not misleading.

If you want to change any information that you have previously provided, please contact us and we will respond to the request within a reasonable period (approximately 30 days) and will take all reasonable steps to correct the information.

If we refuse to correct the personal information we will give you a written notice that sets out our reasons, and notice of the available mechanisms to make a complaint, unless it would be unreasonable to do so.

Other sites’ privacy policies

This website contains links to other sites. The Close the Gap Campaign is not responsible for the content and the privacy practices of other web sites and we encourage you to examine each site’s privacy policies.

Cross-border disclosure of personal information

The Close the Gap campaign will not transfer your personal information to someone who is in a foreign country.

How to make a complaint

If you wish to complain to us about how we have handled your personal information you should complain in writing. We will respond within a reasonable period (approximately 30 days) after a complaint is received.

You can make a complaint about the Close the Gap handling of your personal information to the Office of the Australian information Commissioner (OIAC). Further information is available on the OAIC website.

Contact details

All queries or complaints regarding this Privacy Policy, or requests for access to, or correction of, personal information should be directed to the Close the Gap Campaign:

• GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
• 1300 369 711
• contact@closethegap.org.au