We are committed to handling your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). We are required to comply with this law to the extent that it is not inconsistent with our law enforcement functions under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 (NSW) and the regulations made under that Act (see specific statement in this respect below). We respect your right to privacy and have outlined our commitment to protecting your personal details and privacy below.
We are an animal welfare charity that works with the people of NSW to rescue, rehome and rehabilitate animals in need. We investigate complaints of animal cruelty and/or breaches of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 (NSW) and its associated regulations. We offer education services and information online and via workshops and special projects, conduct programs to assist pet owners whose personal circumstances limit their ability to properly care for their pets, and offer products for sale on our Online Store. As we receive less than two per cent of our funding from the government, we rely almost entirely on the generosity of our supporters to maintain our vital community services.
This Privacy Policy sets out how we deal with your personal information. We are committed to handling your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). We are required to comply with applicable Australian privacy laws to the extent that such laws do not conflict with our law enforcement functions under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 (NSW) and its associated regulations (see specific statement in this respect below). We respect your right to privacy and have outlined our commitment to protecting your personal details and privacy below.
‘Personal Information’ is information about an identifiable individual, and may include information such as the individual’s name, email address, telephone number, bank account details, taxation details, and accounting and financial information. The personal information we collect is that which is necessary to provide by law, or is used to market our organisation, products and services to you. This information may also be used to solicit donations.
The nature of personal information that we collect and maintain includes information pertaining to:
Personal information held by us may include your name, date of birth, current and previous addresses, telephone or mobile phone number, email address, bank account or credit card details, occupation, driver licence number and history with RSPCA NSW, as well as certain details about your personal interests.
We also want to present information that is tailored to your needs. For this reason, we may ask you to provide personal information when filling out a survey, official paper work (such as adoption information) or an online form. We will use this information to try to ensure that the content, products and/or services that we provide are tailored to your current and future needs.
Generally, we collect personal information directly from you, for example when you deal directly with us in person, over the telephone, by completing RSPCA NSW standard forms, via appeal letters or online via websites, our Online Store, social media or email.
We sometimes collect personal information from a third party or from a publicly available source, but only if:
We may collect website visitors’ (including Online Store visitors’) contact information, such as their email addresses. This information may be shared with RSPCA Australia and other State/Territory RSPCA Member Societies and may be used to:
If you do not wish to have your personal information used in this manner or for any other specific purpose, please advise us by writing to the Privacy Officer at RSPCA NSW, PO Box 34, Yagoona NSW 2199 or sending an email to privacy@rspcansw.org.au.
RSPCA NSW may use your personal information to identify products and services which may be of interest to you and keep you informed and up to date about our latest products and services. Our direct marketing may include the following:
If you would prefer that your information is not used in this way, please contact us at privacy@rspcansw.org.au.
Your informed consent is important to us. As such, we will endeavour not to use or disclose your personal information in any way that is contrary to your expectations. However, you should be aware that if you do not consent to certain uses and disclosures of your personal information, we may not be able to provide you with our products and services. We will make reasonable endeavours to prevent the disclosure of your personal information except to the extent:
Your personal information may be disclosed to bodies and persons including, without limitation:
RSPCA NSW undertakes not to sell, rent or trade your personal information to any individual or entity.
We use the services of certain third party service providers which may have offices or other operations outside of Australia. As a result, your personal information may be disclosed to overseas recipients. All service providers that have access to personal information held by us are required to keep the information confidential and not to make use of it for any purpose other than to provide services in accordance with their engagement.
We take commercially reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is protected from misuse, loss, interference and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. For example, whenever we ask for your financial details online, we use security-encrypted response forms.
However, data protection and security measures are never completely secure (particularly for information sent online) and, despite the measures we have put in place, we cannot guarantee the security of your information. You must take care to ensure you protect your personal information (for example, by protecting any usernames and passwords, etc.) and you should notify us as soon as possible after you become aware of any security breaches. If you don’t wish to make your financial contribution online, please contact us to receive a hard copy form.
Your personal information is held on site at RSPCA NSW and/or with a third party storage provider in accordance with RSPCA NSW policies and procedures.
When you visit our websites, we will collect and store your computer’s assigned IP address, the date and time of your visit, the information accessed and the referring page. We will also collect other non-identifying data for statistical purposes. This information is not linked to your personal information unless required by law.
Like many websites, our websites may use cookies from time to time. Cookies are small text files that a website transfers to your computer through your web browser to enable the website’s systems to recognise your computer. Cookies may also be used to record non-personal information such as the date, time or duration of your visit, or the pages accessed, for website administration, statistical and maintenance purposes. Cookies help us monitor how visitors are using our websites and allow us to improve our sites and to deliver a more personalised web experience. Some of the cookies we use are essential for the sites to operate, whereas others are aimed at enhancing and personalising your user experience. Any such information obtained through the use of cookies will be aggregated and not linked to particular individuals unless required by law. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser. Please note that some parts of our websites may not function fully for users who disallow cookies.
If you send us an email, the message content may be monitored by our Internet Service Provider or RSPCA NSW employees if email abuse is suspected, or for troubleshooting and maintenance purposes. Email is an unsecure communication medium; it should not be used for confidential correspondence.
Our websites contain hypertext links to other third party websites. RSPCA NSW is not responsible for the content of such websites or their privacy practices, which will be governed by the privacy policy of third parties.
We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information that we collect and hold is accurate, complete and up to date. However, we rely on you to advise us of any changes to your personal information to help us maintain accurate, complete and up-to-date information.
We will, on request, provide you with access to the personal information we hold about you unless we are otherwise required or permitted by law not to disclose such information. We will notify you of the basis for any denial of access to your personal information.
To request access to your personal information or, if you wish to update or correct your personal information, please contact us via the contact details provided below.
If you wish to make a complaint about a breach of this Privacy Policy or the privacy principles of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), you can contact us using the contact details below. You will need to provide us with sufficient details regarding your complaint as well as any supporting evidence and/or information.
We will investigate the issue and determine any steps that we may undertake to resolve your complaint. We will contact you if we require any additional information from you and will notify you in writing of the outcome of the investigation. If you are not satisfied with our determination, you can contact us to discuss your concerns or complain to the Australian Information Commissioner via www.oaic.gov.au.
The RSPCA NSW Inspectorate is an enforcement body under the Privacy Act insofar as its activities relate to the investigation of breaches of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 (NSW) and its associated regulations. The RSPCA NSW Inspectorate will collect and disclose personal information about individuals in connection with its enforcement related activities, and may disclose information to the NSW Police and/or other authorised bodies and persons under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 (NSW). In most cases, access will not be granted to personal information collected by the Inspectorate in the course of enforcement-related activities as providing access may have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals, may prejudice one or more of the enforcement activities undertaken by the Inspectorate and/or would be contrary to law. To the extent of any inconsistency with another part of this Privacy Policy the provisions of this Clause apply.
RSPCA NSW may contact supporters and members of the public via telephone for the following reasons:
From time to time, our external customer service provider will contact supporters and members of the public on behalf of RSPCA NSW in order to offer raffle tickets and RSPCA NSW products for RSPCA NSW fundraising purposes.
RSPCA NSW, through a third party supplier, may also call, SMS or MMS supporters or members of the public to ask for donations over the phone.
If you receive a telephone call and are concerned that the caller is not an official RSPCA NSW representative, or is not officially calling on behalf of RSPCA NSW, please do not proceed with the call and do not provide any personal or credit card payment details. Instead, ask for the representative’s name and a contact number, and then call RSPCA NSW on (02) 9770 7555. You will then be able to verify the telephone number and contact details with our staff. The same process also applies for all SMS, MMS or other correspondence from RSPCA NSW.
If you have made a transaction over the phone and believe that you have been the victim of fraud, please report details to NSW Fair Trading for investigation on 13 32 20.
Enquiries about this Privacy Policy, complaints or concerns about your privacy, and requests for access to personal information held by RSPCA NSW may be referred to the Privacy Officer as follows:
By post to:
The Privacy Officer
RSPCA NSW
PO Box 34
Yagoona NSW 2199
By fax: (02) 9782 4445
By phone: 1300 278 358
By email: privacy@rspcansw.org.au marked to the attention of the Privacy Officer.
Please review our Access to Information page before submitting an enquiry.
To learn more about our management of personal information, please read our Personal Information Collection Notice page here.
The privacy policies of RSPCA Australia and other State/Territory RSPCA Member Societies are available at the links below:
We promise to uphold the highest ethical standards. Your personal information has never been, and never will be sold or traded to other charities. This is our promise to you.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we live and work. We recognise and respect the enduring relationship they have with their lands and waterways, and particularly acknowledge the vital role animals have played in Indigenous life, stories and culture for tens of thousands of years.
The RSPCA is an independent, community-based charity providing animal care and protection services across the country.
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The RSPCA is an independent, community-based charity providing animal care and protection services across the country.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
