Privacy Policy

This Privacy (“Policy”) covers the Dietitians Association of Australia’s (‘DAA’s’) collection, holding, use and disclosure of Personal Information.

Key Definitions

DAA has adopted the definitions given to ‘Personal Information’ and ‘Sensitive Information’ as outlined in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“the Privacy Act”). These are:

‘Personal Information’ means the information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database), whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion.

‘Sensitive Information’ includes (but is not limited to) information or an opinion about an individual’s:

• Racial or ethnic origin; or
• Political opinions; or
• Membership of a political association; or
• Religious beliefs or affiliations; or
• Philosophical beliefs; or
• Membership of a profession or trade association; or
• Membership of a trade union; or
• Sexual preferences or practices; or
• Criminal record

that is also Personal Information; or

• Health information about an individual; or
• Genetic information about an individual that is not otherwise health information.

What Personal Information do we collect?

The information we collect depends on the nature of your interactions with us. DA collects both Personal Information and non-personal information, including details about:

• Our members, potential members, business associates and their personnel.
• Allied health professionals, government agencies and professional bodies.
• Our suppliers and their personnel.
• Our employees, partners, contractors, former employees and former members.
• Former prospective members, former business associates and their personnel.

The Personal Information we may collect and hold includes: name, postal address, email address, phone number, credit or debit card information, age, gender, username and password (if applicable), personal preferences, education and qualifications, testimonials, feedback and other information to assist DA in conducting our business, providing and marketing our services and meeting our legal obligations.

DAA may collect additional information from its employees, such as tax file numbers.

DAA may also collect Sensitive Information such as health information and information about an individual’s membership of professional associations.

DAA may also collect and process non-personal information provided by your browser when you visit our website. This may include the website you came from, your location information, IP address and the time and date of access.

How do we collect your Personal Information?

DAA will collect Personal Information from you in several ways.

• Directly. For example, while using our website, you may need to submit personal information to register for services, order products, post content or request assistance.
• Indirectly. This may be through emails, forms, face-to-face meetings, interviews, registration, attendance at seminars, business cards, online queries and telephone conversations, as well as services through our website and social media channels.
• From third parties. For example, we sometimes use third parties to analyse traffic to our website and social media channels. This may involve the use of cookies. Cookies are electronic identifiers that are transferred automatically to your computer via your browser. They allow our systems to save certain details so you are recognised when you visit our website again. This stops you from needing to log in repeatedly, which saves time, and creates a customised website that fits your needs. You may disable or refuse to accept cookies by changing the preferences or settings on your browser. If you choose to disable cookies, you can still use our website, but you won’t be able to use all features.

Why do we collect, hold, use and disclose Personal Information?

DAA may collect, hold, use and disclose your Personal Information for the primary purposes for which it was collected such as:

• carrying out a registration request.
• customising the advertising and content you see.
• fulfilling your requests for products and services (including purchases).
• improving the content and design of our website and services.
• contacting you.
• conducting research.
• providing anonymous reporting for internal purposes.
• contacting users regarding changes to our website or business.
• considering the suitability of prospective employees.

DAA may also retain the details of purchases and other transactions or payments made with us or affiliates of our organisation, such as PEN Global (Dietitians of Canada).

We may also use or disclose your Personal Information for other purposes to which you consent, or which are required or permitted by law. This may include for a secondary purpose that is related to the purpose for which we collected it, and for which you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose your Personal Information,

Disclosure of Personal Information

It is our policy not to disclose, sell or rent your Personal Information to any individual, business, government entity or third parties except:

• to provide products or services you have requested through DA.
• in response to a validly issued subpoena, court order or other legal process.
• when necessary to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal action.
• if you request DA to do so.
• anytime authorisation is given to DA to release information about individuals including any request to view an individual’s own information.
• for the purpose of providing a public list of names and states/territories of residence to allow confirmation of APD status.

We may also disclose your name, membership details and other personal information to the following parties:

• Medicare, Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and private health funds for funding and related purposes.
• Commonwealth, State and Territory agencies which receive or investigate health care complaints.
• PEN Global (Dietitians of Canada) to enable you to obtain online access to the PEN website.
• Healthdirect Australia so that members may be listed on the National Health Services Directory if they have voluntarily added their details to ‘Find an APD’. 
• If you have opted in to receive advertising and marketing material, we will disclose your email address or physical address to relevant third parties who may contact you for advertising or marketing purposes.

We may publish on our website the name and membership status of any member who has had an adverse finding made against them under DA’s By-Law Complaints and Disciplinary Procedures. We may also publish details of any sanctions imposed on a member under those procedures. DAA maintains and publishes details of any person who has been suspended by or expelled from DA.

Setting up user accounts

DAA allows users to set up personal accounts to purchase resources or publications from our online library or to participate in our online communities. You can edit your personal information at any time and can ask to have your account removed by emailing [email protected]

Correcting your personally identifiable information

Subject to the exceptions set out in the Privacy Act, you may seek access to and correction of your Personal Information by emailing [email protected]. You will need to verify your identity and specify what you are seeking. If a fee is charged for providing access, you will be advised of the likely cost in advance.

Web statistics and shared data

DAA collects and uses web-based information to analyse trends, administer our website, track user movement and to gather broad demographic information for reporting and sponsorship purposes.

Our website uses Google Analytics, a service which transmits website traffic data to Google servers in the United States. Google Analytics does not identify individual users or associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. We use reports provided by Google Analytics to help us understand website traffic and webpage usage.

By using the DAA website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner described in Google’s Privacy Policy and for the purposes set out above. You can opt out of Google Analytics if you disable or refuse the cookie, disable JavaScript, or use the opt-out service provided by Google.

Occasionally we may use this information to share with advertising partners, sponsors and/or affiliates. For example, we may tell an advertiser that (x) number of individuals visited a certain area on our website, or that (y) number of men and (z) number of women completed our registration form. However, we will not disclose to these partners, sponsors and/or affiliates anything that could be used to personally identify those individuals.

Third party websites

The DAA website contains links to third party websites. DAA does not make any representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of these websites. We also do not assume any responsibility for the privacy practices or content of these sites. If you visit these websites, they will be governed by their own terms of use (including privacy policies). You are encouraged to be aware when you leave our site and to take reasonable precautions when sharing your Personal Information on third party websites.

Opt-In/Out

You may ’opt in to/out of‘ receiving newsletters, promotional offers and other information from our partners and affiliates. To unsubscribe from advertising, marketing materials and DAA-driven SMS messaging, go to the ‘settings' section of the member profile and edit your preferences.

Encryption

All user accounts must be accessed with usernames and passwords. You are strongly advised not to share your username and password with any other person. All online payment pages are protected with Secure Socket Layer (‘SSL‘) encryption.

Amendments

DAA reserves the right to amend this policy at any time. DAA will contact registered users by email and shall also post a notice of changes on our website, when and if the terms of this policy are amended.

Adding your details to accessible website lists

The DAA website supports lists which are accessible either to the public (for example, Find an APD) or other members (for example,  Mentor Match). Inclusion in these lists is voluntary and members are responsible for ensuring their details are current and correct.

Disclosure of Personal Information overseas

DAA may disclose your Personal Information to the following overseas recipients:

• Relevant professional associations such as PEN Global (Dietitians of Canada) to allow members online access to the PEN website (except when we are prevented from doing so due to confidentiality obligations).
• Other companies or individuals who provide services or perform functions on our behalf (such as third-party service providers).
• Anyone else to whom DAA authorised is to disclose it.
• Anyone else where we are required or authorised by law to do so.

How we protect your Personal Information

DAA works hard to protect your Personal Information at all times. Personal Information is encrypted and stored on secure servers compliant with Australia’s privacy standards. Only authorised personnel can access this database through individualised passwords.

DAA emails are not encrypted and authors of email content should be aware not to include personal, sensitive or commercial-in-confidence material. DAA emails are notated with a disclaimer explaining the appropriate use and protection of information contained within.

How to make a privacy-related complaint

If you have any questions about privacy-related issues or wish to complain about a breach of your privacy or the handling of your personal information by us, please email [email protected]. Any complaint will be investigated and you will be notified of the decision as soon as practicable, usually within 30 days.

If your concerns are not satisfactorily resolved, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:

GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 1300 363 992