Privacy Statement

 

The department endorses fair information handling practices and uses of information in compliance with its obligations under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) and the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic)

Personal information will be used only for the purpose/s intended and where the intention includes confidentiality, information will be treated as such unless otherwise required by law. This privacy statement explains how your personal information (being information capable of identifying you as an individual) will be treated as you access and interact with this website. The practices outlined in this privacy statement are subject to any rights the department may have to handle personal information in accordance with the privacy legislation.

Security

We have implemented technology and security policies, rules and measures to protect the personal information that we have under our control. However, you should be aware that there are risks in transmitting information across the Internet. So while we strive to protect such information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted to us online and individuals do so at their own risk. Once any personal information comes into our possession, we will take reasonable steps to protect that information from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. If you are concerned about conveying sensitive material to us over the Internet, you might prefer to contact us by telephone or mail. We will remove personal information from our system where it is no longer required (except where archiving is required and in order to fulfil our obligations under the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic)).

We take additional steps to protect the security of your personal information, such as strong 128-bit SSL encryption. Before using these facilities, you should ensure that you are using a web browser that supports 128-bit encryption. In many web browsers, you can confirm that your session is encrypted by the appearance of a locked padlock symbol located in the browser status bar at the foot of the browser.

Feedback, information request form and email

We may preserve the content of any feedback form, information request form, email or other electronic message that we receive. Any personal information contained in that message will only be used or disclosed in ways set out in this Website Privacy Statement. We will not use that information to add you to a mailing list without your consent.

This privacy statement does not extend beyond this website. When following links to other sites from this website, we recommend that you read the privacy statement of that site to familiarise yourself with its privacy practices.

Clickstream data

This website's web server automatically records non-personal clickstream data. To the extent that any clickstream data could make you identifiable, we will not attempt to identify you from clickstream data unless required by law or to investigate suspected improper activity in relation to the website or to assist in law enforcement.

The following clickstream data are automatically recorded by this website’s web server for statistical and system administration purposes only:

  • Your IP address
  • Your domain name (e.g. yahoo.com, gmail.com, etc)
  • The date and the time of your visit to the site
  • The pages you accessed and files downloaded
  • The address of the last site you visited
  • Your operating system
  • The type of browser you are using. 

Cookies

Like many sites, this website may use cookies from time to time.

Cookies are small data files that a website is able to place on a user’s hard drive to record aspects of that user’s experience of the website. For example, we may use cookies to record that a user visited a particular section of the website, that their browsing software was a particular version or to ensure that online applications and transactions do not require you to re-input information when moving between web pages. In this way, cookies can improve the operation of the website, and make the experience more efficient, more enjoyable or more personalised. Importantly, in depositing information on a user’s computer and referring to it later in the same session (sessional) or on a subsequent visit (persistent), cookies do not need to identify the user or record any personal information.

The default settings of browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari may allow some or all cookies, but users can easily take steps to erase cookies from their hard-drive, block all cookies, or receive a warning before a cookie is stored. However, some parts of sites may not function fully for users that disallow cookies.

Access and correction

You can request access to or correction of personal and health information held by the department.

For information on making a Freedom of Information (FOI) application:

Freedom of Information Unit
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing
Freedom of Information Unit
Postal address: GPO BOX 4057, MELBOURNE, VIC 3001
Street address: 50 Lonsdale Street, MELBOURNE, VIC 3000
Telephone: 03 9096 8449 or 1300 650 172
Email: FOI@dffh.vic.gov.au

For information on how the department manages privacy, please contact:

Department of Families, Fairness and Housing
Telephone: 03 9606 8534 or 03 9096 9987
Email: privacy@dffh.vic.gov.au