Privacy collection notice
This Privacy Collection Notice describes how the Silica and Occupational Cancers Policy section within Safe Work Australia (SWA) collects and manages personal information. The Silica and Occupational Cancers Policy section is responsible for the development of national Work Health and Safety (WHS) policy relating to silica and cancers caused by occupational exposures.
Your privacy rights
Your personal information is protected by law, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles, which regulate how entities including SWA may collect, use, disclose and store personal information.
SWA will only collect your personal information where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, the performance of our functions or activities.
What personal information do we collect?
We collect your personal information from your responses to our consultation on the regulation of welding processes.
Some personal information we collect from you may form part of your response. The information we may collect includes your name (if you are submitting on behalf of an individual), your organisation’s name (if you are submitting on behalf of an organisation), the size of your organisation, the type of work you do, your industry, the jurisdiction(s) in which you are based, and your views expressed in the submission.
We may also collect personal information to contact you, if needed, to clarify your feedback and comments. This will include your name and contact details. This is optional and you are not required to provide this personal information to participate in the consultation.
Why do we collect your personal information?
We collect your personal information as it helps us to perform some of SWA’s core functions. These include to advise WHS Ministers on national policy matters and initiatives relating to WHS and workers’ compensation, and to undertake and publish research to inform the development and evaluation of WHS and workers’ compensation policies and strategies.
Collection of this information is required or authorised by or under section 6 of the Safe Work Australia Act 2008 (Cth), in conjunction with Australian Privacy Principle 3.1.
If you do not wish to disclose your personal information, you may provide submissions anonymously. However, if we are not able to collect your personal information, we will not be able to contact you for any further information about your submission if needed. If you choose not to provide details about your industry, this may limit our understanding of the implementation of potential options across different sectors.
and reserves the right to redact any sensitive information provided as part of a response prior to publication.
How do we use and disclose your personal information?
We will use and disclose your personal information to inform the development of national WHS Policy relating to welding. If regulations relating to welding processes are proposed, the responses from this consultation may also be used to advise WHS ministers on their decision whether to implement the regulations
All personal information collected will be handled by SWA in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Feedback provided during this consultation may be used to inform related work health and safety policy development activities administered by SWA (including projects concerning the regulation of carcinogens, mutagens, and reproductive toxicants, as well as air and health monitoring requirements under the model WHS laws). This may involve the disclosure of limited personal information to service providers engaged by SWA, where this is related to the purpose of the consultation and is something individuals would reasonably expect. Any such disclosure is handled in accordance with Australian Privacy Principle 6.
Should you choose to provide your personal contact information to the Agency so we can contact you, we will not provide this information to any service providers, nor will it be published on the Consultation Hub, even if you give permission for us to publish your submission publicly.
We may also disclose your personal information (that is not contact information):
on the Consultation Hub following the consultation period, in accordance with your instructions as to whether you would like your submission to be published publicly, anonymously or not published at all.
to our contracted service providers, so that those providers can provide ICT support or other services to assist SWA with this consultation process.
in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
to third parties where the disclosure is required or authorised by a court or tribunal order, or under an Australian law. For example, this could happen if SWA receives a court order compelling the production of information.
Information published on the internet may be accessible to individuals outside Australia. As a result, the publication of consultation responses on SWA’s Consultation Hub may constitute a disclosure of personal information to overseas recipients for the purposes of Australian Privacy Principle 8. Respondents may choose to have their responses published anonymously or not published on the Consultation Hub.
Further information
You can contact us to access or correct your information or make a privacy complaint. Our contact information and further details about how we handle your personal information are set out in our privacy policy (available at www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/privacy).