Privacy Statement

Your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Statement describes how we collect, use, store and disclose personal, and other types of, information when you interact with Our Recovery website.

Our Recovery is an online engagement service used by CRCs to inform and update their communities on community news, priorities and consultations. Our Recovery is provided by the state of Victoria through Bushfire Recovery Victoria (BRV); administered by the twenty-two community-led Community Recovery Committees (CRC) formed in response to the 2019/2020 bushfires, supported by 3 local councils and developed by Social Pinpoint (For details of how Social Pinpoint may access personal information, please refer to Social Pinpoint’s Privacy Policy).

Where the twenty-two community-led CRC’s are defined as:

Where the 3 local councils are defined as:

• East Gippsland Shire council
• Alpine Shire council
• Towong Shirt council

The collection, use and disclosure of your personal information, by BRV and local council, is bound by the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) (PDP Act). CRCs are not bound by the same privacy legislations but have agreed to handle privacy consistent with the PDP Act). By providing personal information and/or continuing to use Our Recovery you consent to your personal information being collected, used and disclosed in accordance with this Privacy Statement, and you also agree to the Terms of Use and Moderation Policy. Consultations conducted through Our Recovery will provide a collection notice on the consultation.

There are links to other websites on Our Recovery. If you click on one of those links, you will leave the Our Recovery website. This Privacy Statement does not apply to any other website and we recommend you review the other website’s privacy statement when you access it.

What information do we collect and is it secure?

We collect information about you and your use of Our Recovery. Our Recovery will only collect personal information if it is necessary for the provision of services or to carry out its functions.

Security of your information

Under the PDP Act, BRV and local council have a responsibility to protect your personal information. CRCs are not bound by the PDP Act but have agreed to handle privacy in line with the legislation. We will not use or disclose any personal information that is collected through this website unless the use or disclosure is:

• for the primary purpose the information was collected
• for a related secondary purpose, which you ought to reasonably expect in the circumstances
• required or authorised by law
• for any other purpose permitted under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) or Health Records Act 2001 (Vic).

We take reasonable steps to make sure that your personal information is protected from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. Access to systems, applications, and the information that we collect is limited to authorised users from the following groups – BRV, CRCs and local council.

Any personal information that we collect and use for identifying user trends is anonymised and aggregated when generating reports.

To protect your own privacy, your password for Our Recovery should be kept confidential, and must not be displayed, shared or written down.

How we use and collect information

When you visit this website, there are 5 main ways that we use and collect information from you:

Registering for the service

Users can register for Our Recovery to receive email updates from the service.

This information is used to administer the site and manage your account, and send you email notifications of project updates or newsletters, but only where you have agreed to us sending you this information.

Participating in a consultation

Consultations on Our Recovery are conducted by CRCs, and supported by BRV and local council. They use tools provided by the service (e.g. forms, forums and maps) to collect user feedback.

Depending on the nature of the consultation, CRCs, with the support of BRV and local council, may collect the following information to support their consultation process:

• full name, gender, post code, address, phone number, email address and age bracket.

• content that you post on Our Recovery
• a hashed IP address where the location is not identifiable, but administrators can determine whether multiple contributions have been submitted from the same IP address.

Our Recovery may use personal information to confirm your identify in order to protect the integrity of the consultation process.

Consultations will provide a collection notice when collecting personal information.

Correspondence

Any user feedback or correspondence provided to ourrecovery@brv.vic.gov.au, received about a specific consultation will be disclosed to the CRC and local council conducting the consultation.

Service improvement

We collect the following information when you visit Our Recovery in order to improve the service. We collect clickstream data and visitor logs to measure visitation numbers and record:

• your server IP address
• the date, time and duration of your visit
• any documents, images or videos that you download from the service
• the type of browser and device that you used.
• feedback you submit on the user experience and performance of the site.

Information collected on unregistered users for service improvement is de-identified. We will not attempt to identify you except when required by law to do so.

What’s publicly available and what’s not?

Content that you post on the site publicly can be viewed by everyone who uses the site. A post may contain your username, any personal information you have entered into a post, and any publicly available reports from consultations, and may include quotes from participants in forums, surveys and other consultation tools.

We will not disclose any personal information, correspondence or information submitted to consultations without your expressly provided permission to do so.

Data collection tools

We collect the data and information outlined above including a combination of report analytics, server logs and tools within the functionality of the site, using data security protocols. Where data and information is collected via the site’s servers and tools, this is managed through our data security protocols and processes.

Automatic collection by third party software vendors

Our Recovery uses several tools to measure website use, which are provided by third party software vendors. Personal information may be provided to third parties when accessing this website. We use these tools to help us make our site better.

We use software by third parties, including:

• The HiVE
• Salesforce
• YouTube
• Vimeo

For further information on how these third-party software vendors handle your personal information, please review their privacy policies.

Use of web analytics data

We use the HiVE analytics data to analyse, measure, and report on data about our website. This information helps us understand consultation outcomes, general user trends at an aggregate level, and improve our website, content, and user experience.

We do not use this information to identify you or match it with any other personal information that we may collect from you, unless required to do so as part of an internal investigation or for a law enforcement-related purpose, in accordance with the PDP Act.

Your site visit data is collected under the authority of Information Privacy Principle 1.1 of the PDP Act for the purposes stated above.

Disclosure of web analytics data

In addition to the third party tools described above, we sometimes share web analytics data with other third parties. We make sure they keep it safe and secure through contracts and commercial agreements.

In the event of an investigation into suspected unlawful or improper activity, a law enforcement or government agency may use its legal authority to inspect our web server’s records (for example, in relation to hacking or abusive messages).

Can I opt out of the collection of web analytics data?

You cannot opt out of the automatic collection of information that is used for analytical purposes. However, you may choose to disable cookies or delete any individual cookie.

Data quality, access and correction

We try to ensure that the personal information that we collect is accurate. If information that you have provided to us has changed, please log into your Our Recovery account where you can update your details or via ourrecovery@brv.vic.gov.au.

You may request access to, or correction of, documents that contain your personal information by emailing ourrecovery@brv.vic.gov.au. In some cases, requests for access or correction will be handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic).

When will we contact you?

You can choose to receive updates from us by email. If you choose this but then change your mind, you can unsubscribe at any time by logging into your Our Recovery account.

Changes to our Privacy Statement

We may update the content of this Privacy Statement from time to time for any reason. We suggest that you regularly review the Privacy Statement.

What if you have a complaint?

If you wish to make a complaint about a breach of this Privacy Statement, please email ourrecovery@brv.vic.gov.au. We will investigate your complaint and determine what steps we will take to resolve your complaint.

Questions

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Statement, or want to update your personal details held by the service, please email ourrecovery@brv.vic.gov.au.

Our Recovery is an online engagement service used by CRCs to inform and update their communities on community news, priorities and consultations. Our Recovery is provided by the state of Victoria through Bushfire Recovery Victoria (BRV); administered by the twenty-two community-led Community Recovery Committees (CRC) formed in response to the 2019/2020 bushfires, supported by 3 local councils and developed by Social Pinpoint.

Who Are We?

In these Terms of Use (including in the Privacy and Moderation Policies) a reference to ‘us’, ‘we’ or ‘our’ is a reference to BRV, the twenty-two community-led CRCs and 3 local councils. See Privacy Policy for an exact list of the CRCs and councils involved.

Using this site

By accessing and using this site, you are agreeing that you understand and accept the Terms of Use, which include our Privacy Policy and Moderation Policy . Please read all the terms carefully. If you are under 18 years old, please ensure that your parent or guardian understands and accepts these Terms of Use (including the Privacy and Moderation Policies).

Registration

If you decide to register with Our Recovery, you will be asked to provide information about yourself. How we protect and use your information is explained in our Privacy Policy. If you no longer wish to be registered, you can cancel your registration by emailing ourrecovery@brv.vic.gov.au. Cancelling your registration does not remove content you have posted to the site.

As part of the registration process you may choose to receive newsletters and other updates from Our Recovery by email. If you then change your mind, you can unsubscribe at any time by logging in to your Our Recovery account and unchecking the appropriate boxes.

Posting content

Unless otherwise stated by us, the content that you post to Our Recovery will be visible to all who visit the site. All of the content that you post to the site is your sole responsibility. Our Recovery does not endorse the views or material contained in the contributions of members of the public or third party sites and is not responsible for the content, availability or performance of external sites linked to or hosting the service.

There are some rules about what you can and cannot post on the site. These rules include:

• Protect your privacy and that of others by not including personal information about yourself or others
• Do not impersonate or falsely represent any other person, including by creating additional accounts on the service
• Do not post material that infringes the intellectual property rights of others
• Do not post or repost anything that could be considered spam
• Do not abuse, harass or threaten others
• Do not post anything which:
  • vilifies others on the basis of their race or religion
  • incites, induces or aids violence, discrimination, harassment, victimisation or hatred towards others
  • may offend, insult or humiliate others, particularly on the basis of their race, colour, descent, national origin, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation or any disability
  • makes defamatory or libellous comments
  • uses insulting, obscene, provocative or hateful language or
  • encourages conduct that may constitute a criminal or civil offence or otherwise violate Australian federal or Victorian law

• Do not post anything that contains or links to commercial activities, except where the commercial links or discussions have been consented to as part of the topic or issue under discussion.

By agreeing to these Terms of Use you also agree to comply with the above rules.

Monitoring content

We monitor the content posted on Our Recovery on a regular basis. If you wish to report content that you believe contravenes the above rules, you can do so by emailing us at ourrecovery@brv.vic.gov.au.

When will we edit and remove content?

You understand and agree that we have ultimate editorial control over the site and may edit, remove or exercise our discretion not to publish any content from the site at any time for any reason. If you violate these Terms of Use, then we may suspend your account or ban you from using Our Recovery.

Links to other websites

Our Recovery may contain links to websites which are not controlled or owned by us. Those websites have their own terms and conditions of use and you should familiarise yourself with them.

Other important terms

• We cannot guarantee the accuracy or usefulness of any translation of the information on Our Recovery or any linked website.
• In no event will we be liable for any indirect, incidental, punitive, consequential, special or exemplary damages of any kind, including but not limited to damages resulting from your access to, use of, or inability to access or use the Our Recovery service, for any lost profits, data loss, or cost of procurement or substitute goods and services or for any conduct or content of any third party on Our Recovery
• We will not become involved in disputes between you and other users of Our Recovery or between you and third parties
• We may use technology to protect the security of communications made through the Our Recovery service. However, we do not accept liability for the security, authenticity, integrity or confidentiality of any transactions and other communication made through Our Recovery
• Please ensure that you keep your own copies of your content, as Our Recovery may not archive, store or back-up your content to make your content accessible online.

Indemnification and Release

If you do something which results in us being sued or if you do not comply with what you have agreed to in these Terms of Use (including the Privacy and Moderation Policies), you agree to indemnify and hold BRV, CRCs and local council, harmless from all costs, losses, liabilities, claims, expenses and all other outgoings of whatever kind suffered or incurred by us (including our legal costs) that arise from or relate to your use of the Our Recovery service.

We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defence and control of any matter otherwise subject to this indemnity clause. If we do so, you agree that you will cooperate and help us to assert any defences.

You agree to release and discharge us, to the full extent permitted by law, from all actions, proceedings, claims or demands for costs and damages howsoever arising which you may have at any time against us arising out of or related to your use of the Our Recovery service.

Intellectual Property

You confirm that you own or have the right to use any copyright material included in your content and that you are not infringing any person’s rights by submitting the content to Our Recovery.

All intellectual property in the content of the Our Recovery website (except for the content submitted by you and other users including other community organisations) are owned by or licensed to us and are protected by law, including but not limited to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).

By agreeing to these Terms of Use, you agree to grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, licence to use, copy, modify and otherwise deal with the intellectual property (including but not limited to copyright) in all of the content submitted by you to the Our Recovery website.

Moral Rights Consent

You unconditionally and irrevocably consent, and will obtain all other necessary unconditional and irrevocable written consents from other persons involved in producing any content, to any act or omission that would otherwise infringe any moral rights in any content which is transmitted by you onto the Our Recovery website whether occurring before or after a consent is given.

Applicable Laws

Your use of Our Recovery and these Terms of Use (including the Privacy and Moderation Policies) will be governed and construed by the laws of the State of Victoria, which shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes. Any claim relating to use of Our Recovery will be heard by the courts of Victoria, Australia.

Changes to the Terms of Use

We may update the content of the Terms of Use from time to time for any reason. We suggest that you regularly review the Terms of Use.

Severance

If any part of these Terms of Use (including the Privacy Policy) is determined to be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that part is deemed severable from these Terms of Use and does not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining parts.

Entire Agreement

These Terms of Use (including the Privacy and Moderation Policies) constitute the entire agreement between us and you with respect to your use of the Our Recovery service.