Privacy Policy

1. Scope

BIR Financial Limited ACN 074 009 091 (BIR) is a public company listed on the official list of ASX (ASX code: BIR).

This document is BIR’s Privacy Policy. It sets out how BIR collects, uses, discloses and holds personal information that is necessary for its functions and activities and for meeting its obligations in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and relevant States and Territories legislation.

Personal information is information or a statement or opinion about an identified individual or from which an individual is reasonably identifiable. BIR’ Privacy Policy is set out under the following headings:

2. Individuals whose information BIR collects

3. Types of information BIR collects

4. Purposes for which BIR collects, uses and discloses information

5. When and how BIR collects information

6. When you can deal with BIR anonymously or use a pseudonym

7. Who BIR discloses information to

8. Circumstances in which BIR discloses information outside Australia

9. Opting out of receiving direct marketing from BIR

10. Information BIR collects when you use the BIR website

11. How BIR holds and protects information

12. Accessing and requesting correction of your information

13. Complaints about your privacy

14. Contacting BIR about this Privacy Policy

15. How BIR changes and notifies changes to this Policy

In this Privacy Policy:
a) “We” or “us” refers to BIR.
b) “You” or “your” refers to any individual whose personal information we collect, use, disclose or hold.
c) “Information” means “personal information” as defined above unless the context indicates otherwise.

2. Individuals whose information BIR collects

BIR collects, uses, discloses and holds personal information of the following:
a) Applicants for employment and business opportunities with BIR;
b) Referees notified to BIR by applicants for employment or business opportunities with BIR;
c) BIR’ contractors and service providers who are individuals;
d) Visitors to BIR’ premises; and
e) Directors or officers of bodies corporate who have a business relationship with BIR.

3. Types of information BIR collects

3.1 General

a) Personal details such as name, address, other contact information, date of birth, gender, marital status and signature;
b) Information obtained and recorded during telephone calls you make to us; and
c) Educational and technical qualifications, work history and professional associations or relationships (applicants for employment and business opportunities only).

3.2 Sensitive information

BIR collects health information in various circumstances including when you wish to access treatments or health services covered by your insurance policy, you make a claim in relation to such treatments or services, you wish to join a specialised health program or when we need to undertake a pre-existing condition assessment.

3.3 Visitors to our website

BIR collects information that is not personal information of visitors to our website (see, section 10: Information we collect when you use the BIR website) below. Such information is collected regardless of whether you complete a form from the website.

4. Purposes for which BIR collects, uses and discloses information

4.1 Products and services

BIR collects, uses, discloses and holds personal information (including sensitive information) for the purposes of providing, administering and marketing its products and services. These purposes include:
a) Communicating with you from time to time;
b) Verifying your identity from time to time
c) Managing, evaluating, developing and improving BIR’ products or services;
d) Conducting quality assurance activities;
e) Conducting surveys, research, analysis and providing online services;
f) Resolving any legal and/or commercial complaints or issues; and
g) Undertaking direct marketing activities and related communications with you.

4.2 Compliance with laws

BIR also collects, uses, discloses and holds personal information (including sensitive information) to meet its compliance and reporting obligations in various laws. The key ones are the:
a) Corporations Act;

4.3 Consequences if information we ask for is not provided

BIR has assessed information it will collect, use, disclose and hold as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out above. An individual’s needs and circumstances determine the set of information BIR will collect from the individual. We cannot compel you to provide any information we ask for. However, in most cases, we will be unable to provide or continue to provide you with the products or services if you fail or refuse to provide the information we ask for.

5. When and how BIR collects information

BIR collects personal information in the following ways and circumstances.

5.1 Collecting information directly from you

Where practicable, we will collect personal information directly from you including when you:
a) Visit BIR office, place of business;
b) Interact with us by telephone, email or regular mail;
c) Complete a BIR-issued paper form;
d) Complete an online form on the BIR website
e) Complete a government-issued form made available to you by BIR;
f) Apply to us for employment or business opportunity; and
g) Enter a contract of service with us or a business or organisation for which you are an officer, employee or agent, enters a contract of service with us.

5.2 Collecting information from someone else

Sometimes we collect personal information from another person or organisation including in the following circumstances.

• Basic contact information from referrers – We may obtain this information from our business associates, business partners or existing members to inform individuals we consider are eligible to join BIR or inform them about our products and services or employment and business opportunities.
• Job or business opportunities applicants – We may collect your personal information from referees you have notified to us. In any such case, both the applicant and the referee are deemed to have given their consent for their personal information to be collected, used or disclosed for the purposes of the job or business application. We may also collect personal information from recruitment agencies that represent you or us in relation to employment opportunities with us. You are deemed to have given consent for your personal information to be collected, used or disclosed for the purposes of your job application.
• Superannuation funds – We may collect personal information from a superannuation fund you have advised to us if you are a new employee.
• Publicly available information – We may collect personal information from publicly available sources including information from public registers, telephone or business directories, social media platforms and the internet.

6. When you can deal with BIR anonymously or use a pseudonym

When you are dealing with us, and it is lawful and practicable to do so, you can remain anonymous (that is, without providing any personal information or identifiers) or use a pseudonym (that is, use a name, term or descriptor that is different to your actual name).

Examples of when you can remain anonymous or use a pseudonym are when you:

a) Are making general enquiries only about us
b) Are participating in a product or service survey or research we are doing;
c) Wish to make a report of wrongdoing on the part of any of our officers or employees, unless your identity is required to investigate the wrongdoing properly; and
d) Consider identifying yourself may pose a serious risk of harm to you or some other person.

However, there are many circumstances in which it will not be lawful or practicable for you to remain anonymous or use a pseudonym. Examples of such circumstances are when you wish to:
a) Make a complaint under our internal complaints handling procedure;
e) Access and/or correct the personal information we hold about you.

If you wish to remain anonymous or use a pseudonym when dealing with us, tell us at the time and we can confirm with you whether you can do so in the circumstances.

7. Who BIR discloses information to

BIR usually discloses personal information to the following types of persons or organisations:
a) Persons or organisations who provide contracted mail, mailing or messaging services on BIR’s behalf including the processing or sending of paper mail, email, SMS and instant messaging services;
b) Government agencies (such as the Australian Taxation);
c) Third-party advisers (such as auditors, actuaries, consultants and legal advisers);
d) Social media platforms including Facebook and Google to communicate with you on our behalf about our products and services; and

8. Circumstances in which BIR discloses information outside Australia

If business needs require BIR to disclose your personal information to an overseas recipient, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure the overseas recipient will not breach the Australian Privacy Principles or the Privacy Act in relation to the personal information.

Other circumstances in which we will disclose your personal information to an overseas recipient are:
a) If the disclosure is authorised under an Australian law or court order; and
b) If you request us to disclose your information to an overseas recipient.

8.1 Managing consents for information to be disclosed overseas

If you request BIR to disclose your personal information to an overseas recipient, we will provide you a clear statement explaining the potential consequences of disclosing the information to the overseas recipient.

9. Opting out of receiving direct marketing from BIR

BIR and organisations acting on our behalf may contact our members individually or directly about our products and services. We call this “direct marketing”. Direct marketing may be via regular mail, email, telephone or SMS.

9.1 Opting out of direct marketing

You may request at any time not to receive direct marketing communication from us by:
a) Logging into you Member Centre account (if one is set up for you) and changing your preferences;
b) Sending an email to us at help@birfinancial.com.au; or).

Also, you can use any of the above means to request BIR to only send direct marketing communication to you using your preferred channel of communication, such as, regular mail, email, telephone or SMS.

BIR includes in all direct marketing communications, information on how you can opt out of being sent such communication in the future.

If you request not to receive direct marketing communication from us or to only receive such communication via your preferred channel of communication, BIR will update your request as soon as reasonably practicable.

Please note that you cannot opt out of receiving information (such as tax statements and notices) we are required by law to send you.

10. Information BIR collects when you use the BIR website

The BIR website uses “cookies”. A “cookie” is a packet of information that allows the website server to identify and interact more effectively with your computer.

When you use the website, we send a cookie that gives each computer a unique identification number. Cookies do not identify individuals, although they do enable us to identify your browser type and internet service provider. Your browser may be configured to accept all cookies, reject all cookies or notify the user when a cookie is sent. If you reject all cookies, you may not be able to use the BIR website.

BIR uses third-party service providers such as Google to undertake demographic analysis of visitors to our website (‘Google Analytics’). We collect and use information from cookies and Google Analytics to:

a) Better understand how visitors use the BIR website;
b) Link with social networks;
c) Communicate relevant advertisements that may be of interest;
d) Measure the time spent on the website;
e) Determine the effectiveness of the navigation options; and
f) Record information provided during the visit to streamline subsequent visits.

By using the BIR website, you consent to the processing of data about the use of your computer 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.

Also, the BIR website uses interfaces with social media sites such as Facebook. If you choose to “like” or “share” information from the BIR website through such sites, you should read the privacy policy of the social media site. The interfaces the BIR website uses may allow the social media site to connect your visits to the BIR site with the personal information the social media site holds about you.

11. How BIR holds and protects information

We primarily store information on our premises in electronic form in our information technology systems. To meet legislative, regulatory and business continuity requirements, we store copies of some documents containing personal information in a remote, secure location in Australia.

If we convert paper-based documents to electronic form, we destroy the originals securely. Paper-based documents we hold on temporary basis are held securely at our premises or by third-party document management and mail processing service providers in Australia.

We maintain physical and operational security over our paper and electronic data stores. We also maintain computer and network security for our information technology systems. For example, we use firewalls and other security systems such as user identifiers and passwords to control access to our information technology systems.

11.1 Information we no longer need

If BIR no longer needs your personal information, and we are not required by law to retain it, we will take reasonable and practical steps to destroy or de-identify the information securely in accordance with our document retention policy.

11.2 Dealing with unsolicited information

If we receive personal information we did not ask for and we determine we do not require the information for any of our functions or activities, we will attempt to return it to the sender if it is contained in a document. If we cannot return the document to the sender, or the personal information is contained in a voice recording, we will securely destroy it as soon as practicable.

12. Accessing and requesting correction of your information

12.1 Reasons for seeking access

You can request BIR to give you access to the personal information we hold about you at any time by using the contact details set out in section 14 (Contacting BIR about this Policy). Your reason for seeking access could be simply to know what information we hold about you, to request a copy of your information or to request a correction of the information we hold about you.

12.2 Request to give access

We will respond to your request for access as soon as practicable, and in any case within 30 days of us receiving the request.

If we refuse your request for access to your personal information, we will give you a written notice of our reasons, how you may complain about our decision and any matter the law requires us to notify you about.

12.3 Fee for providing access

While we do not charge a fee to you for requesting access to your personal information, in some circumstances, BIR may charge a fee to cover administrative costs in respect of retrieving your information and providing it to you in the form you have requested. If the circumstances apply in your case, we will inform you and request payment of the fee before we give you access to your personal information.

12.4 Requesting correction of your information

If you believe the personal information BIR holds about you is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, you can request us to correct the information at any time by using the contact details set out in section 14 (Contacting BIR about this Policy) below.

12.5 Responding to requests to correct information

We will respond to the request as soon as practicable, in any case within 30 days of us receiving the request. If we refuse to correct your personal information as request, we will give you a written notice setting out our reasons (if it is reasonable to do so), how you can complain about our refusal and any matter we are required by the law to notify you about.

12.6 Associating a statement if we refuse to correct information

If we refuse to correct your personal information, you can ask us to associate a statement with your information, that you believe the information we hold about you is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. We will respond to the request as soon as practicable, in any case within 30 days of us receiving the request.

12.7 Notifying others that your information has been corrected

You may ask as to notify another person to whom we have previously disclosed your personal information that we have corrected it. We’ll action your request as soon as reasonably practicable.

13. Complaints about your privacy

You may make a complaint about your privacy by contacting BIR’s Privacy Officer by using the contact details set out in section 14 (Contacting BIR about this Policy) below. The complaint should first be made in writing.

BIR’s Privacy Officer will first determine if, on the information available whether BIR has breached your privacy, and if so, take immediate steps to resolve the complaint within 3 days of receiving the complaint.

If your complaint requires more detailed consideration or investigation, the Privacy Officer may ask you to provide further information and consider it together with other information obtained from relevant BIR employees. In such a case, the Privacy Officer will endeavour to respond to the complaint as soon as reasonably practicable and, in any case, within 30 days. If you are not satisfied by BIR’s response to your complaint, you may take the complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

13.1 OAIC contact details:
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Address:
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001

Additional information
http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint

14. Contacting BIR about this Policy

You may contact BIR for any reason including:
a) Obtain a copy of this Privacy Policy or seek further information about the Policy;
b) Request access to your information;
c) Request correction of your information;
d) Request BIR to associate a statement with your information if we refuse your request for the information to be corrected;
e) Request BIR to inform another person (to whom we previously disclosed your information) that we have corrected the information;
f) Request us not to send you direct marketing communication in the future or to be sent such communication by regular mail, telephone, fax, email or as SMS; and
g) Make a complaint about a breach of your privacy or a complaint about how we have applied our Privacy Policy to your individual circumstances.

14.1 BIR’s contact details

Email: privacy@birfinancial.com.au
Address: Privacy Officer
BIR Financial Limited
PO Box 6141
North Sydney NSW

15. How BIR changes and notifies changes to this Policy

BIR will update this Privacy Policy from time to time and notify members of the changes by posting an updated version on its website at: https://www.birfinancial.com.au You can request a copy of the Privacy Policy free of charge (see section 14 (Contacting BIR about this Privacy) above). If it is reasonable to do so, we will provide the copy in the form you have requested.

Public Document – Last Updated March 2018