Privacy Statement

Norfolk Island Regional Council

The Privacy Act 1988 regulates the collection and handling of personal information, including its use and disclosure, its accuracy, how securely it is kept and your right to access that information. The Norfolk Island Regional Council and its various agencies and statutory office holders collect and handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 and relevant guidelines.

Statutory officers in Norfolk Island are persons who hold appointments under particular enactments or statutes applicable to Norfolk Island. Many such enactments or laws directly impose confidentiality or secrecy requirements on such statutory officers appointed under those laws.

From time to time, persons may be appointed as Council employees on a part-time, casual or temporary basis and certain projects may require consultants or experts to be involved or engaged such that information may need to be provided to such persons. Council’s Code of Conduct provides strict guidelines in relation to the confidentiality obligations on Council employees and persons working for or on behalf of the Council.  

Freedom of Information laws also apply to Norfolk Island. Application for release or disclosure of documents or information may be received by the Norfolk Island Regional Council or its agencies or by statutory officers in Norfolk Island seeking the release of documents or information which may contain personal or sensitive information. Wherever possible, the consent of any persons who are mentioned or referred to in such documents or information will be sought prior to any release.

The operation of certain laws, court orders or search warrants may compel or require the Norfolk Island Regional Council employees or statutory officers to disclose, release or provide access to personal information and documents containing information (even where other personal or sensitive information may be held, viewed, accessed, released or disclosed in the course of compliance with such laws, court orders or warrants). Although every reasonable effort will be made to prevent any accidental or non-necessary release occurring.

Personal information

Personal information is information or an opinion, whether true or not, about a person whose identity is apparent, or reasonably ascertainable, from the information or opinion.

Norfolk Island Regional Council does not collect personal information from customers as they browse websites operated by the Norfolk Island Regional Council. However, servers used by Norfolk Island Regional Council employees or by statutory officers in Norfolk Island and by third parties acting on our behalf including Telecom New Zealand International (TNZI) may send you one or more cookies, and may collect a variety of information including your IP address. This is common practice online, and is for the purposes of:

  • enabling you to return to pages you have already visited on our website, and
  • assisting to improve search outcomes and the overall quality of our services.

Other private businesses on Norfolk Island may use systems which send information through Norfolk Island Regional Council systems or infrastructure and you should check with such businesses about their privacy policy and how they secure any information you are providing to them.

If you send Council a message requesting customised services such as "notify me when" emails, Council will ask you for information to verify your identity and may use other sources such as the internet for example, to confirm important information.

Use and disclosure of personal information

If you choose to provide your personal information to the Norfolk Island Regional Council either online or through an employee of Council or to any statutory officer in Norfolk Island, Council commits to only use the information for the purpose(s) for which you gave it to us and for related, internal management or statutory purposes. Council will not disclose your personal information to anyone else unless:

  • you consent to or expect disclosure of your personal information
  • disclosure is necessary for the enforcement of the criminal law or for the protection of public revenue
  • disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the life or health of a person, or
  • disclosure is required or authorised by law.

 

Your choices

You can access and ask Council to correct personal information held about you. In order to access or correct this information please send a formal request in writing to customercare@nirc.gov.nf

Complaints

Complaints regarding any breaches of privacy must be made, in writing, to Council’s Privacy Officer within 6 months of a person becoming aware of the breach of privacy. The letter must contain a return address. Correspondence to the Public Officer is to be mailed to:

NIRC Privacy Officer
Norfolk Island Regional Council
PO Box 95
Norfolk Island, 2899
customercare@nirc.gov.nf 

Further assistance and information on privacy is also available from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). https://www.oaic.gov.au

DISCLAIMER

No liability is accepted for any loss or damage which may arise or result from any disclosure of personal or sensitive information to the Norfolk Island Regional Council or to any entity or person claiming to act on behalf of the Norfolk Island Regional Council (to the extent that liability can be excluded by the law applicable to Norfolk Island).

This summary statement has been developed from material prepared by the former Office of the Privacy Commissioner (now part of OAIC).

Privacy Statement