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Policy Statement
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that Pinnacle Hospitality & Travel People adhere to their responsibilities under the National Privacy Act 1988, amended December 2001 and to provide that information when required to those people who are entitled to access the information.
What is included in the Privacy Act?
- Under the act candidates will have access to personal information about them held by a recruitment firm.
- They are able to take notes or obtain copies of information pertaining to them.
- Have the contents explained to them.
- If they feel the information is incorrect, this must be noted and corrections made immediately if relevant.
- If a candidate was unsuccessful in getting a job, the candidate can access the recruitment firm's file on them.
- A candidate has the right to know when their personal information is collected and stored, and how the information is used and disclosed.
- Information held on a candidate must be accurate.
- Efficient complaints procedures must be in place and enforced to protect the rights stipulated in the act.
What is personal information?
Personal information is information (whether true or not) about an identifiable individual.
It includes:
- Information about any person including candidates, clients, internal staff.
- False information - even opinions and speculation are included.
- 'Location' information - information about the location of an individual.
- Information in any form including writing, pictures, computer or paper records.
The onus is on you to justify any information that identifies an individual.
How will these impacts affect consultants?
- In an interview, only details of relevance should be recorded.
- Defamatory comments or comments in breach of discrimination legislation should of course not be made.
- Make sure only necessary information is collected.
- Ensure records are accurate.
- Ensure information held is secure.
- Collect information anonymously where possible.
- Use and disclose information collected only for the primary purpose intended.
- Treat sensitive information carefully.
- If choosing not to offer a candidate work through Pinnacle, ensure the rejection is valid.
What happens if you fail to comply with the policy?
- Individuals will complain directly to the company.
- If the complaint is not resolved, the Privacy Commissioner can intervene.
- The company may be required to pay damages or ordered to take specific action such as issuing a public apology or trade practice penalties could be imposed.
National privacy principles:
The National Privacy Principles established by the Privacy Act apply to Pinnacle Hospitality & Travel People.
Type of personal information held
Personal information that we collect and hold usually falls into the following categories:
- Candidate information submitted and obtained from the Candidate and other sources in connection with applications for work.
- Work performance information.
- Information about incidents in the workplace.
- Staff information.
- Information submitted and obtained in relation to absences from work due to leave, illness or other causes.
- Information obtained to assist in managing client and business relationships.
Purposes for which we hold personal information
We primarily hold personal information for the following reasons:
- Placement operations
- Recruitment
- Staff management
- Training
- Client and business relationship management
- Marketing
Disclosures
We may disclose personal information for the purposes for which it is primarily held or for a related secondary purpose.
In some cases we may only disclose information with your consent.
We may disclose personal information where we are under a legal duty to do so, including circumstances where we are under a lawful duty of care to disclose information.
Contractors
We contract out a number of services from time to time. Our contractors may see some of your personal information. Typically our contractors would include I.T. contractors and database designers.
Inquiries and complaints
Further inquiries or complaints about our privacy policies can be made to our Privacy Co-ordinator whose contact details are:
Greg Mead
Executive Services
390 Flinders Street
MELBOURNE 3000
Phone 03 9620 9666
Complaints can also be made to the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner.
Access
Subject to some exceptions that are set out in the National Privacy Principles, a person can gain access to the personal information that is held about them.
We do refuse access if it would interfere with the privacy rights of other persons or if it breaches any confidentiality that attaches to that information.
If a person wishes to obtain access to their personal information they should contact our Privacy Co-ordinator. They will need to be in a position to verify their identity.
We might impose a moderate charge in providing access. The Privacy Co-ordinator would discuss this with the person.
It may take a little time to process the application for access as there may be a need to retrieve information from storage and review information in order to determine what information may be provided.
A summary of the Privacy Policy is to be made available for review by all candidates being interviewed.
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