Privacy Policy

This policy describes how Australia Post manages your personal information.

Important information

Australia Post complies with the:

Information Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) in relation to its non-commercial activities;
National Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) in relation to its commercial activities;
Australian Direct Marketing Association Code of Practice in relation to how we market to our customers;
Privacy and secrecy requirements contained in Part 7B of the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 (Cth) in relation to our handling of mail and postal information;
the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) in relation to electronic marketing; and
the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth) in the event that any telemarketing is undertaken.

How to contact us

Australia Post is committed to working with its customers to obtain a fair resolution of any complaint or concern about privacy.
To contact us with a compliment or complaint or a privacy question, you can:
- Write to us at:
  Australia Post
  Privacy Contact Officer
  GPO Box 1777
  Melbourne Vic 3000 ; OR
- Call our Customer Contact Centre on 13 POST (13 7678) between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm EST Monday to Friday.

Your acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is published on our website in order to meet out obligation under National Privacy Principle 5.1 which requires us to set out our policies on the management of personal information in a clearly expressed document which is available to anyone who asks for it.

Without limiting the generality of the above statement, your use of this website constitutes an acknowledgement that you have been made aware of our privacy policies.

This policy does not create or confer upon any individual any rights, or impose upon Australia Post any rights or obligations outside of, or in addition to, those rights or obligations imposed by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth) or related legislation ('the legislation'). Should there be, in a specific case, any inconsistency between this statement and the Act, this statement shall be interpreted, in respect of that case, to give effect to, and comply with the legislation.

This policy includes examples but is not intended to be restricted in its application to such examples, therefore where the word 'including' is used, it shall mean 'including without limitation'.

Personal information

Personal information means information we hold about you from which your identity is either apparent or can be reasonably determined.

Uses and sharing

We use personal information you provide only for purposes consistent with the reason you provided it, or for a directly related purpose.

Generally, we will not use your personal information to market to you unless we have either your implied or express consent but in situations where it is impractical to obtain your prior consent, we will ensure you have an ability to opt out of future such communications.

We do not share your personal information with other organisations unless you give us your express consent, or where sharing is otherwise required or permitted by law, or where this is necessary on a temporary basis to enable our contractors to perform specific functions.

When we temporarily provide personal information to companies who perform services for us, such as specialist information technology companies, mail houses or other contractors to Australia Post we require those companies to protect your personal information as diligently as we do.

Your rights and choices

You may interact with us anonymously where this is lawful and practicable.

You have the right to request access to the personal information you provide, and to correct or update your personal information. This right is subject to certain exceptions allowed by law.

You may instruct us to remove any previous consent you provided to receive marketing communications from us.

About this Privacy Policy

We respect your personal information and your right to privacy.

At Australia Post, protecting your privacy when handling your personal information is very important to us and is fundamental to the way we serve you.

At Australia Post, we know that when you give us your personal information, it imposes a serious responsibility upon us. We are committed to protecting your personal information and maintaining your trust.

This Privacy Policy describes the information that may be collected by Australia Post, the choices you can make about your personal information and how we protect your personal information.

Collection covered by this Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to situations in which Australia Post collects your personal information, including but not limited to collection via websites operated by or on behalf of Australia Post.

Websites may contain links to non-Australia Post websites. Australia Post is not responsible for the privacy policies of those other websites. We recommend you review the privacy policies of each site you visit.

Why we collect personal information and how we may use it

Generally, Australia Post will collect personal information directly from you, and only to the extent necessary to provide an Australia Post product or service, including our agency functions, or to carry out our internal administrative operations. An agency function means a service that we provide to you on behalf of another organisation, such as our POSTbillpay and Bank@Post services.

We may collect personal information from you when:

you fill in an application form;
deal with us over the telephone;
e-mail us;
ask us to contact you after visiting our web site; or
have contact with us in person.

You may also be able to transact with us anonymously where this is lawful and practicable.

We will collect personal information from you by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive way.

We will use your personal information only for the particular purpose that you provided it, or for a directly related purpose. We may otherwise use your personal information where that other use is:

required or permitted by law; or
with your express or implied consent.

Direct marketing and your privacy

From time to time we may use the personal information we collect from you to identify particular Australia Post products and services which we believe may be of interest to you. We may then contact you to let you know about these products and services and how they may benefit you. We will generally only do this with your consent and we will always give you a choice to opt put of receiving such information in future.

Direct mail

Where we use your personal information to send you marketing information via the post we may do so with your implied consent or, if this is impracticable, we will ensure that you are provided with an opportunity to tick an "opt out" box to ensure you do not receive future such communications. By not ticking a clearly displayed "opt out" box, we will assume we have your implied consent to receive similar marketing communications in the future. We will always ensure that our opt out notices are clear, conspicuous and easy to take up.

Electronic marketing

Where we use your personal information to send you marketing information by e-mail, SMS, MMS or other electronic means we may do so with your express or implied consent. You may give us your express consent by, for example, ticking a box on an electronic or paper form where we seek your permission to send you electronic or other marketing information. Consent may be implied from our existing business relationship or where you have directly or indirectly provided us with your electronic address.

All of our electronic marketing activities will comply with the requirements of the Spam Act 2003 (Cth).

Telemarketing

Australia Post usually does not engage in telemarketing activities to our consumer customers. Generally, such marketing is only ever used in relation to our business customers. Should any consumer telemarketing be done or authorised by Australia Post, will to the extent that it applies, comply with the:

Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth);
Do Not Call Register (Consequential Amendments) Act 2006 (Cth);
Telecommunications (Do Not Call Register) (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2007.

Your privacy preferences and choices

Every personalised marketing contact sent or made by Australia Post will include a means by which customers may opt of receiving further marketing information.

You may instruct us at any time to remove any previous consent you provided to receive marketing communications from us.

Information sharing

We have a strict duty to maintain the privacy of all personal information we hold about you. However, certain exceptions do apply. For example, where disclosure of your personal information is:

authorised or required by law
e.g. disclosure to various government departments and agencies such as the Australian Taxation Office, CentreLink, Child Support Agency, or disclosure to courts under subpoena.
in the public interest
e.g. where a crime, fraud or misdemeanour is committed or suspected, and disclosure against the customer's rights to confidentiality is justified.
with your consent
Your consent may be implied or express and it may also be verbal or written.

Use of third party service providers

Updating your information

It is inevitable that some personal information which we hold will become out of date. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information which we hold remains accurate and, if you advise us of a change of details, we will amend our records accordingly.

Access to your personal information

Australia Post will, upon your request, and subject to applicable privacy laws, provide you with access to your personal information that is held by us. However, we ask that you identify, as clearly as possible, the type/s of information requested.

Australia Post will deal with your request to provide access to your personal information in a reasonable time - usually within 30 days of receipt of your request.

Australia Post will not charge you for lodging such a request but we may recover from you our reasonable costs incurred in supplying you with access to this information.

Exceptions

Your right to access your personal information is not absolute. In certain circumstances, the law permits us to refuse your request to provide you with access to your personal information, such as circumstances where:

access would pose a serious threat to the life or health of any individual;
access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others;
the request is frivolous or vexatious;
the information relates to a commercially sensitive decision making process;
access would be unlawful; or
access may prejudice enforcement activities, a security function or commercial negotiations.

Freedom of Information laws

In addition to privacy laws, you may have rights to access your personal information contained in certain Australia Post documents. Details on how to apply for access to these documents are contained in the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).

More information is available at freedom of information.

Information security

Australia Post is committed to keeping your trust by protecting and securing your personal information.

We employ appropriate technical, administrative and physical procedures to protect personal information from unauthorised disclosure, loss, misuse or alteration.

We limit access to personal information to individuals with a business need consistent with the reason the information was provided. We keep personal information only for as long as it is required for business purposes or by the law.

Australia Post protects your personal information by complying with industry best-practice standards, including:

AS 8015-2005 Corporate governance of information and communication technology
AS/NZS ISO/IEC 17799:2001 Information technology: Code of practice for information security management
AS/NZS 7799.2:2003 Information security management - Part 2: Specification for information security management systems
AS/NZS 4360:2004 Risk Management.

Information collected on this website

We may collect non-personal information from you such as browser type, operating system, and web pages visited to help us manage our web site.

We use cookies and other internet technologies to manage our website and certain online products and services. We do not use these technologies to collect or store personal information unless you have opted in to such a feature.

Our internet server logs the following information which is provided by your browser for statistical purposes only:

the type of browser and operating system you are using
your Internet Service Provider and top level domain name (for example - .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc)
the address of any referring web site (for example - the previous web site you visited), and
your computer's IP (Internet Protocol) address (a number which is unique to the machine through which you are connected to the internet).

All of this information is used by Australia Post for aggregated statistical analyses or systems administration purposes only. No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities, except where required by or under law.

Cookies

A "cookie" is a packet of information that allows the Australia Post server (the computer that houses our web site) to identify and interact more effectively with your computer.

When you access our web site, we send you a temporary or "session cookie" that gives you a unique identification number. A different identification number is sent each time you use our website. Cookies do not identify individual users, although they do identify a user's internet browser type and your Internet Service Provider. Shortly after you end your interaction with our web site, the cookie expires or "crumbles". This means it no longer exists on your computer and therefore cannot be used for further identification or access to your computer.

Without cookies certain personalised services cannot be provided to users of our website, accordingly you may not be able to take full advantage of all of the Australia Post website features if cookies have been disabled.

Cookie Policy

We use session cookies in the following manner:

Log-on and log-off administration - If you decide to register with our site, so as, for example, to use one of our online services, session cookies help with the log-on and log-off process. The cookies enable us to recognize your log-on ID when you log on so that we do not establish a duplicate registration record for you.
Transactions and site usability - We use session cookies to improve how you navigate through our website and conduct transactions. As examples, session cookies are used to maintain your online session as you browse over several pages; to store and prepopulate information so that you do not have to re-enter the same information twice. Session cookies may also be used to collect referral statistics when you click on a link or ad banner to or from auspost.com.au.

Australia Post may also use "persistent cookies". A persistent cookie is a small piece of text stored on your computer's hard drive for a defined period of time, after which the cookie is erased. Australia Post will not collect or link to personal information through persistent cookies without your express consent.

We use persistent cookies as follows:

Site usage measurement - Our site measurement tool uses a persistent cookie to assist us in measuring how and when our web site and its various components are used. It functions as a "visit cookie," so we can determine if you are a repeat visitor to our site. This allows us to know if we are attracting new visitors and what aspects of the site seem most useful. The cookie will expire 30 days after your last visit.
Log-off safety function - Australia Post uses a persistent cookie to automatically log you off of certain Australia Post sites if there has been no activity for 15 minutes. This is done for your safety to ensure that, if you have finished using our site but have forgotten to log off, no one else can use your computer via your log on and password. The cookie is permanently removed from your computer when you log off, or, if you have closed the browser without logging off, it is removed within 15 minutes from your last activity.
Opt-in cookies - Persistent cookies allow us, at your request, to recognise you when you return to auspost.com,au or to remember certain information that you have provided us. The recognition feature allows you to log on to certain Australia Post sites automatically, without having to enter your name and password each visit. The cookie assigns a random number to you, which we link to personal information you have provided and your site activity. This allows us to personalise the site for you and tailor the content to your needs, for instance to show you banner ads about other products you may be interested in.

Other cookies allow us to remember certain information related to prior transactions, such as package tracking numbers, or mailing or address lists, so we may prepopulate those fields for you on return visits. These features and cookies are strictly at your request and for your convenience.

We will also present you with a convenient way to remove the cookies, via where you manage your account, if you decide later that you want to terminate one or more of these functions. The cookies will expire one year from your last visit.

Cookie Management

You can configure your internet browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies or notify you when a cookie is sent. Please refer to your internet browser's instructions or help screens to learn more about these functions.

Most browsers automatically accept cookies. To learn more about cookies, including how to refuse cookies on your computer, click these links:

Microsoft Internet Explorer
Mozilla FireFox
General information on cookies

Links to other sites

The Australia Post site contains links to other sites. We are ultimately not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such web sites. We encourage you to read and understand the privacy policies on those websites prior to providing any information to them.

Some of the content appearing on the Australia Post website may be supplied by third parties, for example, by framing third party web sites or the incorporation through "framesets" of content supplied by third party application service providers. In such cases Australia Post will ensure that our contractual arrangements with these third parties protect your personal information in compliance with privacy laws.

Searches

Search terms that you enter when using our search engine are collected, but are not associated with any other information that we collect. We use these search terms for the purpose of aggregated statistical analyses so we can ascertain what people are looking for on our website, and to improve the services that we provide.

Also, from time to time, we may use external companies to provide us with detailed aggregate statistical analyses of our website traffic. At no time is any personal information made available to these companies, nor is the aggregate information ever merged with personal information such as your name, address, email address or other information you would consider sensitive or would compromise your privacy.

Website security and privacy

We understand that you may be concerned about the security of the personal information we collect from you online.

Accordingly, we have systems in place to ensure our online dealings with you are as secure as your dealings with us in person, or on the telephone.

In those instances where we secure your personal information in transit to us and upon receipt, we use the industry standard encryption software, Secured Socket Layer (SSL) 128 bit encryption. The URL in your browser will change to "HTTPS" instead of "HTTP" when this security feature is invoked. Your browser may also display a lock symbol on its bottom task bar line to indicate this secure transmission is in place.

For site security purposes and to ensure this service remains available to all users, we employ software programs to monitor network traffic in order to identify unauthorised attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause us damage. Except for authorised law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits other than those uses identified in this policy. Unauthorised modification or misuse of information stored in this system will be investigated and may result in criminal prosecution.

Information transfer

If Australia Post transfers personal information to countries outside Australia, we will only do so in compliance with all applicable Australian data protection and privacy laws.

Australia Post will take reasonable steps to protect personal information no matter what country it is stored in or transferred to. We have procedures and data transfer contracts as appropriate to help ensure this.

Children's privacy

Australia Post believes it is important to provide added protection for children online. We encourage parents and guardians to spend time online with their children to participate in and monitor their online activity. When we knowingly collect personal information from children, we ask only for the minimum information necessary to seek access to the information or service for which the child is requesting.

Collection of information from children

When knowingly collecting personal information from children we will give a notice specifying what information we are requesting, how we will use it, whether it will be shared with a third party, and a contact at Australia Post for questions. We will utilise the information only for the particular purpose for which it was given to us.

Obtaining Verifiable Parental Consent

We will use reasonable effort to obtain verifiable parental consent prior to the collection and use of personally identifiable information from children under 16. The method of parental consent verification may vary according to the information, product, service or event in which the child wishes to participate.

Means of obtaining such consent may include, but are not limited to, offline consent such as printing and submitting a permission form by mail or fax, or online consent such as by ticking an online check box that parental or guardian consent has been obtained.

When parental consent is not required

We do not require parental or guardian consent in order to collect and use online or offline contact information to:

respond directly to a child's request on a one-off time basis, or to answer a specific request, where the information is not intended to be used to re-contact the child for other purposes
request the name or on-line contact information of a parent/guardian for the sole purpose of obtaining verifiable parental consent or providing parental notification
respond directly more than once to a specific request from a child and the information is not intended to be used to recontact the child beyond the scope of the request.

Parental review

Australia Post will allow parents or guardians to review any personal information collected from their children, subject to verifying the identity of the consenting parent/guardian.

Parents/guardians may revoke their consent and delete information collected from their children at their discretion.

Further information on privacy

You can obtain further general information about your privacy rights and privacy law from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by:

calling their Privacy Hotline on 1300 363 992, or
visiting their web site at www.privacy.gov.au, or
by writing to:
The Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 1042

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We will post changes to the Privacy Policy and publish the effective date when this statement is updated.

Last updated: July 2011

2011 update

The Privacy Policy was reviewed and updated in July 2011. This update was to: ensure compliance with current legislation. No substantive changes were made to the Privacy Statement at this time.

2008 update

Substantial changes were made to the Privacy Policy. This update was to: simplify the content and style to improve readability; includes more detailed information on children's privacy; disclosure of customer information under the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 (Cth); and the examination of articles.

2007 update

No substantive changes were made to the Privacy Statement. This update was to: clarify and simplify the content to improve readability; add information about how to manage cookies, and to indicate the addition of a children's privacy statement.

2001 update

Publication of Australia Post Web Privacy Statement to comply with the National Privacy Principles introduced by the Federal government on 31/12/2001.

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