Privacy policy

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia Ltd (ASFA) is committed to safeguarding your privacy and complying with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). This privacy policy explains how we manage your personal information, including our obligations and your rights in respect of our dealings with your personal information.

Collection and use of personal information

“Personal information” is information or opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

We collect, hold and use personal information that is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our functions or activities, including:

representing the superannuation industry, trustees and, through them, the members of superannuation funds
undertaking research and developing policy to improve the administration of superannuation and retirement income for members
creating a public awareness of superannuation issues
providing professional development, education and nationally recognised training and assessment for those working in the superannuation and financial services industries
promoting best practice in the operation of superannuation funds
coordinating seminars, training programs and other events to enable information sharing, debate and networking on superannuation and related issues
publishing Superfunds magazine which is distributed monthly to subscribers who may be members or non-members of ASFA
providing information and resources to ensure members are kept up to date on matters affecting the superannuation industry.

The personal information we collect may include:

your name and date of birth
your contact details
your home contact details, where this has been provided as the preferred means of contact
details of your employer organisation
your attendance at seminars, training programs and other events
academic history
background information collected for statistical purposes about prior education, schooling, place of birth, and disabilities
assessment information
fees and payment information
information required for the issuance of a Unique Student Identifier.

We generally collect personal information directly from you, although if you are representing a superannuation fund or other organisation, we may also collect your personal information from that organisation.

We collect some information that is considered “sensitive” under the Privacy Act, for example:

your dietary requirements are collected for catering purposes at ASFA events
as we are a Registered Training Organisation and provider of Government-subsidised training, if you register for a learning course conducted by us or on our behalf, we will be required by law to collect some sensitive information about you. This includes whether you speak a language other than English at home, whether you are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, and whether you consider yourself to have a disability, impairment or medical condition.

We will only collect sensitive information from you directly, or with your consent.

We are continually checking information in our database against a variety of public sources and encourage members to assist in maintaining accuracy by advising us of any changes.

If we are not able to collect your personal information, it will affect our ability to provide our services to you.

The ASFA website contains links to other websites including those of members. We are not responsible for the content of those websites and we do not warrant its accuracy.

Ticketing Agents

ASFA may from time to time engage a ticketing agent for ASFA’s events such as Eventbrite.

The use of data collected during registration and/or account setup with the ticketing agent is governed by the ticketing agent’s privacy policies. For more information about the purpose and scope of data collection and processing in connection with using a ticketing agent please see their policies listed on their website.

Data forwarded to ASFA from ticketing agents will be treated carefully by ASFA under ASFA’s own privacy policy as outlined in this document.

Tracking and Cookies

When you browse the ASFA website, our internet service provider logs information for statistical purposes and to optimise your browsing session. The information we collect about you includes frequency of visits, the most visited content and geographical location, and is not stored against your personal record. This information is not used to identify you.

We also use Google Analytics, a service provided by Google Inc. Google Analytics provides website users with “cookies” which are small text files stored in the user’s computer for a pre-defined period of time. These “cookies” temporarily record what a user does on previous websites and the information collected by the “cookies” is transmitted to Google on servers in the United States. The information collected is anonymous and is not matched to any identified individual. Google uses this anonymous information on our behalf to compile reports on website activity and internet usage (including Demographics and Interest reports) so that we may better understand our website users and optimise your browsing experience.

You can opt out of the collection of this information by disabling cookies, however you may not be able to use all our website features. You can also opt out of receiving interest-based ads from Google by visiting https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. When you opt out of interest-based advertisements, you will still see advertisements, however they will not be related to factors such as your interests, previous visits to other websites or demographic details.

How we communicate

We use email communication and direct mail to promote our services and to communicate with members and others on our database. We also use telephone communication for customer service.

On the ASFA website you are able to subscribe and unsubscribe from a range of email communications that we disseminate. Preferences may be changed at any time through the My e-comms section of the ASFA Toolbox on the website.

To subscribe and unsubscribe to various email lists you will need your ASFA ID and password. If you do not have an ID, or have forgotten it, please contact ASFA Member Services.

Promotion of ASFA events, programs and courses is conducted in accordance with applicable legislation, including the Privacy Act and the Spam Act 2003. Recipients of promotional communications are able to opt out at any time.

Disclosure of personal information

We will only disclose your personal information where this is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, ASFA functions or activities.

If you are an ASFA student we may, with your written permission, share education information with your employer.

From time to time we may promote third party activities directly to you when deemed to be of value.

In the normal course of our business we may provide personal information to service providers in Australia or overseas including, for example:

organisations that assist us in delivering conferences, seminars and other events to you
organisations that we may engage to provide training services to you on our behalf
mailing houses and market research companies who are engaged specifically to undertake ASFA business.

Strict guidelines apply to the use and security of this data.

From time to time we may facilitate conferences and other events overseas, in which case we may disclose personal information of attendees to overseas organisations in connection with those events.

If you register for an ASFA event, we may provide personal information about you to sponsors of the events, unless you ask us not to do so.

As a Registered Training Organisation and provider of Government-subsidised training, we are also required to provide certain information about participants in learning courses to a number of State and Commonwealth Government departments including ASQA (the RTO’s registering body) and its auditors, the USI Registrar, Apprenticeship Network Providers, State Training Authorities, the Department of Education and Training, and the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).

From time to time we may also provide statistical information about individuals to third parties, however this information cannot be traced back to those individuals.

If you become a member of the ASFA Board, State Executive or other committee, or of a Policy Council, Standing Advisory Panel, Discussion Group or Study Group, we may share your contact details with other members of that group for the purpose of facilitating communication within that group.

From time to time ASFA committees assist us in raising awareness of ASFA and may be given access to your personal details for the purpose of performing ASFA business-related duties.

Otherwise, we will not disclose personal information about you to any party outside ASFA, other than for a purpose that has been made known to you and to which you have given your written consent, or where we are legally required to the disclose the information.

Security of personal information

Your personal information is stored in an electronic database that is password protected with access available only to authorised persons. Paper documents are kept in filing cabinets in the secretariat offices and can only be accessed by authorised staff.

Strict guidelines exist for the access to and use of this data.

Access to your personal information

You may request a copy of the information we are holding about you. Contact us by mail, email or telephone and outline the nature of your enquiry. We will respond to you in writing either by mail or email to the address held in our database as soon as possible. For security reasons, we will not provide you with personal details by telephone. You can request changes to your record if there are any errors.

Questions and complaints

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this privacy policy, or our use of your personal information, please contact the ASFA Privacy Officer using the contact details provided below. You can also contact the Privacy Officer if you believe that the privacy of your personal information has been compromised or is not adequately protected.

If you lodge a complaint, the Privacy Officer will respond to you as soon as possible.

You can also lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by telephone: 1300 363 992 or email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au.

Privacy Officer, ASFA
Level 11, 77 Castlereagh Street, Sydney 2000
02 9264 9300 or 1800 812 798 (for callers outside Sydney)