Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to Director Institute Pty Ltd (ABN 93 163 158 030) of Level 36, 1 Macquarie Place, Sydney NSW 2000  (“Director Institute”, “we”, “us”, “our”) and explains how we handle personal information and comply with the requirements of applicable privacy laws (“Privacy Laws”).  We recognise the importance of your privacy and understand the issues and risks associated with the collection and handling of personal information and are committed to safeguarding personal information collected from you.

1. The information we collect

1.1 We collect personal information from subscribers, clients, suppliers, contractors, prospective employees, and other individuals for various business and other purposes further listed in section 2.2 below.  In this section, we explain the types of personal information which we usually collect as well as how we collect this information.

1.2 The types of personal information we will collect will depend on the circumstances in which that information is collected.  It may include:

(a) contact details (i.e. your name, address, email, phone and facsimile details);

(b) your date of birth;

(c) your qualifications, information about current and past employment, professional skills, current salary and additional benefits, other resume information or information required as part of a recruitment process;

(d) your drivers licence number;

(e) information which you publish on LinkedIn and other social media sites; and

(f) statistical information regarding the use of the Director Institute website, including website users’ IP addresses and the dates and times of visits.

1.3 If you consent, we may also collect sensitive information from you (eg. information about your membership in a trade union or health information).

1.4 We usually collect personal information through:

(a) our website;

(b) requests for services;

(c) social media sites, such as LinkedIn;

(d) surveys and promotions; and

(e) employment applications.

1.5 If you choose not to provide us with particular information that we have requested, we may not be able to fulfill the applicable purpose of collection, such as to provide all or part of the services that you have requested or to assess your application for employment.

1.6 Where practicable, we will collect personal information directly from you.  If we receive information about you from someone else, we will take reasonable steps to ensure you are aware that we have collected personal information about you and the circumstances of the collection.

2. How we use and disclose personal information

2.1 We will only use and disclose your personal information in accordance with Privacy Laws and this Privacy Policy.

2.2 Our main purposes for collecting, holding, using and disclosing personal information are the following:

(a) to supply services to our subscribers and our customers, including without limitation assessing someone’s suitability for a board role;

(b) to obtain products and services from our suppliers;

(c) to respond to inquiries from existing or prospective clients or individuals seeking information about our services;

(d) to process and assess employment applications;

(e) to undertake research and surveys and analyse statistical information; and

(f) to comply with laws.

2.3 We generally explain at the time we collect personal information how we will use or disclose that information.  We will only use or disclose personal information for a purpose other than for which it was collected or a related purpose if you have consented to such different use or disclosure or such use or disclosure is otherwise allowed by the Privacy Laws.

2.4 In carrying out our business, it may be necessary to share information about you with:

(a) our clients and subscribers;

(b) referees (please see below under 2.6 for more details);

(c) our related bodies corporate;

(d) our insurers;

(e) professional association or registration bodies that have a proper interest in the disclosure of the information; and

(f) our contractors or suppliers.

2.5 We would not otherwise routinely disclose personal information to another organisation unless:

(a) required by law;

(b) we believe it is necessary to provide you with a service which you have requested;

(c) it is necessary to protect the rights, property or personal safety of any of our clients, subscribers, any member of the public or our interests;

(d) the assets and operations of our business are transferred to another party as a going concern; or

(e) you have provided your consent.

2.6 As regards the disclosure of information to referees, we will contact your nominated referee(s) with the intention of obtaining personal information from that stated person about you which we will then pass on to our relevant clients. By consenting to the reference check, you consent to us passing on to the relevant clients any information we receive from the referee whether complimentary or derogatory.  If this is not acceptable please advise us prior to conducting the reference check.

3. Service providers

3.1 Like most organisations, we use a range of service providers to help us maximise the quality and efficiency of our services and our business operations.  This means that individuals and organisations outside of our organisation, such as promotional agencies and mailhouses, will sometimes have access to personal information held by us and may use it on behalf of us.  We require our service providers to adhere to strict privacy guidelines and not to keep this information or use it for any unauthorised purposes.

4. Cross-border disclosure of personal information

4.1 We may disclose personal information to organisations and individuals outside of Australia, including in the UK.  The privacy laws of those countries may not provide the same level of protection as the Australian Privacy Laws.  However, this does not change our commitments to safeguard your privacy and we will comply with all applicable laws relating to the cross-border data disclosure.

5. Direct marketing

5.1 Like most businesses marketing is important to our business’ success.  We therefore, from time to time, send marketing materials to current or prospective clients or members.  We only do so in accordance with applicable laws or with your prior consent.

5.2 If you are receiving promotional information from us and do not wish to receive this information any longer, please contact us info@directorinstitute.com.au asking to be removed from our mailing lists, or use the unsubscribe facilities included in our marketing communications.

5.3 We will never provide your data to third parties for their own commercial purposes.

6. Our website privacy practices

6.1 We sometimes use cookie technology on our website to provide information and services to website visitors.  Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to your computer’s hard disk for record keeping purposes and are a necessary part of facilitating online transactions.  Most web browsers are set to accept cookies.  Cookies are useful to estimate our number of members and determine overall traffic patterns through our websites.

6.2 If you do not wish to receive any cookies you may set your browser to refuse cookies. This may mean you will not be able to take full advantage of the services on the website.

7. Links to other websites

7.1 Our websites may contain links to third party websites.  These linked sites are not under our control and we are not responsible for the content of those sites nor are those sites subject to our Privacy Policy.  Before disclosing your personal information on any other website we recommend that you examine the terms and conditions and Privacy Policy of the relevant site.  We are not responsible for any practices on linked websites that might breach your privacy.

8. Employee information

8.1 This Privacy Policy does not apply to the handling of information about Director Institute employees by us. For information about our practices relating to employee information please contact info@directorinstitute.com.au.

9. Recruitment for positions at Director Institute

9.1 If you send us an application for a position with the Director Institute, this information will be used to assess your application.  This information may be disclosed to related bodies corporate and service providers for purposes such as:

(a) aptitude, psychological and medical testing; and

(b) other human resources management activities.

9.2 As part of the application process you may be asked for your specific consent to the use and disclosure of certain personal information about any pre-employment medical examination or any aptitude or psychological testing.  We may also ask you to consent to the disclosure of your personal information to those people who you nominated to provide references.

9.3 A refusal to provide any of this information, or to consent to its proposed disclosure may affect the success of the application.

9.4 You may also be asked whether you agree to your personal information being provided to our related bodies corporate for other positions relevant to your qualifications and experience.

10. Access to your information

10.1 If at any time you want to know exactly what personal information we hold about you, you are welcome to request access to your record by contacting us at info@directorinstitute.com.au addressing your query to the Privacy Officer. Our file of your information will usually be made available to you within 14 days.

10.2 If at any time you wish to change personal information that we hold about you because it is inaccurate or out of date, please contact us at info@directorinstitute.com.au addressing your query to the Privacy Officer and we will amend this record.  If you wish to have your personal information deleted, please let us know in the same manner as referred to above and we will take all reasonable steps to delete it unless we need to keep it for legal reasons.

11. Security

11.1 We will take reasonable steps to keep secure any personal information which we hold about you and to keep this information accurate, up to date and complete. Your information is stored on secure servers that are located in secure premises.

11.2 While we do our best to secure your personal information by implementing appropriate technical and organisational measures, we cannot always guarantee the security of your personal information.

12. Retention of information

12.1 When we no longer need to use your information, we will take steps to properly de-identify or destroy it.

13. Changes to this Privacy Policy

13.1 We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time and notify you by posting an updated version of the policy on our website.  If at any point we decide to use personal information in a manner materially different from that stated at the time it was collected we will notify users by email or via a prominent notice on our website, and where necessary we will seek the prior consent of our users.

14. Contact us

14.1 If you have any concerns or complaints about how we handle your personal information, or if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at info@directorinstitute.com.au addressing your query to the Privacy Officer.

14.2 In most cases we will ask that you put your request in writing to us.  We will investigate your complaint and will use reasonable endeavours to respond to you in writing within 30 days of receiving the written complaint.  If we fail to respond to your complaint within 30 days of receiving it in writing or if you are dissatisfied with the response that you receive from us, you may have the right to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.