Privacy and Consent Policy

tss brand orange line large

1. OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU

At The Survivor Service Ltd, we are committed to protecting your privacy, safety, dignity, and rights. We recognise that sharing personal information can be difficult, and we are committed to ensuring you feel safe, respected, and informed at all times.

We take a survivor-centred, trauma-informed approach to privacy and confidentiality. This means we respect your right to make informed decisions about your information and to maintain control over how it is used and shared.

We only collect and use personal information where it is necessary to provide safe, effective, and appropriate support, and we handle all information in accordance with privacy laws and safeguarding obligations.

2. LEGISLATION AND STANDARDS WE FOLLOW

  • Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)

  • Australian Privacy Principles

  • Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld)

  • Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld)

  • Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 (Qld), including Part 5A

  • Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Information Sharing Guidelines v2 (2023)

  • Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld)

  • Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld)

  • Human Services Quality Framework

3. WHAT INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect only the information necessary to support you and deliver our services safely and appropriately. This may include personal information such as your name, contact details, date of birth, gender identity, and identification information where required.

We may also collect sensitive information relevant to your safety, well-being, or service engagement, but only with your consent or where required by law.

4. HOW WE COLLECT INFORMATION

We collect information directly from you, through referral partners where appropriate, through service engagement processes, and via secure online forms. Where information is received from third parties, we take reasonable steps to inform you.

5. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

Your information is used only to provide services, support your safety and wellbeing, coordinate referrals where appropriate, meet legal and safeguarding obligations, and improve service delivery.

6. HOW WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION

We use secure electronic systems, restricted-access controls, encryption, and secure document-handling procedures. We securely destroy or de-identify information when it is no longer required in accordance with legislative requirements.

7. WHEN YOUR INFORMATION MAY BE SHARED

We seek your consent before sharing your information wherever possible. Information may be shared without consent only where required by law, to prevent serious harm, or to meet safeguarding or legal obligations.

8. CONSENT

We prefer written consent wherever possible. Verbal consent may be accepted where appropriate and documented. You may withdraw consent at any time, except where disclosure is required by law.

9. YOUR RIGHTS

You have the right to access your information, request corrections, withdraw consent, and make complaints about how your information is handled.

10. SAFEGUARDING AND SAFETY

Your safety is our priority. Information may be shared without consent where necessary to prevent harm or meet safeguarding obligations.

11. FEEDBACK AND COMPLAINTS

If you have concerns, you may contact The Survivor Service Ltd, you can do this via our website contact page. You may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Office of the Information Commissioner Queensland, or Queensland Human Rights Commission.

(Applies to: Survivors, service users, partners, community members, and stakeholders.)