Ballina Shire Council is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Statement outlines our practices relating to personal information collected through various Council-owned websites.
Council has adopted a Privacy Management Plan as required under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIP Act). The Privacy Management Plan explains how we manage personal and health information under NSW privacy laws. The Privacy Management Plan is available on our website.
Further privacy information can be found on the NSW Information and Privacy Commission (IPC) website, www.ipc.nsw.gov.au . If you have specific concerns or questions, please contact us.
We collect, store and use a broad range of information, which may be stored in hard copy or electronic form.
We will only ask for your personal information for a lawful purpose directly related to our functions. We will only ask for personal information directly from you or your authorised agent. In the case of a person under the age of 16 years, we will ask for that information to be submitted by a parent or guardian.
We provide a wide range of online services, including the Community Portal, Your Say Ballina community engagement platform and electronic forms for council services. We may need to collect your personal information to assist you when you access our online services or engage with us. The supply of this information is voluntary. If you do not wish to provide your personal information to us, we may be unable to provide you with the services required.
The information we collect via Council-owned websites may include:
When you conduct a transaction on our websites, we collect the personal information you give us, such as your name, address, email address, telephone number, etc.
We will use your personal information for the purpose it was collected or a directly related purpose. We may also use your information to exercise other functions, such as updating our customer records or informing you about other Council services.
Where we collect personal information from you, this Privacy Statement indicates which third parties we might share your information with. In addition to providing services to you and carrying out your requests, we may use or disclose personal information that we collect for purposes including:
Content submitted by you for publication may be disclosed to all visitors of our websites and republished on other websites at our discretion. In submitting such content, you warrant that the content is owned or produced by yourself or you otherwise have permission to assign publication rights to us.
By providing personal information, either your own or that of a third party, as part of publishable content, you confirm you have permission to disclose this information and indemnify us against any consequences resulting from the publication.
If you find your personal information published on our websites without your consent or suspect any loss or misuse of your personal information, please contact us immediately.
Council websites may use cookies to improve the user's experience while visiting our websites. Where applicable, these websites employ a cookie control system that lets users choose whether to allow or disallow cookies on their computer/device when visiting the websites.
Cookies are small files saved to the user's computer hard drive that track, save and store information about the user's interactions and website usage. This allows the website, through its server, to provide the users with a tailored experience within the website.
Our websites use tracking software to monitor site visitors to understand better how they use the sites. Google Analytics provides this software, which uses cookies to track visitor usage. The software will save a cookie to your computer's hard drive to track and monitor your engagement and usage of the websites but will not store, save, or collect personal information.
For further information, read Google's Privacy Policy.
You may opt-out by turning off cookies in your browser. Please note, however, that disabling cookies may reduce available website functionality.
You can opt-out of receiving further communications each time we send you the information you have opted to receive. This comes in the form of an 'unsubscribe' link.
If you receive any communication purporting to be connected with council or our products or services that does not include an 'unsubscribe' link or is in breach of any law, please contact us immediately.
We will store your personal information securely, not keep it longer than necessary and dispose of it securely under our State Records Act 1998 obligations and any other requirements for retaining and disposing of personal information. Personal information is protected from unauthorised access, use or disclosure.
We regard all information concerning our customers as protected by the PPIP Act. Information provided by our customers is not deemed to have been collected by us. We will protect and manage this information as per our Privacy Management Plan.
We do not disclose personal information without consent unless disclosure is:
We may share your information within council and also with third parties as and when required. These third parties may include, but not be limited to:
We may also disclose your personal information to your authorised representative/s or third parties acting on your behalf (e.g. your solicitor, power of attorney, or interpreter).
Submissions to advertised documents and development applications will be treated as public documents and may be published online in Council meeting reports and agendas or listed on our DAs online portal.
Please read' Making a Submission' for further information about how we manage submissions.
We will take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is relevant and accurate before using it. Reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of information include collecting data directly from an individual wherever possible and sourcing personal information from official council business systems.
You have the right to seek access to and update or correct the personal information we hold about you. If you make an access request, we will ask you to verify your identity, and a fee-for-service based on cost recovery may be charged.
You can contact Customer Service on 1300 864 444 or email council@ballina.nsw.gov.au to access or update your personal information.
With the exclusion of information supplied for publication, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold is not lost, misused, or inadvertently provided to unauthorised third parties.
The security of communications sent by electronic means cannot be guaranteed. When you provide information to us via the Internet, you acknowledge this and do so at your own risk. We cannot accept responsibility for misuse or loss of, or unauthorised access to, your personal information where information security is not wholly within our control.
You are wholly responsible for the security and confidentiality of any username and password you use to access Council-owned websites. You agree that you will be held accountable for all activities under your username and password (including but not limited to the publication of illegal or defamatory material or any other unlawful activity).
You agree that we are not responsible for any third party's privacy or security practices and that the collection and use of your information by third parties may be subject to separate privacy and security policies outside the control of Ballina Shire Council.
An amendment to the PPIP Act has established the Mandatory Notification of Data Breach Scheme (MNDB) in New South Wales. From 28 November 2023, we must notify the Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals of any eligible data breaches.
Our Data Breach Response Plan outlines our approach to complying with the MNDB Scheme, the roles and responsibilities for reporting data breaches and strategies for containing, assessing and managing eligible data breaches.
Further information about the MNDB Scheme can be found on the Information and Privacy Commission (IPC) website.
The register provides information about the public notification of an eligible data breach under the PPIP Act.
A public notification is required when it is not reasonably practicable to notify any or all individuals affected by a breach directly.
Below is a list of all public notifications made by us and the BSC Register of Public Notifications. We will retain notifications in the register for 12 months.
Link to Public Notifications
There are no public notifications at this time.
Register of Public Notifications
There have been no notifications made in the previous 12 months
We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Statement at any time. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately once posted on our websites.
We reserve the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of these websites raises a suspicion that an offence is, has or will be committed. We will also provide access to data and information to any government agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs.
If you have any questions or complaints about how we collect, use, disclose, manage or store your personal information or would like to request access or changes to the information we hold, please contact us.
The General Manager
Ballina Shire Council
PO Box 450
Ballina NSW 2478
40 Cherry Street
Ballina NSW 2478
Opening Hours
8:15am - 4:30pm
Monday to Friday
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