Privacy Policy

1.           Definitions

1.1 . Unless specified otherwise, words and phrases beginning with a capital letter in this Privacy Policy have the same meaning provided for such terms in our Terms and Conditions or as set out as follows:

 

Credit Information, Personal Information and Sensitive Information are defined terms appearing in section 6 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth);

 

Information means Credit Information, Personal Information and Sensitive Information; and

 

Member means a member of the RMA Network being a livestock agent, licensed real estate agent or other member admitted in accordance with the RMA Network’s constitution.

 

2.           Purpose

2.1 . This Privacy Policy is adopted by Rural Marketing Agents Ltd ACN 003 418 853 and its related entities (as defined in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (RMA Network) and sets out how the Information we collect about you is handled, stored, disclosed and otherwise dealt with in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).

 

2.2 . By visiting or using our Website, products or services or contacting us, you acknowledge that  you understand and agree to the collection, storage, usage and disclosure of your Information by us in manner described in this Privacy Policy.

 

3.           Scope

3.1 . This Privacy Policy applies to you as a user of our Website, prospective client, client, employee, agent, Member of our network or a member of the public who we do business with and covers all Information which we collect about you. This Privacy Policy also applies to clients and prospective clients of our Members in circumstances where we collect and collate information on behalf of our members.

 

3.2 .  Members of the RMA Network may opt-in to the terms of this Privacy Policy. Notwithstanding this, we do  not accept any liability or guarantee any obligation on behalf of our Members.

 

4.           Collection, Use and Disclosure

What Information is collected

4.1 . Under the Privacy Act, Personal Information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, regardless of whether the information or opinion is true or recorded in a material form. Generally, Personal Information we may collect and hold includes, but is not limited to:

 

(a)         your name, phone number, mailing or street address, mobile telephone number, age or birth date, profession, occupation or job title, email address, and other contact information;

 

(b)         copies of identification including driver's licence, passport and other identification documents;

 

(c)          details of property or livestock you wish to purchase, sell or lease (as applicable);

 

(d)         details of companies or other entities whom you are associated with;

 

(e)         information in relation to your dietary or mobility requirements where you seek to attend an event we arrange;

 

(f)            information you supply when submitting forms in relation to any competition or award we offer;

 

(g)         references provided in support of applications;

 

(h)         your financial institution and mortgage details;

 

(i)            financial information including credit card and banking details, assets, liabilities, income and outgoings;

(j) information which is relevant to providing you with access to our insurance schemes (if any) such as claims history; 

 

(k) Credit Information including credit reports from credit reporting agencies;

 

(l) Personal Information from your interaction with the Website and its content, our services and our advertising, including without limitation device identifiers, device type, geo-location information, connection information, statistics on page views, traffic to and from the Website, mobile network information, time, date, referring URL, the type of operating system and browser, ad data, IP address and standard web log data; and

 

(m) any other Information provided by you to us including without limitation through use of the Website or services;

 

4.2 . You may engage with us anonymously or using a pseudonym in some circumstances, however, if you wish for us to provide you with services, we will need to verify your identity which includes collecting Information about you.

 

4.3 . We understand the importance of protecting children's privacy. The Website including related sites such as our Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn or other social media pages are not intentionally designed for or directed at children.

 

Why Information is collected

4.4 . The Information we collect is necessary for us to provide you with our services (and you authorise us to use your Information in this way), which includes:

 

(a) providing you with information about our business and services including marketing and promotional material;

 

(b) to conduct our business, generate content and provide customer support and payment services (including updates and improvements);

 

(c) to provide, administer, market and manage the Website and our services;

 

(d) to communicate with you and respond to your enquiries;

 

(e) to enforce this Privacy Policy or any other policy

 

(f) to comply with our legal obligations, a request by a governmental agency or regulatory authority or legally binding court order;

 

(g) to combine or aggregate your Personal Information with information we collect from third parties and use it for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy;

 

(h)  to resolve disputes and to identify, test and resolve problems;

 

(i)    providing you with access to protected areas of our Websites;

 

(j) providing you with tailored advice and services;

 

(k) coordinating events and competitions;

 

(l) conducting stock agent transactions;

 

(m) promoting and advertising our membership services; 

 

(n) administering and meeting our obligations under our membership agreements;

 

(o) complying with our obligations under law including where we employ you; 

 

(p) registering security interests on the Personal Property Securities Register on behalf of our Members; 

 

(q) assessing your credit worthiness; 

 

(r) researching, developing, improving and marketing our services; and

(s) to protect a person's rights, property or safety.

 

4.5 . If we are unable to collect, use and disclose your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy  Policy, we may not be able to effectively deliver our services to you and we may prohibit your access of the Website.

 

4.6 . We use Information for the purposes for which it was given, or for purposes which are directly related to our functions and activities. We do not use Personal Information for any purpose which would not be reasonably obvious or expected, unless such use is consistent with the Privacy Act.

 

How Information is collected

4.7 . We usually collect information directly from you. You may provide those details when you make an enquiry with us by phone or email, when you complete an application form, when you interact with our social media pages or when you engage us to do work for you or provide you with our services. We also collect information when you contract with us. 

 

4.8 .     Some forms on our website are facilitated by third party service providers.

 

4.9 . We collect information whenever you visit and/or use the Website, in which case we record information sent to us by your computer, mobile device or other device you are using to access the Website. When you visit our Website, our Internet Service Provider automatically records the following information about you:

 

(a)      your server address;

 

(b)      the Website you visited immediately prior to ours; (c)  your domain name;

(d)      date and time of your visit to our Website;

 

(e)      pages you accessed and the information or documents you downloaded; (f)        type of browser you used; and

(g)      any other information we request our Internet Service Provider to record from time to time.

 

4.10  . We also rely on public registers and may exchange information with other entities with whom we interact when providing you with our services including lawyers and financial advisers. We may obtain Credit Information from credit reporting bodies in some circumstances.  

 

4.11  . If we receive Information that we do not require or which is not directly related to our functions, we may destroy or de-identify that Information.

 

4.12  . In some circumstances, Personal Information is provided to us by third parties or other organisations conducting activities on your behalf. With your expressed or implied consent, your Personal Information may be used and disclosed to us this way

 

How we hold Information

4.13  . We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the Information we collect is stored in a secure environment and protected from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We hold Information both in hard copy form and electronically at our premises and with various service providers that assist us with Information storage, respectively. Electronic information is also backed up on a secure server administered by Google or another provider nominated by us. To the best of our knowledge, these servers are located in Australia however we make no guarantee that they are in Australia and you consent to your information being stored on foreign based servers.

 

4.14  . Information collected on our Website or by other means for the purposes of registering security interests on the Personal Property Securities Register will be shared with our lawyers and with any relevant Member who provides financial accommodation and held by them in accordance with their privacy policies (if any). We do not accept any liability for third parties (including our Members) and how they collect, hold and disclose Information. You should enquire directly with any such third parties.

4.15  . If you request information from another organisation through the use of the Website, it is your obligation to check the Privacy Policy of that organisation to confirm how they will handle your Information. We are not responsible for the way in which our Members or other third parties collect, store, disclose or otherwise handle Information provided to them through the Website.  

 

How Information is secured

4.16  . We secure Information by restricting access to your Information to the employees, contractors and agents who require that Information in order to provide you with our services. Hard copy files are secured within premises protected by locks and security systems. Information is also protected by secured sockets layers (SSLs), firewalls, user identifiers and passwords.

 

4.17  . Despite the above, the transmission and exchange of information is carried out at your own risk. We cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us, or receive from us. Although we take measures to safeguard against unauthorised disclosures of information, we cannot assure you that Information that we collect will not be disclosed in a manner that is inconsistent with this Privacy Policy.

 

When Information will be disclosed

4.18  . We may disclose Information about you to:

 

(a) your agent, solicitor, lender, broker, accountant, vendor, employer or other third parties where necessary or desirable to provide you with our services;

 

(b)  a Member that has a listing or advertisement on the Website, where you have requested information by submitting an enquiry in relation to that listing or advertisement, for the purpose of assisting that Member to provide you with products or services;

 

(c)       promoters or sponsors of any competition that conducted or promoted by the RMA Network; (d)   specific third parties that you have authorised to receive information held by us;

(e)     our employees, related bodies corporate, contractors or external service providers for the operation of our Website or business, fulfilling requests or responding to enquiries from you or providing products or services to you including, without limitation, web hosting providers, IT systems administrators, mailing houses, couriers, payment processors, data entry service providers, electronic network administrators, debt collectors, utilities providers, and professional advisors such as accountants, solicitors, business advisors and consultants;

 

(f) any relevant authority or enforcement body where we reasonably believe that such disclosure is necessary to bring legal action against anyone who has breached our terms and conditions or have engaged in any unlawful activity; 

 

(g)       such entities that we propose to merge with or be acquired by; or

 

(h) to any other person where otherwise required or permitted to by any law, including under the Privacy Act. 

 

4.19  .  We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that Information is only disclosed when reasonably necessary  or otherwise where permitted under law. We will not share, sell, rent or disclose your Personal Information in ways different from what is disclosed in this Privacy Policy.

 

4.20  . Generally we are unlikely to disclose your information to entities based overseas, however in limited circumstances this may occur (such as if our servers are located overseas) and you consent to that. Such disclosure will comply with the Australian Privacy Principles.

 

5.           Use of Cookies

5.1 .     We (or a third party providing services to us) may use cookies, pixel tags, "flash cookies”, or other local storage provided by your browser or associated applications (each a “Cookie” and together “Cookies”). A Cookie is a small file that may be placed on your computer when you visit the Website. Cookies are used on some parts of the Website. Most browsers now recognise when a cookie is offered and permit you to refuse or accept it. If you are not sure whether your browser has this capability, you should check with the software manufacturer, your company's technology help desk or your internet service provider. If Cookies are disabled, we may not be able to provide you with the full range of our services.

5.2 . Cookies may collect and store your Personal Information. This Privacy Policy applies to  Personal  Information collected via Cookies. You consent and acknowledge that we collect your Personal Information through Cookies.

 

5.3 . Cookies may be used to provide you with the services, including to identify you as a user of the Website, remember your preferences, customise and measure the effectiveness of the Website and our promotions, advertising and marketing, analyse your usage of the Website, and for security purposes.

 

5.4 .  You also may encounter Cookies used by third parties and placed on certain pages of the Website that we do not control and have not authorised (such as webpages created by another user). We are not responsible nor liable for the use of such Cookies.

 

5.5 . The Website may also include links to third party Websites (including links created by users or members)  and applications and advertising delivered to the Website by third parties (“Linked Sites”). Organisations who operate Linked Sites may collect Personal Information including through the use of Cookies. We are not responsible nor liable for Linked Sites and recommends that you read the privacy policies of such Linked Sites before disclosing your Personal Information. For the avoidance of doubt Linked Sites are not subject to this Privacy Policy.

 

5.6 . The Website is hosted by an online service provider which may change from time to time. Our service providers' use of Cookies is not covered by our Privacy Policy.

 

6.           Marketing Materials

6.1 . We may use Information collected to send you direct marketing communications and information about products and services that we believe may be of interest or value to you. Such communications may be sent in various forms, including but not limited to, mail or email and only in accordance with applicable marketing laws. If you indicate a preference for a method of communication, we will endeavour to use that method whenever practical to do so.

 

6.2 . You may choose to opt-out of marketing communications by contacting us at any time (refer to ‘Contact Details’ section below) or by unsubscribing.  

 

7.           Credit Information

7.1 .     We may collect, use and disclose Credit Information about you which is reasonably necessary:

 

(a) to obtain a credit report containing information in relation to your consumer or commercial credit activities from a credit reporting agency; 

 

(b) to undertake due diligence for livestock or real estate matters; or

 

(c) for any other purpose for which Credit Information is reasonably required by us or our Members in order to provide you with our services.

 

7.2 . Credit Information is disclosed to our advisers and to relevant Members. We will only disclose Credit Information to other third parties where we deem that it is necessary.

 

8.           Archiving/Destruction of Information

8.1 . All Information is retained on file for the period of time required to fulfil our business needs and legal obligations (usually seven (7) years). Where that Information is no longer required, it will be destroyed, deleted or disposed of in a secure manner.

 

9.           Third Parties

9.1 . We do not make any representations or warranties in relation to any third party links that may be linked to  our Website or how they will treat your Information. You should obtain the relevant privacy policies for each third party with which you interact and before providing them with any Information.

 

10.        Access and Correction

10.1  . In some circumstances, you are entitled to access the Information which we collect from you. You are also entitled to request that we correct any Information about you which you believe is inaccurate, incomplete, irrelevant, misleading, out-of-date or otherwise incorrect.

10.2  .  Any request to access or correct your Information must be made to us in writing, which we will acknowledge in writing within thirty (30) days of the date of receipt. Your request must be accompanied by the Information we require in order to verify your identity.

 

10.3  . We may deny your request for Information certain circumstances. If this occurs, we will provide you with reasons for the denial.

 

10.4  . There is no application fee for making a request to access your Personal Information. However, we may charge an administrative fee for the provision of information in certain circumstances such as if you make repeated requests for information or where the information is held by a third party provider.

 

11.   Notifiable Data Breaches

11.1  . In the event that there is a data breach we will take all reasonable steps to contain the suspected or known breach where possible. We will take immediate steps to limit any further access or distribution where possible.  

 

11.2  . If we have reasonable grounds to suspect that the data breach is likely to result in serious harm to any individuals involved, then, if (and only if) we are required to do so under the Privacy Act:

(a)      We will take all reasonable steps to ensure an assessment is completed within 30 days of the breach; (b)        If remedial action is successful in making serious harm no longer likely, then no notification or

statement will be made;

 

(c) Where we are aware of reasonable grounds to believe serious harm is likely, as soon as practicable, we will provide a statement to each of the individuals whose data was breached or who are at risk. The statement will contain details of the breach and recommendations of the steps each individual should take. We will also provide a copy of the statement to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

 

11.3  . We will review the incident and take action to prevent future breaches.

 

12.        Links

12.1  . Our Website may contain links to other Websites operated by third parties. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of any third party Website and we are not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of any third party Website. Third party Websites are responsible for informing you about their own privacy practices.

 

13.        Complaints

13.1  . If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, or believe that a breach of privacy has occurred, please contact us using the Contact Details section below so that we may investigate such incident.

 

13.2  . RMA uses a formal procedure for the investigation and management of privacy breaches. Once a complaint has been received, the Privacy Officer will undertake an investigation in order to determine the nature of the breach and the reason it occurred. If a breach is found to have occurred, the matter will be escalated to RMA management. The Information storage and handling process will then be rectified to prevent any further breaches.

 

13.3  . RMA will contact you in order to inform you of the outcome of any investigation concerning your personal Information and to discuss any concerns you may have and possible resolutions to those concerns.  

 

13.4  . RMA will resolve all complaints within a timely and reasonable manner. 13.5. RMA will treat all requests and complaints confidentially.  

14.        Contact Details

14.1  . We welcome your comments and feedback.

 

Should you have any enquiries, concerns or complaints in relation to this Privacy Policy or our treatment of your Personal Information please contact the Member whom you have been dealing with. If there is no

relevant Member or that Member has been unable to resolve your enquiry to your satisfaction, please contact us at:

 

Position                Privacy Officer Telephone                             (03) 5443 7104 Email                    office@rma.com.au

Postal Address PO Box 5064, Sandhurst East VIC 3550 Website                           www.rma.com.au

14.2  . We will acknowledge and respond to all genuine enquiries, concerns and complaints in writing within thirty (30) days of the date of receipt.

 

15.        Further Information

15.1  .  If we do not resolve your enquiry, concern or complaint to your satisfaction or you require further information in relation to any privacy matters, please contact the Office of the Australian Information Commission at:

 

Telephone               1300 363 992

 

Email                       enquiries@oaic.gov.au

 

Office Address        Level 3, 175 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Postal Address        GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001 Website                              www.oaic.gov.au

16.        About this Privacy Policy

16.1  . This Privacy Policy is effective as of the date of its publication on the Website.   

 

16.2  . We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time and any amendments will apply to information we hold at the time of the update.

 

16.3  . If amended, the updated Privacy Policy will be available from our Website. Please ensure that you check  our Website to view the current Privacy Policy or contact us for a copy, as your continued use of the Website indicates your acceptance of our then current Privacy Policy.

 

We are committed to regularly reviewing this Privacy Policy to ensure it contains accurate information and we may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time without notice to you. You should regularly check our Website for our updated Privacy Policy.