Privacy Policy

 1.  Purpose  

1.1  This policy is intended to assist Parable Church and its board members, pastoral staff, non-pastoral staff, volunteers, agents and members as well as other individuals in understanding Parable Church’s practices for the collection, use, storage, disclosure and related handling of personal information (as defined in Australian privacy legislation). 

1.2 Parable Church is committed to protecting personal information and complying with its obligations under the applicable privacy laws.  Personal information collected will be treated strictly in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and this policy. 

1.2 Parable Church collects, retains, uses and discloses personal and other information in order for Parable Church to fulfil its objects, purposes, services, functions and activities, including but not limited to those expressly set out in its Constitution. 

2. Collection of Personal Information and Sensitive Information 

2.1  Parable Church will collect and retain personal information about its board members, pastoral staff, non-pastoral staff, volunteers, trainees, members, parishioners, contractors, suppliers, conference delegates and other individuals who interact and/or are involved with Parable Church (referred to in this policy as you). 

2.2  The personal information that Parable Church may collect includes but is not limited to: 

(a) name, date of birth, address, phone number and email address; 

(b) financial information, including bank account details and credit card; 

(c) other relevant information, including qualifications, training, work history and volunteer experience; and 

(d) sensitive information (as defined in Australian privacy legislation), including information or an opinion about racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs.

2.3 Personal information may be collected by Parable Church when a person: 

(a) visits Parable Church’s website, social media accounts and/or other online platforms; 

(b) applies to join Parable Church as a serve team member, volunteer, trainee, pastoral or non-pastoral staff member; 

(c) attends and/or participates in any church service, worship, communion, offering, program or other activities of Parable Church; 

(d) makes tithes, offerings or donations to Parable Church, including but not limited to bank or credit card account details when you give online; and/or 

(e) communicates with Parable Church for any reason, including but not limited to email or other online messaging. 

2.4 Parable Church will generally collect personal information directly from you and associated third parties. Personal information may also be collected from publicly available or other sources, such as affiliates or partners.  

2.5 Parable Church may collect sensitive information (as defined in the Privacy Act) from time to time in accordance with the applicable law. 

2.6 Parable Church may invite you to disclose sensitive information for purposes such as participating in, and/or monitoring of equal opportunity or access to, programs, services and other activities of Parable Church. Provision of this information is voluntary and the purposes for which this information is requested will be disclosed and the manner in which it will be used will be clearly specified. 

3. Purpose of collection  

3.1 As a general rule, Parable Church collects, uses, retains and discloses personal information about you for purposes that would be considered relevant and reasonable in the circumstances. 

3.2 Parable Church collects, holds, uses, retains and discloses personal information about you for the purposes of fulfilling and/or carrying out its objects, purposes, services, functions, programs and activities, including but not limited to: 

(a) those expressly set out in its Constitution; 

(b) facilitating the provision of church services, worship, programs and other activities of Parable Church; 

(c) organising and conducting conferences, programs, gatherings, prayer groups, team services and meetings; 

(d) the assessment of your qualifications, training and experience for any roles, volunteer work and/or serve team in Parable Church. Parable Church may need to clarify or verify information with external organisations and/or individuals and/or to obtain additional information to complete Parable Church’s assessment; 

(e) monitoring and/or investigating any concern or complaint you may have and/or in respect of your conduct; 

(f) allowing Parable Church to contact and communicate with you and maintaining a contact list; 

(g) enabling Parable Church to procure goods and services; 

(h) enabling Parable Church’s administrative and operational functions; 

(i) conducting surveys or reviews of the services offered by Parable Church; 

(j) supporting and managing password protected access to Parable Church’s online platforms and/or systems; 

(k) investigating security incidents or the misuse of the facilities and/or amenities of Parable Church; 

(l) assisting, supporting and/or providing benefits to our parishioners; 

(m) conducting procedures and processes in accordance with the relevant policies of Parable Church; 

(n) procuring and/or fundraising for donations, gifts, funding or other kinds of support for the objects, purposes, missions, services, programs and activities of Parable Church; 

(o) complying with Parable Church’s legal and regulatory obligations; and 

(p) otherwise to manage Parable Church’s activities. 

4.  Use of Personal Information 

Parable Church will only use personal information for the purposes for which it has been collected unless consent for other uses have been obtained, or where Parable Church is permitted or required to by law to use the personal information. 

5. Direct Marketing  

5.1 We may use your personal information for direct marketing purposes and otherwise to let you know about products and services that we think may be of interest to you. However, you may opt out of receiving marketing information at any time by using the contact details provided in this policy. 

5.2 All direct marketing communications undertaken by Parable Church will include details of how to opt-out or unsubscribe from receiving marketing materials from Parable Church. 

5.3 We will not disclose your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes without your consent. 

6.  Disclosure of personal information 

6.1 Parable Church may disclose personal information for the purposes for which the information was collected, including carrying out the purposes, objectives and functions of Parable Church, or where permitted or required by law. 

6.2 This may include Parable Church disclosing information to a third party for one or more of the following purposes: 

(a) enabling Parable Church’s lawyers, consultants, accountants, auditors, contractors and/or service providers to provide advice to, or undertake relevant activities for, Parable Church; 

(b) registration and membership of Parable Church; 

(c) registration of interest and/or attendance at services, events, conferences and/or other gatherings held by, on behalf of, facilitated and/or otherwise supported by Parable Church; and 

(d) information and notices regarding Parable Church’s services, events, conferences, gatherings and/or activities (and/or similar offered, facilitated and/or provided by third parties on behalf of, in partnership or collaboration with and/or otherwise supported by Parable Church). 

6.3 Except as set out above, Parable Church will not disclose personal information to third parties without your consent. 

7.  Access to and Correction of Personal Information 

7.1  Subject to the Privacy Act, you have the right to access and correct the personal information that Parable Church holds about you at any time. You may also request that we delete your personal information.  

7.2 To make a request, please contact us using the details provided in this policy. Parable Church will respond to all requests for access to, or correction of, personal information within a reasonable time. 

7.3 Parable Church may refuse to grant you access to your personal information to the extent such refusal is permitted or required by the applicable privacy law. 

7.4 Parable Church may seek to recover from you reasonable costs incurred for providing you with access to any of the personal information about you held by us. 

7.5 Parable Church is not obliged to correct any of your personal information if we do not agree that it requires correction and may refuse to do so.   

7.6 If Parable Church refuses all or part of your request to access your personal information and/or refuse a correction request, Parable Church will meet its obligations under the applicable privacy legislation including informing you: 

(a) with the reason(s) for the refusal; 

(b) the mechanism to complain about the refusal; and 

(c) any other matter prescribed by the application privacy law. 

8. Protection of personal information and security measures  

8.1 Parable Church will use reasonable endeavours to protect your personal information held from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Parable Church maintains appropriate security measures, including firewalls and secure servers, and procedures to protect your personal information. 

8.2 Despite its reasonable endeavours, Parable Church is unable to ensure or warrant the security of any personal information transmitted to Parable Church and all personal information disclosed by you to Parable Church is at your own risk. 

9.  Overseas transfers of personal information 

9.1  Parable Church will hold personal information electronically in our approved systems and platforms (which includes but is not limited to Planning Center (Church Management System), Subsplash (Church Management System), Stripe, Mailchimp, Squarespace and Microsoft Office 365), in cloud storage, and in some cases, on third party servers, which may be located overseas.  

9.2  By providing your personal information to us: 

(a) you consent to the storage of your personal information on overseas servers; 

(b) you consent to us disclosing your personal information to any overseas recipients for purposes necessary or useful in the course of operating Parable Church and our activities; and  

(c) you agree that APP 8.1 will not apply to such disclosures.   

9.3 For the avoidance of doubt and unless otherwise provided by law, in the event that an overseas recipient breaches the APPs, that entity will not be bound by, and you will not be able seek redress under, the Privacy Act. 

10.  Compliance with Australian Privacy Laws 

Parable Church complies with the APPs and the Privacy Act. This includes our obligations to: 

(a) manage personal information in an open and transparent way; 

(b) collect personal information only for lawful purposes that are reasonably necessary; 

(c) ensure that personal information we hold is accurate, up-to-date and complete; 

(d) use and disclose personal information only for the purposes for which it was collected or as required by law; 

(e) protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure; 

(f) provide individuals with access to their personal information and the ability to correct or delete it; and 

(g) have a clearly expressed and up-to-date privacy policy that explains Parable Church’s privacy practices. 

11. Consent 

You acknowledge and agree that Parable Church is permitted to collect, store, use and disclose your personal information in the manner set out in this policy and in accordance with the applicable privacy laws. 

12. Contact Us 

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this policy or how Parable Church handles your personal information or wish to make a request to access, correct or delete your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer at: [email protected]. If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your complaint, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: 

 

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner 

GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW  2001
Telephone: 1300 363 992
Email: [email protected] 

 

13.  Cookies 

A cookie is a small text file stored in your computer’s memory, on your hard disk and/or your web browser for a pre-defined period of time.  Parable Church use cookies to identify specific machines in order to collect aggregate information on how visitors are experiencing our website and/or other online platforms.  This information will help to better adapt Parable Church’s website and/or other online platforms to suit personal requirements.  While cookies allow a computer to be identified, they do not permit any reference to a specific individual.  You should note that de-activating cookies may mean that you will no longer be able to utilise the full operational capabilities of Parable Church’s website and/or other online platforms. 

 

14. Changes to this policy 

We reserve the right to change the terms of this policy from time to time, without notice to you. An up-to-date copy of Parable Church’s policy will be made available on Parable Church’s website. Parable Church encourages you to review this policy periodically to ensure that you are aware of any changes. 

 

15. Document details 

Name of Document	Privacy Policy
Document version	1
Version date	April 2024
Approval by	Board of directors
Date of Approval
Related Documents	Constitution for Parable Church

 

 

 

 

Parable Church Ltd 

ABN 63 672 132 320
1/3 Ward Place, Dural NSW 

 

Website: www.parablechurch.com
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: (02) 9072 1357