Privacy Policy
Policy purpose
The purpose of this policy is to explain how Queensland Hydro collects and manages personal information.
Policy statement
The proper management of personal information is important to Queensland Hydro Pty Ltd ACN 661 444 515 (“Queensland Hydro”, “we” or “us”). We comply with all relevant privacy laws where we operate, including the requirements applicable to us under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), the Australian Privacy Principles and the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld).
What is personal information?
When used in this policy, “personal information” has the meaning given to it in the Privacy Act, being information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
Collecting and holding personal information
Queensland Hydro is a business established to plan, deliver, own, operate and maintain pumped hydro energy storage projects. We collect and hold personal information so we can perform the operations and functions of our business. Sometimes, the law requires us to collect it.
The types of personal information that we collect and hold depend on the nature of our engagement with you. Set out below are the main types of personal information collected by Queensland Hydro and the main purposes for which it is collected and held.
Individuals who contact or engage with us
You may choose to provide your name or other contact details when you contact or engage with us (whether by phone, mail, email, through the Queensland Hydro website or otherwise). For example:
- When you submit a query or request to us, we may collect your name, email address, telephone number and other information. We collect, hold and use this information to assist you with your query or request.
- When you consent (and do not unsubscribe) to receive marketing and communications updates from us. We collect, use and hold this information to provide relevant updates about Queensland Hydro, our Projects, or other activities. You can opt-out by contacting [email protected].
- When you visit our offices, we may collect your name, email address, company/employer (if applicable), telephone number and other information. We collect, hold and use this information to manage your visit and comply with our policies and legal obligations in relation to visitors.
- When you respond to a survey that we run or fill in forms on one of our websites, we may collect name, email address, company/employer (if applicable), telephone number and other information. We collect, hold and use this information so we can perform the operations and functions of our business that relate to the survey or form you complete.
- When you participate in public consultation or feedback processes, we may collect name, email address, company/employer (if applicable), telephone number and other information that you provide to us. We collect, hold and use this information so we can perform the operations and functions of our business to which the public consultation or feedback processes relate. We may also provide this information to a third-party for the purposes of conducting market research to enhance our operations.
Employees, contractors and job applicants
If you apply for a job or contract with us, we may collect certain personal information (including name, contact details, working history and relevant records checks) from you, from a recruitment consultant, from previous employers and others who may be able to provide information to us, or from public sources. We collect, hold and use this information to process the application and decide on whether or not to make an offer of employment or enter a contract.
Landowner and occupier information
We may collect and hold personal information (for example, name and contact details) about landowners and occupiers who are located near our land and infrastructure, or near a planned pumped hydro energy storage project. We may use this information to contact these individuals in connection with activities related to planning, construction, operation and maintenance of pumped hydro energy storage assets, including access to property, safety or emergency issues, maintenance and vegetation management.
Information from public sources
We may collect information about you from public sources, such as social media sites, in connection with the operation of our business. For example, this could include social media handles and other social media profile information.
Information as required or permitted by law
We may collect information about you as required or permitted by law.
Information from our website
When you visit our website, we may collect device information, server log information, IP address, and location information. We collect, hold and use this information as part of the operation of the website including to gather information about visitors to our website and improve the user experience.
Third parties
We may collect personal information from third parties so we can perform the operations and functions of our business. For example, if we engage a contractor to carry out surveys or public consultation on our behalf, we may collect and hold contact information and other information that was provided to the contractor as part of the survey or public consultation and use that information to perform the operations and functions of our business to which the survey or public consultation relates.
Use of personal information
In addition to the uses of information described above, we may use your personal information:
- in accordance with your written consent
- for purposes connected with our business operations, including:
- communicating with you about our business
- obtaining feedback related to our business
- performing business processing functions
- updating our records and keeping contact details up to date
- preventing or investigating any actual or suspected fraud, unlawful activity or misconduct
- complying with the law including using your personal information where we are required or permitted to do so
- preparing reports and other information for entities that we report to in the course of our business, such as Queensland Government departments and agencies, or
- otherwise in ways that you would reasonably expect and as permitted or required by law.
Disclosure of personal information
We may disclose personal information for the purposes described in this privacy policy to:
- our employees, consultants, agents, contractors, suppliers, service providers, professional advisors and related entities who are acting on our behalf
- parties to whom Queensland Hydro has outsourced a business function, including but not limited to service providers for the purposes of operation of our website, IT systems administrators, data entry service providers, market research providers, other service providers, and professional advisors such as accountants, lawyers and business advisors
- emergency services and other entities such as disaster management groups who provide assistance during an emergency event
- entities that we report to in the course of our business, such as Queensland Government departments and agencies
- regulatory authorities or government agencies or bodies where required by law, and
- anyone to whom Queensland Hydro assets or business (or any part of it) is transferred or offered to be transferred.
Where we have disclosed personal information to a third party acting on our behalf, we request that those third parties do not use the personal information for their own purposes and that they comply with this privacy policy.
Protecting your personal information
We protect information using a range of security measures and procedures to prevent loss, modification, unauthorised access and misuse, including:
- providing training and awareness to staff on the risks posed to information held by us
- access controls, such as unique, authenticated accounts restricted to authorised personnel
- restricting physical access to records and premises to authorised persons, and
- protecting our technology environment with appropriate security measures such as firewalls, encryption and scanning for malicious content.
In some situations, we may disclose personal information to third parties who store data overseas (such as data hosting and other related service providers). Before doing so, we take reasonable steps to ensure the overseas recipient will deal with such personal information in a manner that is consistent with the Privacy Act.
Accessing and correcting your information
If you wish to seek access to the personal information we hold about you or correct the personal information we hold about you, please contact us using the contact details set out below. Depending on the nature of the request, we may ask you to provide us further information in order to verify your identity, put your request in writing or to complete an enquiry form, which will be sent to you.
Complaints
You can make a privacy-related complaint by contacting us using the contact details set out below. We will investigate complaints and once we have completed our investigation, we will contact you, usually in writing, to advise the outcome.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may also complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on 1300 363 992 or by email at [email protected].
Contact us
For further information about this policy, or to access or correct your personal information, or make a complaint, please contact us using the details set out below:
Email: [email protected] or find out more via our Feedback & Complaints page.