Co-operatives enquiry form

CO-OPERATIVES COMPLAINT AND ENQUIRY FORMS - PRIVACY COLLECTION NOTICE

How we handle your personal information when you make a complaint or enquiry about a co-operative. 

On this page

1. Who we are
2. Why we collect your personal information
3. The kinds of information we collect
4. Failure to provide information
5. How we may use this information
6. Who we may share your information with
7. Protecting your information
8. Your rights
9. Contact us

1. Who we are

Your information is being collected by the Department of Customer Service (the Department) on behalf of the Commissioner for NSW Fair Trading. NSW Fair Trading gives priority to protecting the privacy of your personal information, in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIP Act). 

If you have any questions about this document, or how we handle your personal information, you can contact our Privacy Team using the contact details at the end of this Notice.

2. Why we collect your personal information

NSW Fair Trading is collecting your personal information for the purposes of facilitating the receipt and general handling of your complaint or enquiry.

3. The kinds of information we collect

We may collect the following information:

• Your name and contact details (phone number and email address). 

• Details about your complaint or enquiry including how the co-operative has breached the Co-operatives National Law (NSW) and supporting documentation. 

• Additional personal information if it is required to process the handling of your complaint or enquiry. 

4. Failure to provide information

Your information is provided voluntarily however if you choose not to provide your information, we may be unable to deal with your complaint or enquiry.

5. How we may use this information

We may use the information we collect in the following ways:

• To investigate the matters which are the subject of your complaint or enquiry and for related investigative or law enforcement purposes. 

• To take action to secure compliance, or to remedy non-compliance, with legislation administered by NSW Fair Trading in relation to the matters which are the subject of your complaint or enquiry or related matters. This may include taking disciplinary action or instituting civil, criminal or disciplinary proceedings.

• Internal administrative purposes, including liaising with you in relation to your complaint or enquiry and to obtain your consent to disclose information to the co-operative which may identify you. 

• To support more informed policy making, program management, evaluation, research, and service planning as it can facilitate more efficient service delivery for residents and business in NSW.

• Other directly related purposes.

6. Who we may share your information with

Your personal information may be disclosed to the co-operative which is the subject of your complaint or enquiry, unless you ask to remain anonymous. Please be advised that before Fair Trading will disclose any information which might identify you, it will first seek your express written consent to do so. 

If required, we may make enquiries and exchange information with other NSW Government agencies (including the NSW Police Force), or other States, Territories and/or the Commonwealth for the purpose of assessing your complaint or enquiry and for related investigative or compliance purposes. We may disclose your information to such bodies for these purposes.

We will not disclose your information to anybody else unless we are authorised or permitted to do so by law or where you have given consent. Our Privacy Statement describes when this may occur.

7. Protecting your information

We will store and manage your personal and health information in accordance with the provisions of the PPIP Act. We have measures in place to help protect your personal information from loss, unauthorised access, use, modification, disclosure, or other misuse. 

We will only keep information for as long as we need it to fulfil the purposes we collected it for. After which, the information will be disposed of securely in accordance with the State Records Act 1998 and any other applicable legislation.

See our Privacy Management Plan for more information about how we handle your personal information.

8. Your rights

Subject to certain conditions, you have the following rights in relation to your personal information:

• The right to request access to your personal information

• The right to request correction of your personal information

If you wish to invoke any of the above rights, please contact us using the details below.

9. Contact us 
If you would like to make a privacy enquiry or complaint, you can contact us at FTPrivacy@customerservice.nsw.gov.au.