The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (the department), as NatHERS Administrator, manages the collection, storage and dissemination of NatHERS information in line with the NatHERS Information Collection, Storage and Dissemination Policy. For more information about this policy, please email admin@nathers.gov.au.
The department collects information (including personal information) that is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our functions and activities in administering NatHERS. The collection and handling of personal information is regulated by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). As defined in the Privacy Act, personal information is information that identifies you or could be used to reasonably ascertain your identity.
The department is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act with respect to collection, use, disclosure and storage of personal information (including sensitive information). The department’s Privacy Policy contains detailed information about the department's privacy obligations.
Personal information we collect
The department may collect personal information directly from you, including through your use of our website and web-based channels, telephone and in person conversations and written correspondences. The personal information that we collect from you through our website is limited. For example, your email address is collected when you subscribe to receive emails from us via our mailing list.
We may also collect personal information from a third party if you have consented, or if you would reasonably expect us to collect your personal information from a third party. For example:
- when direct collection is unreasonable or impracticable (such as in an investigation into assessor-related conduct)
- if we are required to collect your personal information by law.
Use and disclosure of personal information
We only use your personal information for the purposes it was collected, or otherwise in accordance with the Privacy Act.
Your personal information will not be shared or disclosed, other than as described in the NatHERS Information Collection, Storage and Dissemination Policy, or unless:
- you have consented
- the disclosure is authorised or required by or under an Australian law or court/tribunal order; or
- it is otherwise permitted under the Privacy Act.
Storage of personal information
The personal information we receive from you is maintained in a secure environment (in either electronic or hard copy form). This information will not be released unless the law permits it or your permission is granted. We take reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is protected from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Personal information is destroyed or de-identified when no longer needed in accordance with the requirements of the Archives Act 1983 (Cth).
NatHERS for Existing Homes Trials privacy and information management
Households participating in the trial
Participation in the NatHERS trials is voluntary, and your written consent must be given prior to any home assessment. You can withdraw from the trial up to the time your home’s data has been collected. After this time, it may not be possible for data to be removed from the study as it will have been deidentified.
In the core stream, CSIRO collects and manages the consent of households on behalf of trial delivery partners. For more information on how your privacy and household data is managed during the core stream of the trial, see CSIRO’s Research Participant Information Sheet.
In the scale stream, valuers and banks collect and manage the consent of households. For more information on privacy and household data in the scale stream contact the valuation firm or bank that has offered you an assessment.
Assessors and valuers participating in the trial
The department may collect, use, disclose and store personal information about you as part of the NatHERS trial for existing homes, which may include:
- your name, contact information, address, IDs and police check
- details of your employment, employer names and contact details.
The department will use your personal information to administer and manage the trial with participants and delivery partners. This includes responding to queries and contacting you about your current or possible future involvement in trials.
Your personal information may be disclosed to CSIRO and other delivery partners, who are administrating the trial in partnership with the department.
If you have privacy related concerns, or wish to request removal of your personal information, please contact trials@nathers.gov.au.
Other information collected through our website
When you use the NatHERS website, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends. These server logs may include information such as:
- your server address and top level domain name (for example, .com.au, .net.au, .gov.au, etc.)
- the date and time of your visit to the site and pages and documents you’ve accessed/viewed
- previous other websites you’ve visited
- the browser type and language, and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of information in a small data file that a website sends to your browser when you access our website. Our website uses session-based cookies to gather anonymised website usage data, for the purpose of improving our website.
If you do not wish to have cookies placed on your device, you can change your web browser settings to reject cookies.
We will only use this information to:
- understand how people use our websites
- compile reports on website activity for website operators; and
- provide other services relating to website activity and internet usage.
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to collect anonymised information to help us analyse user interactions for the purpose of improving our website. Google Analytics uses first-party cookies and JavaScript code to anonymously track how our visitors interact with this website, including how they have accessed the site (for example, from a search engine, a link, an advertisement, etc) and what they did on the site. This data is transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purposes of compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.
For more information, please email admin@nathers.gov.au.
Security
As our website is linked to the internet, we cannot provide assurance regarding the security of information you communicate to us while being transmitted over the internet. Any personal or other information you send to us is transmitted at your own risk.
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. We encourage you to examine each website’s privacy policy.
Your choices
You may access personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct this information by emailing admin@nathers.gov.au or using the details on the Contact Us page.
If you are on our NatHERS mailing list but you no longer wish to receive our newsletters, there is an ‘Unsubscribe’ option at the bottom of all our emails where you can click to opt out.