Privacy Policy

The protection of personal information is important to Bowls Victoria (BV).  BV is committed to respecting the right to privacy and the protection of personal information. 

This document sets out how BV may collect, hold and use personal information. By providing your personal information to BV, you consent to its use, storage and disclosure in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

What personal and sensitive information does BV collect?

Personal Information

Personal information is information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database) from which it is possible to determine someone’s identity. 

The information collected by BV about a particular person will vary depending on the circumstances of collection. It may include, but is not limited to, a person’s contact details (name, email and/or postal address, phone number), date of birth, gender, credit card details, driver’s licence number, passport number, insurance details, employment history, qualifications or communication history with BV.

Sensitive Information

Sensitive information is a type of personal information that also includes information or an opinion about someone’s:

  • racial or ethnic origin;
  • political opinions;
  • membership of a political association, professional or trade association or trade union;
  • religious beliefs or affiliations or philosophical beliefs;
  • sexual preferences or practices;
  • criminal record; or
  • health, genetic information or disability.

If it is reasonably necessary in the circumstances, BV may also collect sensitive information such as a person’s medical history, nationality, their ethnic background or disabilities.

BV is required by law to obtain consent when collecting sensitive information. BV will assume consent to the collection of all sensitive information that is provided to it for use in accordance with this Privacy Policy, unless told otherwise.

How does BV collect personal and sensitive information?

Information may be collected when you:

(a)          become a member of a bowls club, association or other body which is a member of BV (BV Member);

(b)          subscribe to any publication of BV or a BV Member, including electronic publications;

(c)           provide details to BV or a BV Member in an application, consent form, survey, feedback form or incident report;

(d)          provide details to a BV or a BV Member Community Development Officer and/or National Training Centre Coaches;

(e)          enter personal information into, or agree to having your personal information entered into, one of BV’s online systems;

(f)            access the BV website or a website of a BV Member;

(g)          contact BV via email, telephone or mail or engage with BV via social media;

(h)          participate in any program, activity, competition or event run by BV or a BV Member;

(i)            purchase tickets to a BV or sporting event from BV or an authorised agent;

(j)            purchase tickets to social event such as an awards night from BV or an authorised agent;

(k)           purchase merchandise, products or services from BV or an authorised agent or licensee;

(l)            are elected or appointed to the Board or a committee of BV;

(m)         apply for employment or a volunteer position with BV or a BV Member; or

(n)          where BV is required to do so by law (for education, child protection, work health and safety laws, charitable collections, medical treatment or other legislation in Australia).

Providing information

Depending on the circumstances, some types of information will be required and others might be optional. If you do not provide some or all of the information requested, this may affect BV’s ability to communicate with you or provide the requested products or services.

By not providing requested information, you may jeopardise your ability to participate in programs or competitions or apply for employment or volunteer positions with BV or a BV Member. If it is impracticable for BV to deal with you as a result of you not providing the requested information or consent, BV may refuse to do so.

Collection from third parties

BV or a BV Member may collect personal information regarding a child from the parent or other responsible person associated with that child.

In many circumstances, BV collects information from BV Members or other third parties.

Examples of such third parties could include, without limitation, the Australian Sports Commission, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency, the Australian Institute of Sport, non-affiliated bowls organisations or government and law enforcement bodies.

Information storage and protection

BV stores information in different ways, including in paper and electronic form.

Much of the information we collect from and about our members is added to BV’s membership database. When your information is entered into BV’s membership database, the information may be combined or linked with other information held about you. BV’s membership database is shared among Bowls Australia, the State and Territory bowls associations and affiliated clubs, with each organisation having access to information relevant to its members.

Security of personal information is important to BV. BV has taken steps to protect the information we hold from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Some of the security measures BV uses includes strict confidentiality requirements of our employees, volunteers, BV Members and service providers, security measures for system access and security measures for our website.

We seek to protect your personal information from any unauthorised loss, disclosure or access. However, if a serious data breach occurs, we must notify you as required under the Privacy Act regarding the circumstances of the breach, and must also advise the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. 

How does BV use and disclose personal and sensitive information?

Use

BV, and third parties to whom we may disclose personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, may use your personal information to:

(a)          verify your identity;

(b)          complete background checks;

(c)          research, develop, run, administer and market competitions, programs, activities and other events relating to bowls;

(d)          research, develop and market products, services, merchandise and special offers made available by us and third parties;

(e)           respond to emergency situations involving or requiring medical treatment;

(f)           undertake administrative functions, such as billing;

(g)            administer, manage and provide you with access to bowlsvic.org.au;

(h)          administer and manage our membership database; and

(i)           keep you informed of news and information relating to various bowls events, activities and opportunities via various mediums.

BV may use health information to ensure that programs we operate are run safely and in accordance with any special health needs participants may require. Health information may also be kept for insurance purposes. In addition, we may use de-identified health information and other sensitive information to carry out research, to prepare submissions to government, or to plan events and activities. 

Disclosure

BV may disclose your personal information to a range of organisations which include, but are not limited to:

(a)           BV Members and other organisations involved in bowls programs in Australia;

(b)          companies we engage to carry out functions and activities on BV’s behalf, including direct marketing;

(c)           our professional advisers, including our accountants, auditors and lawyers;

(d)           our insurers;

(e)           relevant sporting bodies such as Bowls Australia, Australian Sports Commission, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, Australian Institute of Sport, the Australian Commonwealth Games Association, various National Sporting bodies, Federal and State Departments of Sport amongst others; and

(f)        in other circumstances permitted by law.

In some circumstances, personal information may also be disclosed outside of Australia – for example personal information is disclosed to World Bowls which is located in Scotland.  In such circumstances, BV will use its best endeavours to ensure such parties are subject to a law, binding scheme or contract which effectively upholds principles for fair handling of the information that are suitably similar to the Australian Privacy Principles.

Direct marketing

We will assume consent to use non-sensitive personal information to provide better services and for marketing purposes (including disclosure of such information to service providers).

Every person whose data is collected by BV has the option to refuse e-mail, SMS or posted offers by making a request in writing to BV’s Privacy Officer via the contact details set out below or by making use of the opt-out procedures included in any communications from us (however, information relating to the option to unsubscribe from those communications may be retained).

Other disclosures

In addition, BV may also disclose personal information:

(a)          with your express or implied consent;

(b)        when required or authorised by law;

(c)        to an enforcement body when reasonably necessary; or

(d)        to lessen or prevent a threat to an individual or public health or safety.

BV website

When users visit the BV website, our systems may record certain information about their use of the site, including the web pages visited and the time and date of their visit. BV uses this information to help analyse and improve the performance of the BV website.

In addition BV may use “cookies” on the BV website. Cookies are small text files that help a website to remember the preferences of users to improve the experience of using that website. In some cases, the cookies that we use may collect some personal information. BV will treat this information in the same way as other personal information we collect. You are free to disable cookies on your internet browser to prevent this information being collected; however, you will lose the benefit of the enhanced website experience that the use of cookies may offer.

Websites linked to the BV website are not subject to BV’s privacy standards, policies or procedures. BV cannot take any responsibility for the collection, use, disclosure or security of any personal information that you provide to a third party website.

Accessing and seeking correction of information held by BV

BV will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information it collects, uses or discloses is accurate, complete and up-to-date. However, we rely on the accuracy of personal information as provided to us both directly and indirectly.

We encourage all users to regularly review and update their personal information. If you would like to access personal information that we hold about you, we require you to put your request in writing. If we do not allow you access to any part of the personal information we hold about you, we will tell you why.

Individuals may also request access to their personal information held by us by making a request via the contact details set out below. We will respond to your request for access within 14 days and endeavour to provide the requested information within 60 days. If you find that the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date, please contact us immediately and we will see that it is corrected.

Resolving privacy issues and complaints

Any issues or complaints in relation to the collection, use, disclosure, quality, security of and access to your personal information may be made in writing to the BV Privacy Officer at this address:

Privacy Officer
Bowls Victoria
Suite 7, 32-36 Camberwell Road
Hawthorn East 3123

In order to maintain the confidentiality of your personal information, we may ask you to visit the BV office and to bring with you specific identification before we give you access. If it is not possible for you to visit our office, we will arrange to check your identification before we mail the information to you.

We will respond to your complaint within 60 days and try to resolve it within 90 days. If we are unable to resolve your complaint within this time, or you are unhappy with the outcome, you can contact the Office of Australian Information Commissioner via its enquiries line 1300 363 992 or website http://www.oaic.gov.au/ to lodge a complaint.

For further information on BV’s management of personal information, please contact BV.

Review History and Version Control

The BV Privacy Policy will be reviewed every two years.

VersionPrepared ReviewedApproved Date Approved
1.0Lander & Rogers Board18/05/2016
2.0Lander & RogersGovernance CommitteeBoard20/09/2018
3.0Chief Executive OfficerGovernance CommitteeBoard19/11/2020