Purpose

The PSA gathers information from members to allow it to administer its membership so as to fulfil the purpose and objects of the union. That purpose is to build a union that is able to influence the industrial, economic, political and social environment in order to advance the interests of PSA members.

Privacy officer

The PSA has a privacy officer appointed by the Secretariat to manage policy, provide advice and training on privacy, and make sure that the PSA meets its obligations under the Privacy Act. The privacy officer will usually be a member of the legal team.

Gathering member information

The PSA has an obligation to collect information in a fair way.

This means we:

  • Gather the information required in order to administer a member’s membership in pursuit of the purpose of the PSA;
  • Collect information on members only from members unless exceptional circumstances apply;
  • Collect any information from delegates necessary to support them in that role;
  • Take all practicable steps to ensure that the information is accurate;
  • Provide members with a statement of the purpose for which the information will be used, and how they may access and update that information, at the time they provide it to the PSA.

Email newsletters

With many of our email newsletters, we now gather information to enable us to better communicate with members and keep members informed. We record when an email is opened and the links within the email that are clicked and when.

We have specifically designed our collection of this information so it is not linked on our systems to the email recipient and cannot be used to determine who clicked a link or opened an email. The collection of this tracking information is carried out directly by the PSA, not third parties.

Mitigating risk

The PSA's plan identifies the risks in managing member information and has strategies to mitigate any problems arising from those risks. This risk management plan is reviewed annually.