Privacy Policy
BetterGovVic Incorporated. (BetterGovVic Inc.)
Version: 1.0
Date: April 2026
BetterGovVic Incorporated is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals who interact with our organisation and website. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and disclose personal information in the course of our activities as a civics education and government accountability organisation incorporated in Victoria, Australia.
We handle all personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), and the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic). By using our website or engaging with our organisation, you consent to the collection and use of your personal information as described in this Policy.
The entity responsible for the personal information collected through this website and in the course of our activities is:
BetterGovVic Incorporated
Website: bettergovernmentvictoria.org
Postal Address: Suite 13/397 Smith Street Fitzroy VIC 3065
Email: info@bettergovernmentvictoria.org
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us using the details above.
BetterGovVic Incorporated has adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) as the foundation of our privacy practices. The APPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure, and dispose of personal information. A copy of the APPs is available from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au.
The personal information we collect depends on the nature of your interaction with our website and organisation. The following subsections describe the data we may collect in each circumstance.
Website Visit Only
If you visit our website without contacting us, submitting a form, or creating an account, we may automatically collect the following technical data:
- Your IP address
- Browser type and version
- Operating system
- Referring URL and pages visited on our site
- Date, time, and duration of your visit
- Cookie data (see the Cookies and Analytics section below)
This data is collected to maintain and improve the performance and security of our website. It is not used to identify you personally unless we have reasonable cause to do so for security purposes.
Contact via Form, Email, or Phone
If you contact us through our website contact form, by email, or by telephone, we may collect:
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your phone number (if provided)
- Your postal address (if provided)
- The content of your message or enquiry
This information is used solely to respond to your enquiry and to maintain a record of our communications.
Membership Application
If you apply for membership of BetterGovVic Incorporated we will collect:
- Your full name
- Your residential or postal address
- Your email address
- Your telephone number
- Your membership category (voting member, supporting member, or other)
- For entity members: business or organisation name, ABN, and the name and contact details of the authorised officer making the application
- Any additional information required under our Constitution or as requested by the State Support Team in the membership application form
This information is used to assess your application, maintain our register of members in accordance with the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic), and to communicate with you in your capacity as a member or prospective member.
Donations
If you make a donation to BetterGovVic Incorporated we will collect:
- Your name
- Your contact details (email address and/or postal address)
- The amount of your donation
- Payment details processed via Stripe
Donation information is used to process your contribution, issue a receipt, and maintain financial records as required under the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic). We do not store your full payment card details on our systems.
Membership Fee Payments
If you pay a membership fee, we will collect:
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your membership category
- Payment details processed via Stripe
This information is used to process your payment, issue a receipt, and maintain our financial records. We do not store your full payment card details on our systems.
Newsletter Subscription
If you subscribe to our newsletter or other communications, we will collect:
- Your name
- Your email address
This information is used to send you updates about our activities, events, and educational resources in accordance with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). All commercial electronic messages will include an unsubscribe facility. See the How to Unsubscribe section below for more details.
Event Registration
If you register for an event hosted or facilitated by BetterGovVic Incorporated we will collect:
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your phone number (if provided)
- Your organisation or business name (if applicable)
- Any dietary, accessibility, or other requirements relevant to the event
This information is used solely to manage your event registration and communicate relevant event details with you.
The table below sets out the purposes for which we process personal information, the lawful basis for that processing, and our standard retention periods.
| Purpose | Types of Data Used | Lawful Basis | Retention Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Responding to enquiries | Contact details, enquiry content | Consent / Legitimate interests of the organisation | 2 years from last contact |
| Processing membership applications | Name, address, email, membership category, ABN (entities) | Performance of a contract / Legal obligation (AIRA 2012) | Duration of membership + 7 years |
| Maintaining the register of members | Name, address, email | Legal obligation (Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic)) | Duration of membership + 7 years |
| Processing membership fee payments | Name, email, payment data | Performance of a contract | 7 years (financial records) |
| Processing donations | Name, contact details, donation amount | Consent / Legitimate interests | 7 years (financial records) |
| Sending newsletters and communications | Name, email | Consent (Spam Act 2003 (Cth)) | Until unsubscription or withdrawal of consent |
| Managing event registrations | Name, email, phone, dietary/accessibility needs | Consent / Performance of a contract | 12 months after the event |
| Website analytics and performance | IP address, browser data, cookie data | Legitimate interests | Up to 26 months (analytics data) |
| Security and fraud prevention | IP address, technical data | Legitimate interests | Up to 12 months |
| Compliance with legal obligations | As required | Legal obligation | As required by applicable law |
We do not use your personal information for automated decision-making or profiling. We do not use your personal information for any commercial or marketing purpose unrelated to the educational activities of BetterGovVic Incorporated.
We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information. We may share personal information with the following recipients, and only to the extent necessary for the relevant purpose.
| Recipient | Purpose | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Processing membership fees and donations | USA |
| ITRegsiter | Website hosting | AUS |
| Google Analytics | Website performance and usage analytics | USA |
| Zoho | Surveys | AUS |
| State Support Team members | Reviewing and processing membership applications, governance | Australia (Victoria) |
| Our accountant or auditor (if appointed) | Financial reporting and audit obligations | Australia |
| Legal advisers | Legal advisers | Australia |
| Government or regulatory bodies | Where required by law or court order | Australia |
Where we share personal information with third-party service providers located outside Australia, we take reasonable steps to ensure those recipients comply with privacy standards substantially similar to the APPs, or are otherwise bound by enforceable privacy obligations.
BetterGovVic Incorporated takes reasonable steps to protect all personal information we hold from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. These steps include:
- Use of secure, password-protected systems for storing member and contact records
- Limiting access to personal information to authorised officers and staff only
- Using encrypted connections (HTTPS) on our website
- Using reputable third-party platforms with their own security certifications for payment processing
- Regularly reviewing our data security practices
While we take all reasonable precautions, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your personal information.
When personal information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected and we are not required by law to retain it, we will take reasonable steps to securely destroy or de-identify it.
Under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), you have the right to request access to personal information we hold about you, and to request that we correct any information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date.
To make a request, please contact our Privacy Officer / Secretary in writing at the contact details listed in the Our Contact Information section above. We will respond to your request within a reasonable period (generally 30 days). In some circumstances, we may need to verify your identity before granting access.
There is no charge for making an access or correction request, although we may charge a reasonable fee for the cost of providing access if your request is complex or requires significant resources.
We may decline a request for access or correction in limited circumstances permitted by the APPs, including where providing access would unreasonably impact the privacy of another individual, or where we are legally required to refuse.
Voting members also have the right to inspect the register of members and certain financial records of the Association under the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic) at a reasonable time, on request to the Secretary.
All newsletters and promotional email communications sent by BetterGovVic Incorporated will include a clearly visible unsubscribe link, in compliance with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth).
You may unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time by:
- Clicking the unsubscribe link in any email we send you; or
- Contacting us directly at info@bettergovernmentvictoria.org with your request.
Please allow up to 10 business days for your unsubscription to take effect. Unsubscribing from our mailing list will not affect your membership of the Association or any transactional communications (such as membership renewal notices or receipts) that we are required to send you.
If you upload images to our website (for example, to a member profile or submission form), you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS data). Visitors to the website may be able to download and extract location data from images uploaded to the website.
If you submit photographs or images to us for use in our publications, events, or on our website, we will seek your express consent before using your image in any public-facing material.
Pages on our website may include embedded content (such as videos, articles, maps, or social media posts) provided by third parties. Embedded content from other websites behaves in exactly the same way as if you had visited those other websites directly.
These third-party websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content. If you are logged into a third-party account (such as a Google or Facebook account), those services may track your interaction with embedded content on our site.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services before interacting with their content.
Our website uses cookies — small text files placed on your device — to improve your browsing experience and to collect website analytics data.
Essential cookies are required for the website to function correctly and cannot be disabled.
Analytics cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our website, including which pages are most frequently visited and how visitors navigate the site. We use Google Analytics for this purpose. This data is aggregated and does not identify you personally.
