Australasian Plant Genetics (APG) is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information it collects and receives. APG is bound by the Privacy Act 1988, which sets out several principles concerning the protection and privacy of personal information.
This document sets forth the Privacy Policy for Australasian Plant Genetics (APG) and the websites it manages, being www.ausplantgenetics.com.au and www.macadamiainnovation.com.au
This Privacy Policy seeks to explain how APG collects, uses, discloses and otherwise handles personal information.
What is personal information?
Personal information is information that identifies an individual or from which an individual’s identity can reasonably be ascertained.
The kinds of personal information we collect and hold
The type of personal information that APG collects and holds about you depends on the type of dealings that you have with us. In most instances, APG will collect, and seek to keep updated, your name, address, contact number, email address, business type and communication preferences. If you contact us with an enquiry, depending on the nature of the enquiry, we will record details about you and relating to the enquiry.
Methods of collection of personal information
APG collects your personal information directly from you when you fill out a contact form or similar document, submit information to us via our website or register to use or subscribe to any of our services.
This information is collected in several ways, including:
• by email;
• over the telephone;
• through written correspondence (such as letters or faxes);
• in person at industry meetings;
• on hard copy forms (including forms and surveys); and
• through our website.
Collection of information through our website
For each visitor to reach the websites APG manages, we collect the following information, including but not limited to; browser type, version and language, operating system, pages viewed while browsing the websites, page access times and referring website addresses. This information is used solely for internally gauging visitor traffic and trends.
Third-party websites
Links to third-party websites that are not operated or controlled by APG are provided solely for your convenience. APG is not responsible for the privacy or security practices of those websites, which are not covered by this Privacy Policy. Third-party websites should have their own privacy and security policies, which we encourage you to read before supplying any personal information to them.
Collection notices
Where APG collects personal information directly from you, our policy is to take reasonable steps to notify you of certain matters. We will do this at or before the time of collection, or as soon as practicable afterwards. The matters include:
• our identity and how to contact us;
• the purposes for which we are collecting the information;
• the third parties (or types of third parties) to whom we would normally disclose information of that kind; and
• the fact that this Privacy Policy contains information about how to access and correct personal information and make privacy complaints (and how we will deal with those complaints).
What if you don’t want to provide your personal information to us?
You are under no obligation to provide your personal information to us and you can access our website and make general phone queries without having to identify yourself. In some cases, however, without providing us with your personal information when requested, we may not be able to respond to your request or provide the product or service that you are seeking.
Use of your personal information
Your personal information is used to provide services to you in relation to accessing the new strawberry and macadamia varieties produced through the series of Hort Innovation-funded Breeding programs, and other commercial breeding programs.
For those above purposes, our activities may include, but are not limited to:
• answering queries and resolving complaints;
• informing potential growers about where and how they can source runner plants of the new varieties;
• informing potential growers of their responsibilities with regard to Non-Propagation and Royalty Arrangements stemming from the PBR status of these varieties;
• distributing further varietal information reports; and
• processing payments.
We may also collect, hold, use and disclose personal information for other purposes explained at the time of collection or which are:
• required or authorised by or under the law; and
• for which the individual has provided their consent.
Disclosing of your personal information
On occasion, APG may disclose personal information to third parties who have been hired to provide services on our behalf, including, but not limited to, handling customer support enquiries, processing transactions or customer freight shipping. Those companies will be permitted to obtain only the personal information they need to deliver the service. APG takes reasonable steps to ensure that these organisations are bound by confidentiality and privacy obligations concerning the protection of your personal information. The service provider may, in turn, provide us with personal information collected from you in the course of providing the relevant products or services. APG will not use, sell or disclose your information for any other purpose without your consent unless required or authorised by law.
These third parties include:
• financial institutions for payment processing;
• government and regulatory bodies (such as the Queensland Department of Agriculture);
• Horticulture Innovation Australia Ltd;
• APG’s contracted service providers, including, but not limited to:
• information technology service providers;
• publishers of our electronic newsletters or printed journals;
• conference organisers;
• marketing and communications agencies;
• mailing houses, freight and courier services;
• printers and distributors of direct marketing material; and
• external business advisers (such as recruitment advisers, auditors and lawyers).
Direct marketing
APG may use your personal information, specifically your name and relevant address details, to let you know about new plant nurseries, new varieties or other important information, and those of third-party partners of APG, where we have your consent. We may contact you for direct marketing purposes in a variety of ways, including by mail, email, SMS, telephone, online advertising or facsimile.
Data quality and security
APG hold personal information in several ways, including in electronic databases, email contact lists, and in paper files held in drawers and cabinets, locked where appropriate. Paper files may also be archived in boxes and stored offsite in secure facilities. APG take all reasonable steps to:
• ensure that your information is secure once it has been received on our systems; and
• protect the personal information that we hold from misuse, interference and loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Accessing your personal information
You have a right to access the personal information that APG holds about you, subject to exceptions allowed by law. For access to your personal information, you can contact the APGA office. You will be required to put your request in writing for security reasons. APG reserves the right to charge a fee to cover our reasonable costs of locating the information and providing it to you on a per request basis. You can ask us to notify you of our source of information, and it is our policy is to do so unless this is unreasonable or impracticable. Except in the case of more complicated requests, we will endeavour to respond to access requests within 30 days.
Correction of your personal information
APG take all reasonable steps to amend any personal information about you which is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date. You have a right to request correction of the personal information that APG holds about you and to do so you should contact the APG office. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing any correction requests, to ensure that the personal information we hold is properly protected. Except in the case of more complicated requests, we will endeavour to respond to correction requests within 30 days.
What if we refuse your request for access or correction?
If we refuse your access or correction request, our policy is to provide you with a written notice setting out:
• the reasons for our refusal (except to the extent that it would be unreasonable to do so); and
• available complaint mechanisms.
Opting out
Where you have consented to receive direct marketing communications from us, your consent will remain current until you advise us otherwise. You can opt out at any time, in the following ways:
• Send a letter to the APG office requesting to opt out of particular communications;
• or use the unsubscribe facility that we include in our commercial electronic messages (such as emails and SMSs) to opt-out of receiving those messages.
Complaints
If you have a complaint about how APG has collected or handled your personal information, we will ask you to write a Privacy Complaint Letter to us, with details such as the date, time and circumstances of the matter that you are complaining about, how you believe your privacy has been interfered with and how you would like your complaint resolved. We will endeavour to acknowledge receipt of the Privacy Complaint Letter within five business days of receiving it and to complete our investigation into your complaint promptly. In most cases, we expect that complaints will be investigated, and a response provided within 30 days of receipt of the Privacy Complaint Letter. If the matter is more complex and our investigation may require more time, we will write and let you know when we expect to provide our response.
Our response will set out:
• whether in the Privacy Officer’s view, there has been a breach of this Privacy Policy or any applicable privacy legislation; and
• what action, if any, APG will take to rectify the situation.
If you are unhappy with our response, you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Changes to this privacy policy
APC reserves the right to make amendments to this Privacy Policy at any time. From time to time, we may use customer information for new, unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at some time in the future, we will use for these new purposes only, data collected from the time of the policy change forward will adhere to our updated practices.
APC welcomes your comments regarding this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy and would like further information, please contact us.
Privacy Policy last updated MAY 2022
