Privacy Policy

Introduction

Hunter Writers’ Centre (HWC) is a not-for-profit incorporated association established in 1995. It is the peak literary hub of the Hunter Region NSW. Hunter Writers’ Centre collects personal information in order to support writers engaging in our services, activities and programs. We may also collect information to inform you about or provide you with online products and services. We are committed to protecting your privacy and providing you with information and services relevant to you. Hunter Writers’ Centre complies with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This Privacy Policy should be read in conjunction with the Privacy Act and the APPs.

How this Policy applies

This Policy applies to personal information Hunter Writers’ Centre collects from you:
via one of our websites;
via social media;
via telephone;
via email;
in person; and/or
in writing.

This Policy also applies to personal information Hunter Writers’ Centre collects from any other third party, about you.

HWC websites

Our websites collect two types of information. The first type is anonymous information. The web server makes a record of your visit and logs the following information for statistical purposes:
the user’s server address;
the user’s top level domain name (e.g. .com, .gov, .net, .au, etc.);
the date and time of the visit to the site;
the pages accessed and documents downloaded;
the previous site visited; and
the type of browser used.

No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the internet service provider’s logs.

The second type of information that our websites collect is personal information. Personal information is requested in order to provide services.

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s computer tied to information about the user. Cookies may be used on our websites.

Our websites may contain links to other websites and social media pages including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Threads. We are not responsible for the privacy policies of the entities responsible for those websites and we recommend that you review the privacy policies applicable to any other websites you visit.

Personal information HWC may collect

From time to time you may voluntarily supply your personal information to HWC. We will also record your e-mail address if you send us a message, subscribe to an email newsletter, or complete a form if this information is requested.

When you provide your personal information, it allows us, for example, to assist you with enquiries and inform you about activities and events. You may supply personal information to HWC by, for example, completing a submission form on our website, responding to a survey, taking part in a program. HWC only collects personal information that is necessary for us to perform our functions and/or activities.

Depending upon the circumstances, you may provide to HWC, and HWC may collect, information such as, but not limited to:

your name;
your contact details;
your social media details; and
your enquiry or complaint details.

Even though you are not required by law to provide the above information, if you do not provide the relevant information requested, you may not be able to complete your registration and receive the associated benefits.

Some personal information is considered sensitive information such as:
any disabilities, illnesses or injuries you may have; and/or
any other health information.

We will only collect sensitive information where we have received your consent to that information being collected, used, disclosed and stored by HWC in accordance with this Policy, and provided that the collection is reasonably necessary for us to provide one or more of our functions or activities.

Where you provide information to HWC in relation to a residency or exhibition, the personal information you provide will only be collected, held, used and disclosed for the purposes of considering your potential engagement with HWC.

The purposes for which personal information is collected, held, used and disclosed

HWC collects, holds, uses and discloses your personal information including your email address to:
assist you with writing and related queries;
inform you about activities, events and programs;
inform you about changes to our operations;
manage our relationship with you;
conduct surveys and research;
provide educational services and professional development;
promote and market HWC events, products or services;
enable our partners and sponsors to promote and market their events, products or services to you;
subscribe you to newsletter(s); and/or
enable our third party service providers to do or assist with the above.

We will not provide your personal information to third parties for any purposes not already stated in this privacy statement, or to which you have not otherwise consented, unless Hunter Writers’ Centre is required, or authorised by law to do so.

We may share de-identified information for research and statistical purposes. De-identified information and aggregate data may be provided to third parties outside of Hunter Writers Centre. For example, to evaluate program management and to answer questions such as: total number of registrations completed.

Unsubscribing and opting out

If subscribing to an email newsletter you may “unsubscribe” at any time from the newsletter mailing list;

How personal information is held

Wherever reasonably practicable, HWC holds electronic personal information on data servers that are owned and controlled by HWC in Australia. The data servers are password protected and login secured. However, by providing personal information to HWC you consent to your information being stored and processed on a data server or data servers (such as cloud services) owned by a third party or third parties that may be located outside of Australia.

HWC will take reasonable steps to ensure that any third party providers comply with the APPs, or are subject to a law or scheme that is at least substantially similar to the way in which the APPs protect information.

When HWC no longer requires your personal information for a specific purpose and we are not required to keep it to comply with any laws, we will take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to destroy your personal information or to ensure that the information is de-identified.

You can contact HWC to let us know if any of your personal information has changed. Please contact us in writing to update any personal information.

How HWC will deal with complaints

HWC will seek to deal with privacy complaints as follows:

complaints will be treated seriously;
complaints will be dealt with promptly;
complaints will be dealt with confidentially.

All complaints must be written. Please provide all details about your complaint as well as any supporting documentation to the HWC Director.

Variations to the Policy

This Policy may be varied from time to time and an updated version will be posted on HWC websites. Please check our websites regularly to ensure that you have the most recent version of the Policy.