The West End Music and Dance Teachers’ Cooperative Ltd (WEMDTC) only collects, manages, uses and discloses personal information in accordance with the latest Australian Government Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act).

The WEMDTC’s Privacy Policy is as follows:

1. Our commitment to protect your privacy

West End Music and Dance Teachers’ Cooperative Ltd and its related institutions or entities (referred to in this policy as “we”, “us” and “our”) are committed to protecting your privacy and handling personal and sensitive information in an open and transparent way.

This privacy policy sets out how we collect and handle personal information that we hold about you and applies to you whether you are an WEMDTC student, staff member, client, stakeholder, contractor, supplier or user of the http://www.browningstreetstudios.com website.

We recognise that any personal information we collect about you will only be used for the purposes we have collected it or as allowed under the law. We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles set out in that Act and any other relevant law.

In whatever capacity you interact with the WEMDTC, you agree to our use of the information in accordance with this privacy policy.

2. Collection of personal information

When we refer to personal information we mean information from which your identity is reasonably apparent. The personal information we hold about you may also include credit information.

Whenever it’s reasonable and practicable to do so, we only collect information about you that comes directly from you.

Your individual teacher holds personal information about you, and these teachers are required to:

• Collect personal information on all students and enquiries, limited to your name, date of birth, address, contact details, emergency health information and information about you or your children’s musical education.
• Teachers are required to keep this information in a safe, lockable cabinet or in a password-protected folder for digital data.
• Only use this information to contact students and their guardians regarding matters relevant to music lessons and events at Browning Street Studios.

A duplicate of student databases is held by the Browning Street Studios office. This is to ensure that students and guardians can be contacted in the case of an emergency, teacher absence, if a student isn’t picked up by parents etc. Contact details will be used by the office from time to time to contact students and families regarding important studio information, including events, closures, incidents and changes to studio policy.

We do not generally collect sensitive information about you without your consent. Sensitive information may include information regarding: racial or ethnic origins, political or religious beliefs, sexual preferences, membership of professional or trade associations or unions, health information, or criminal convictions.

3. Why we collect your personal information

We only collect personal information about you which is reasonably necessary:

– to enrol you as a student at WEMDTC;

– to employ you as a staff member or consultant at WEMDTC;

– to allow you to be a client, stakeholder, contractor or supplier of WEMDTC;

– when you register with WEMDTC to receive information about our WEMDTC education and training services and courses via the telephone, email or Website;

– when you communicate, receive information or make enquiries about our WEMDTC education and training services and courses;

– for the purposes of sending information about new WEMDTC education and training services and courses;

– for feedback on our WEMDTC education and training services and courses;

– to maintain your contact details and other relevant information that enables us to service you more effectively in relation to our WEMDTC education and training services and courses.

4. How we hold your personal information

We hold personal information in electronic form. We have reasonable commercial standards of technology and operational security procedures in place to protect all information provided from misuse, disclosure and unauthorised access.

We may use cloud storage to store the personal information we hold about you.

We may also store and maintain any content that you provide using the Website, including postings on any blogs, webinars, forums, and other social media applications of WEMDTC or otherwise.

5. Use of personal information

We only use and disclose personal information about you for the purpose for which it was disclosed to us.

For example, we may from time to time use your personal information:

– to provide information about the WEMDTC education and training services and courses;

– to inform you of our new WEMDTC education and training services and courses;

– to customise and improve the Website and related WEMDTC education and training services and courses offered to you;

– that you post in our blogs and forums for marketing purposes including our web marketing; or

– in the form of data (that does not include your personal information) about your experience and feedback regarding our WEMDTC education and training services and courses, or WEMDTC success stories and testimonials for statistics, research and marketing purposes.

We do not sell personal information to other education institutions or organisations to allow them to do this.

You may also at any time request that we discontinue sending you emails or other communications generated in response to your registration with us or via the Website.

6. Blogs, forums and other social media

The Website may host various blogs and forums that allow you to share content with other users. Any personal information or other information that you contribute can be read, collected and used by other users over whom we have little or no control. We are not responsible for any other user’s use, misuse or misappropriation of any personal information or other information that you contribute.

You agree that we may use all of the information, including customer testimonials and feedback that you post in social media applications including Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for the purposes set out in this privacy policy.

7. Our disclosure of your personal information

We may disclose your personal information:

– to third parties who act on behalf of WEMDTC to carry out specialised activities;

– to other organisations that are involved in managing or administering the WEMDTC Website;

– to other organisations that are involved in managing or administering the WEMDTC education and training services or courses;

– to Government Departments, as required;

– to anybody who represents you, such as lawyers and accountants;

– to anyone, where you have provided us with your consent;

– where we are authorised to do so by law ;

– to investors, agents or advisers, or any entity that has an interest in our cooperative;

– to your employer, referees or identity verification services.

Prior to disclosing any of your personal information to another person, institution or organisation, we will take all reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that:

(a) the person or organisation has a commitment to protecting your personal information by having in place the necessary privacy policy to protect your interests; or

(b) you have consented to us making the disclosure.

By providing information through the Website or to us, you are consenting to the disclosure as described above.

8. Access

You may access your personal and sensitive information that we hold about you at any time. Users who have any problem accessing their personal information or who would like to request a copy of their personal information should contact our Board of Directors.

Depending on the type of request that you make we may respond to your request immediately, otherwise we usually respond to you within seven days of receiving your request. We may need to contact other entities to properly investigate your request.

There may be situations where we are not required to provide you with access to your personal information, for example, if the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings, or if your request is vexatious. An explanation will be provided to you if we deny you access to the personal information we hold about you.

9. Updating your personal information

It is important to us that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and up to date. We may request that you inform us if any of your personal information changes. If you wish to make any changes or add to your personal information, you may contact the office – hello@browningstreetstudios.com.au

If any of the personal information we hold about you is incorrect, inaccurate or out of date you may request that we correct the information. If appropriate we will correct the personal information at the time of the request otherwise, we will provide an initial response to you within seven days of receiving your request. Where reasonable, and after our investigation, we will provide you with details about whether we have corrected the personal information within 30 days.

We may need to consult with other entities as part of our investigation.

If we refuse to correct personal information we will provide you with our reasons for not correcting the information.

10. Log information and cookies

The Website collects standard internet log information including your IP address, browser type and language, access times and referring website addresses. This information is provided by your computer during your first visit to the Website server. The server records this information in a small data file called a cookie, which is then stored on your hard drive.

When you visit our Website again the server may use cookies to enable us to: (a) identify you; (b) authenticate your details; (c) track and record the programs you viewed and when you viewed them; and (d) collect aggregated data.

Most browsers are set up to accept cookies. You can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or warn you before accepting cookies. We use cookies to help us improve and ensure that the Website is easy to navigate.

11. Website Measurement Software

Website measurement software is used to assist in tracking traffic patterns to and from our Website, anonymously monitoring users of the Website. The software information such as the number of unique visitors, how long these visitors spend on the Website when they visit, and common entry and exit points into and from the Website.

The information is collected and aggregated by us and/or our service provider to assist us in our analysis of our Website.

12. Changes to our privacy policy

We are constantly reviewing all of our policies and attempt to keep up to date with market expectations and changing legal requirements. As a consequence we may change this privacy policy from time to time or as the need arises. We encourage you to periodically review this privacy policy to be informed about how we are protecting your information.

13. Complaints

If you are dissatisfied with how we have dealt with your personal information, or you have a complaint about our compliance with the Privacy Act, you may get in touch with our Board of Directors at:

West End Music and Dance Teachers’ Cooperative Ltd 17 Browning Street West End Qld 4101 +61 (07) 3217 2266 hello@browningstreestudios.com.au

We will acknowledge your complaint within seven days. We will provide you with a decision on your complaint within 30 days.

If you are dissatisfied with the response of our Board of Directors you may make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner which can be contacted via the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website (www.oaic.gov.au) or on 1300 363 992.

Further information

You may request further information about the way we manage your personal information by contacting our Board of Directors.

Please go to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website for more detailed information about privacy & relevant codes of practice, which underpin all matters related to personal information.