1. Introduction

Gateway Baptist Church Ltd (Gateway) is committed to promoting the privacy of individuals who provide personal information to the church.

Gateway is committed to treating all personal or sensitive information that we collect, hold and use with respect, care and integrity. We recognise our obligations to protect all personal information we collect and hold by handling personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APP) in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).

Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified person, or a person who is reasonably identifiable.

By visiting our website or using any of our services, you agree that your personal information will be handled as described in this Policy.

2. Purposes for collecting, holding and using personal information

Gateway only collects, holds and uses personal information for the purposes of facilitating a community of people in the Christian faith, and providing charitable programs to community members in order to achieve our organisation’s mission.

This includes:

• providing appropriate care, support and services to people,
• administration of the church and its activities,
• enabling financial giving, receipting and payments for people,
• contacting people who participate in any of the church’s ministries, activities or events,
• promoting and communicating to people about ministry updates and upcoming services, events, fundraising activities and other programs,
• ensuring the safety and security of children who participate in any of the church’s ministries, activities or events,
• providing professional support and health services to clients of Gateway Counselling,
• managing our workers, including employees, contractors and volunteers, and
• fulfilling government and legal obligations and directives.

3. Types of personal information we collect and hold

Gateway Baptist Church collects personal information, which may include a person’s name, address, date of birth, phone number, email address, marital status and family association.

For participants of Gateway’s services and programs, information related to your attendance such as church and group memberships, attendance records, areas of service, commencement dates, and cultural and language backgrounds may be collected. This allows our employees and volunteers to effectively assist, connect and support our church community.

For volunteers and short-term mission team participants, information related to background checks, training history, Blue Cards (Working with children checks), or passport details may be collected where directly relevant to facilitating a person’s participation in these programs.

For clients of Gateway Counselling, information such as health information, appointment details and Medicare numbers (where relevant) are collected in order to provide professional health services. We may also collect details about your health if we are required to do so by a relevant Government agency. Confidential session notes are made by the treating professionals and are handled in accordance with the requirements of their Professional body. Client information for Gateway Counselling is stored separately within the organisation, so only relevant workers have access.

For employees, additional information directly relating to their career and current employment is collected in accordance with our Human Resource Management policies.

For financial transactions we collect credit card and bank account details, and these are handled in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

Sensitive information such as criminal records, religious beliefs or associations, trade union memberships, philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation or practices, health or biometric information, financial conditions, court determinations, academic/professional qualifications and the like may also be collected. By requesting Gateway's services and assistance, you understand that such sensitive information may be gathered about you and you consent to its collection. Gateway will only collect such information if it is reasonably necessary for its function and activities, to provide pastoral care, and to satisfy its legal obligations such as its duty of care and child protection obligations.

Information pertaining to health is collected only where necessary, such as:

• for programs and ministries for children, to ensure their health needs are met and health risks are properly managed;
• for pastoral care purposes, to support people through health challenges;
• allergies to assist in safely catering at church or ministry events; and
• in providing health services through Gateway Counselling.

When a person interacts with any of the organisation’s public-facing digital platforms or accounts, Gateway may collect anonymous analytics of usage. This data is used to understand how people engage with our content, improve the functionality, security and performance of the online experiences that Gateway provides.

When a person interacts with Gateway’s database, Planning Center, or related services such as the Church Center app, relevant activity history may be recorded against the person’s profile and used to support pastoral care follow-up and administration processes, and assist Gateway in maintaining accurate organisational records.

Gateway does not utilise any fully automated decision-making processes. Where advantageous, Gateway may use technology for limited assistance in understanding a person’s attendance habits, activity and engagement to identify potential trends and provide recommendations for pastoral care and follow-up processes.

Images and videos may be captured during our services and events and used for promotional and archival purposes. Our services may be filmed and/or live streamed and may be made available on digital platforms. In the process of capturing a worship experience, our footage may include images or recordings of participants. Any person who wishes to opt out of appearing in any of Gateway’s promotional, archival or live stream material, may contact our Office on 07 3291 5900 or email hello@gatewaybaptist.com.au. Please note, that parental/guardian consent will be obtained before the use of any identifiable images of anyone under the age of 16 years.

Gateway operates video surveillance for security purposes on its premises, which may be used and disclosed for legal, security and incident response purposes.

4. How we collect and hold personal information

Where possible, we collect personal information directly from you. This may be in person, on the phone, via email or through the internet (for example by completion of online forms or registrations). This information is collected from the person themselves or from a parent, guardian or carer (for children or where otherwise necessary). Where attendance records are collected, this is done through sign-in sheets, online registration systems or by direct observation.

Information collected is either disposed of after its use or may be held in any of the following forms:

• Secure online databases, learning management systems, finance or communications software platforms that are password protected and maintained by a third-party cloud service provider.
• Paper based client and employee files. Paper based files containing sensitive information are kept in locked cabinets and can only be accessed by approved staff, contracted professionals and volunteers of the relevant ministry area.
• Small amounts of personal information are held for ministry-specific purposes in documents and spreadsheets on church computers with access protected by individual profiles and passwords.

As data transmission via electronic means (such as the internet) cannot be guaranteed to be totally secure, we do not accept responsibility for the security of information transmitted to or by us via electronic means. Although Gateway will take reasonable measures to protect information we store, we are unable to ensure that third parties to whom we disclose your personal information will keep your information secure or otherwise observe the Australian Privacy Principles.

All employees and volunteers who have access to personal information held by Gateway are bound by a code of conduct and formal agreement that require full compliance by the employee or volunteer with this privacy policy and associated procedures.

Gateway ensures reasonable steps are taken to make sure that all information collected is accurate, up to date and protected from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Modern security standards such as multi-factor authentication, access control reviews and strong password methods are used wherever possible and are managed in accordance with our ICT policies.

Archived material is stored in a secure and confidential environment.

5. Disclosure of personal information

• Gateway does not sell personal information to third parties. In order to facilitate provision of ministry services and meet your needs, your personal information may be shared on a confidential basis (in Australia or overseas to countries such as the United States):
• between the related entities of Gateway which have a need to know to provide a specific service to you; or
• with third-party service providers engaged by Gateway which facilitate storage of information within a database system or to facilitate mass communication of material prepared by Gateway or to effect electronic funds transfer which you have authorised; or
• other third-party service providers and contractors who provide services to us, including persons who are not in Australia; or
• with our advisors if in our opinion, the circumstances warrant us to seek professional counsel/advice to best address any concerns or issues; or
• with superannuation and managed funds organisations and salary packaging services providers – in the case of employees of Gateway; or
• with Government or regulatory bodies/agencies as required or authorised by law or regulations; or
• with parties that Gateway is required or permitted by law to disclose; or
• with any other parties that you have given your prior consent (expressly or implied) for disclosure; or
• with Government agencies to protect the welfare of children or vulnerable adults in accordance with the relevant laws; or
• with Government agencies to prevent or report a criminal act.

We may also disclose your personal information where:

• disclosure is required or desirable to lessen or prevent a serious threat or harm to an individual’s or public life, health or safety;
• there are serious concerns about the safety or wellbeing of any person;
• the information is subpoenaed, is required to be disclosed by law or a court or tribunal, or is disclosed in relation to legal proceedings;
• disclosure is required by mandatory regulatory requirements or professional codes by which we or our staff are bound.

6. How people may access and/or seek correction of their personal information

Any person whose personal information is held by Gateway may request access to that personal information and, where necessary, request correction or deletion of that information.

To view or seek correction to personal information held by Gateway, a person may contact our Office as follows:

• Post: Operations Coordinator, Gateway Baptist Church, PO Box 2033, Mansfield, QLD 4122; or
• Phone: 07 3291 5900; or
• Email: hello@gatewaybaptist.com.au

7. How people may ask or complain about how we deal with their personal information

Any person whose personal information is collected or held by Gateway may ask or complain about how we collect, hold or use their personal information, by writing, phoning or emailing our Operations Coordinator using the contact details above.

Any complaint received will be handled in accordance with our Complaints and Feedback Policy which is available on our website at www.gatewaybaptist.com.au/feedback or from our office.

8. What happens when we no longer need your personal information?

We will only keep your information for as long as we require it for our purposes. We are also required to keep some of your information for certain periods of time under law, such as the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Qld), Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and taxation laws. When we no longer require your information, we will ensure that your information is destroyed or de-identified.

9. Availability of this policy

This policy is available on our website at www.gatewaybaptist.com.au/privacy. Paper copies are available on request from our office or by contacting our Operations Coordinator as above. We may review and update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Updated versions will be published on our website and made available upon request.

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