Privacy Policy

1. Your privacy is important 

This statement outlines the Hunter Medical Research Institute’s (HMRI’s) policy on how we use and manage personal information provided to or collected by us concerning donors. We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act. 
We may, from time to time, review and update this Privacy Policy to take account of new laws and technology, changes to our operations and practices and to make sure it remains appropriate to the changing research environment. 

2. What kind of personal information do we collect and how do we collect it? 

The type of information we collect and hold includes (but is not limited to) personal information, including but not limited to, your bank or credit card details and sensitive information, about:

  • Individuals who make donations to us; and
  • Corporations who make donations to us. 

Personal information you provide:

We will generally collect personal information about an individual by way of forms filled out by you, face to face meetings and telephone calls. 

Personal information provided by other people: 

In some circumstances we may be provided with personal information about an individual from a third party. 

3. How will we use the personal information you provide? 

We will use your personal information for the primary purpose it was given. We may also use it for other secondary purposes that are related to the primary purpose of collection and reasonably expected, or to which you have consented.

We treat marketing and seeking donations for the future growth and development of HMRI as an important part of ensuring that we continue to be able to conduct good research. You may, from time to time, receive fundraising information from us, updating you on how your donations have been spent and seeking your support for future projects.

If you would rather not receive this information, please contact:

Hunter Medical Research Institute 

Philanthropy Team

Locked Bag 1000 

New Lambton NSW 2305 

Phone: 02 4042 1000 

Email: donate@hmri.org.au  

We will offer you opportunities to OPT-OUT of receiving all communications (or selected communications) from HMRI and we will ensure your details are excluded from all internal marketing lists and future appeals.

4. Who might we disclose personal information to?

We may disclose personal information, including sensitive information, held about an individual or corporation to: 

  • People providing services to us, such as Contractors, and subject to confidentiality agreements; and 
  • Anyone you authorise us to disclose information to. 

Occasionally HMRI allows other organisations to contact you with information that may be of interest to you. These organisations usually allow us to do the same and this way we can reach more people with vital information. The type of information that is provided to the data cooperative organization is name, address, and transaction history, however, the third party organisation only receives name and address details.

If you do not wish to receive communication from a third party, please contact:

Hunter Medical Research Institute 

Philanthropy Team 

Locked Bag 1000 

New Lambton NSW 2305 

Phone: 02 4042 1000 

Email: donate@hmri.org.au  

We will offer you opportunities to OPT-OUT of sharing your details. However, if you do take advantage of any offer from a third party organisation, they may send you further offers to you directly. 

Sending information overseas: 

HMRI does not send personal information about an individual outside Australia.

5. How do we treat sensitive information? 

In referring to ‘sensitive information’ we mean: information relating to a person’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, trade union or other professional or trade association membership, sexual preferences or criminal record, that is also personal information; and health information about an individual. 

Sensitive information will be used and disclosed only for the purpose for which it was provided or a directly related secondary purpose, unless you agree otherwise, or the use or disclosure of the sensitive information is allowed by law. 

6. How do we protect information provided via the Internet 

Our site is secured using 256-bit SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption.

7. Management and security of personal information 

Our staff are required to respect the confidentiality of your personal information and the privacy of individuals. 

We have in place steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by use of various methods including locked storage of paper records and password protected access rights to computerised records. 

8. Updating personal information 

We want to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up to date. A person may seek to update their personal information held by us by contacting the HMRI Philanthropy Team on (02) 4042 1000.

The Australian Privacy Principles require us not to store personal information longer than necessary. 

9. You have the right to check what personal information we hold about you 

Under the Commonwealth Privacy Act, an individual has the right to obtain access to any personal information which we hold about them and to advise us of any perceived inaccuracy. There are some exceptions to this right set out in the Act. 

To make a request to access any information we hold about you, please contact the HMRI Philanthropy Team on (02) 4042 1000.

We may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. We may charge a fee to cover the cost of verifying your application and locating, retrieving, reviewing and copying any material requested. If the information sought is extensive, we will advise the likely cost in advance. 

There will be occasions when access to the personal information is denied. Such occasions include where release of the information would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others, or where the release may result in a breach of another legal obligation. 

10. Enquiries 

If you would like further information about the way in which we manage the personal information we hold, please contact the Head of Philanthropy HMRI. 

11. Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint about a privacy breach, please contact the HMRI Philanthropy Team on (02) 4042 1000 who will endeavor to resolve your complaint. If you feel your issue has not been satisfactorily resolved, you can request your issue is escalated to the HMRI Head of Philanthropy. If you feel the issue is still not satisfactorily resolved, it will be further escalated to the HMRI Director.

Date updated: 12 April 2016

Date for Review: Annually or as required

Policy Contact Position: Development Team (02) 4042 1000 

Website Usage Policy

Tracking your use

We collect statistics on visitor traffic to our website through “cookies”. These are anonymous and do not identify you.  We may also anonymously track your visit to our website by using information collected by others. For example, we use Google Analytics Demographics which tells us things like gender, age range and interests of site visitors - without giving us any information that could be used to identify you.  This enables us to better understand how our website is used and what you are interested in. 

If you prefer not to allow this, you may be able to adjust your browser to turn off use of “cookies” or notify you when they are being used.  You can also opt out of programs like Google Analytics if you wish: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/ . However, if you disable cookies, you may not be able to access certain areas or take advantage of certain features on our website.

Protecting your information

To protect your personal and financial information, our site uses security encrypted response forms when personal and financial details are requested. The security we use between your browser and our website is 256-bit SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption. Depending on your browser a security icon will be visible (eg. a padlock). This confirms that your browser supports SSL security. Double click on the security icon to verify the security certificate on this website. You will then see a box which displays who the certificate is issued to, who it was issued by and the certificate’s period of validity. 

These security measures are reviewed regularly in compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

Site comments and user generated content

Please note that where you post personal information in a comment on the website, you are making that information publicly available.  

You promise that you own any content that you post and you give us the right to use any content you might post for any non-commercial purpose.

You promise that all information you provide to us (including your opinions) will be truthful and accurate and that you will not say anything about another person that is not in line community standards of decency and respect or which could be defamatory. We reserve the right to moderate any content you post for any reason at any time. 

We take no responsibility for the accuracy, integrity or quality of content posted by others. You view these entirely at your own risk. If you see anything on our site that you believe needs attention please contact us.

Connecting with others

Our website includes references to other people and organisations and links to other websites. Other sites may also have links to our website. You connect with those people and organisations at your own risk. Where we provide a link to another site, we are inviting you to explore it for yourself. This is not an endorsement of individuals, views, business, products or services advertised on that site. We encourage you to review each website's privacy policy, especially if you intend to disclose any personal information via that site.  

For more information about how we protect your privacy, please read our privacy policy (detailed above).

Using images, videos and text from our website

We (Hunter Medical Research Institute) encourage you to use the material (images, videos and text) on this website to educate yourself and others, to promote Hunter Medical Research Institute’s work or to fundraise for us. There are some limits:

  1. If you want to use material for commercial purposes or to fundraise for us through your business or other commercial activity (such as selling a book or CD) you need special permission before doing so. Please contact us.
  2. You need to make sure that you do not change the material in any way and that you acknowledge us as the owner as follows: © Copyright Hunter Medical Research Institute [year]. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Source: www.hmri.org.au.
  3. You will need to get separate permission from the owner of any material marked “used by permission [name of owner]” (because it belongs to someone else).
  4. If you want to fundraise for us, make sure you are aware of our fundraising guidelines.
  5. You will not use our material to fundraise for anybody else.
  6. We can ask you to stop using our material at any time at our complete discretion.

Using logos and other trademarks from our website

You are only allowed to use the Hunter Medical Research Institute logo and any other logos we own where it is embedded in a banner or other link as set out below.

Otherwise, you need to contact us for special permission.

We reserve the right to ask you to stop using it any time at our complete discretion.

Downloading the Hunter Medical Research Institute logo and web banners or linking to our website

We encourage you to create a link to our website from your website or other social media sites to educate yourself and others, to promote Hunter Medical Research Institute’s work or to fundraise for us.

There are a variety of links, banners and widgets available which you can access by reading and accepting the following rules:  

  1. You are not allowed to link to us where your website is a business (or other commercial) website without our express permission. 
  2. You will only use the link in ways which protect and enhance our reputation.  
  3. Using the link on your website does not mean that we support or endorse what you do.
    You will make this clear on your website. 
  4. You use the link at your own risk.
  5. You will not change the link in any way or combine it with any other graphics.
  6. You will not pass the link on to any other person.
  7. We can ask you to stop using the link at any time at our complete discretion.
  8. You need to know that Hunter Medical Research Institute is the owner of the Hunter Medical Research Institute logos.  We may take action against you if you misuse the logo and any goodwill you generate by using it will belong to us. 
  9. If you are also fundraising for us, make sure you read our fundraising guidelines.
  10. All appropriate laws (including the laws of the country in which your website originates) also apply.

We may make changes to these rules from time to time without notice. Any changes will be reflected on this page.

Date updated: 13 April 2016

Date for Review: Annually or as required