Policies & Privacy

The Sisters of the Good Samaritan Foundation is a Company Limited by Guarantee.  We are registered with the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission (ACNC.) We are a Public Benevolent Institution and Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR 1.) Donations over $2 are tax deductible.

Our listing on the ACNC website can be viewed here.

A selection of our policy documents are provided below.  If you have any specific questions about an area of policy that is addressed here, please feel free to contact us at info@goodsamsfoundation.org.au.

Privacy Policy

  1. Our commitment Sisters of the Good Samaritan Foundation Ltd (SGSF) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your information. Your privacy is of paramount importance to us because we appreciate and value your support. We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act) and other applicable privacy laws that apply to private sector organisations. Your use of our website signifies implied agreement to this Privacy Policy.
  2. What is “personal information”? Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not. Personal information includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, age and e-mail addresses. You can find out more about the privacy legislation by reviewing the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au
  3. Why we collect information. SGSF relies on financial support from the public to provide funding for the work of SGSF. It is only with support from people like you that we can continue to offer protection and support to assist and empower disadvantaged women and children to lead independent, active and fulfilling lives in their communities. Our primary purpose of collecting personal information is so that we can communicate with our supporters.
  4. We are careful with all your details and will use them to contact you with information we believe will be important to you. For example, information provided by you may be used to keep you better informed about how the funds raised enable SGSF programs in the support of women and children through Refuge, Education and Community Development. This may be done by a newsletter or email.
  5. SGSF may also use or disclose personal information that we collect about you for administrative purposes including, taxation receipts, research, planning, service development, security and risk management.
  6. SGSF will not provide your personal information to any other individuals or organisations unless: a. we have your prior consent, except where we are required by law to disclose your personal information; and b. we are required to provide it to third party service providers in order for them to provide services to the Foundation, for example database management, printing and mailing. In such cases, we will ensure that our service providers understand their obligations to comply with the Privacy Act to keep your personal information secure and confidential.

How we collect information

  1. Your personal information is only collected as is necessary for the function or activity or fundraising to enable SGSF to carry out its purpose. When you give us personal information such as your name and address, we record it on our database and may use it to contact you in the future.
  2. SGSF collects information in many different ways. The personal information we collect comes from sources such as donation envelopes, appeal responses, our website (e.g. through online donation forms) or if you have previously contacted us by email, telephone or in writing.
  3. SGSF will not collect sensitive information about health, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions or membership, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade association or union membership, sexual preferences or criminal record unless you have consented to give this information and it is reasonably necessary for SGSF’s functions and activities. We will only collect such information in a non-intrusive, lawful and fair manner.
  4. Where possible, you have the option of not identifying yourself when dealing with SGSF.
  5. We will only collect personal information that you provide us and you are entirely free to decide whether or not to supply this information. If SGSF relies on the Direct Marketing exception to Direct Market to individuals it will ensure that: a. individuals are clearly notified of their right to Opt Out from further Direct Marketing; and b. if the individual Opts Out of all Direct Marketing the Opt Out will be respected by SGSF and implemented free of charge. SGSF may use personal information to avoid an imminent threat to a person’s life or to public safety. It may also use Personal Information for reasons related to law enforcement or internal investigations into unlawful activities.
  6. From time to time, we may also disclose your personal information to activities associated with SGSF (e.g. Good Samaritan Inn, Good Samaritan Education and Good Samaritan colleges) and allow like-minded charities to contact you to provide information about their activities and services that may be of interest to you. In return, they help us to reach more generous Australians like yourself. If you do not want us to disclose your personal information to other like-minded charities or if you do not want to receive communications from us or another charity, please advise the Privacy Officer, Sisters of the Good Samaritan Foundation, PO Box 1076 GLEBE NSW 2037.
  7. Disclosure of your personal information to another organisation or individual outside of Australia, when consent is given, will only occur where the other organisation or individual has comparable privacy principles to that of SGSF. Your personal information may be disclosed to recipients involved with SGSF activities in Kiribati, Philippines, East Timor and Japan. SGSF, however, generally does not send information overseas. If personal information must be sent by SGSF overseas for sound business reasons, SGSF will require the overseas organisation receiving the information to provide a binding undertaking that it will handle that information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles. SGSF will not be liable to you for any breach of the Privacy Act by the overseas recipient on the basis of your consent to such disclosure.

Security of your Personal Information

  1. Once any personal information is received or collected by SGSF, we will take reasonable steps to protect that information from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
  2. Personal information is stored on secure servers that are protected in controlled facilities. The security of our systems is regularly reviewed to ensure ongoing protection against damage, loss and/or unauthorised access. Our security precautions are regularly updated and improved in line with technical developments. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot give an absolute assurance that the information you provide to us will be secure at all times. The Foundation will not be held responsible for unauthorised access to personal information where it has taken reasonable steps to protect and secure that information.
  3. Personal information will be destroyed or permanently de-identified when it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected.
  4. SGSF will not sell or exchange or release personal information about an individual for commercial gain.

Access, Correction and Deletion rights

  1. You are entitled to request access to your personal information held by SGSF at any time and to correct your personal information if you believe it to be out of date or incorrect. If you would like access to the information we hold about you, please contact the Privacy Officer, Sisters of the Good Samaritan Foundation, PO Box 1076 GLEBE, NSW 2037 and we will amend your personal information accordingly
  2. Similarly, if you would like to remove your personal information from our database, please contact us the above address and we will take all reasonable steps to delete it, unless we need to keep it for legal reasons.

Confidentiality

  1. Personal information will be collected and stored on confidential databases maintained by the SGSF and/or contractors. Staff and volunteers who may have access to personal information in the course of their duties will respect its confidentiality and not disclose the information to any third party except as permitted or required by law.

Making a Complaint

  1. If you have any concerns about how your personal information has been collected, used or disclosed and you wish to make a complaint about a possible breach of privacy laws, you can contact the Privacy Officer, Sisters of the Good Samaritan Foundation, PO Box 1076 GLEBE 2037.
  2. We will investigate your concerns and, if appropriate, take any necessary steps to resolve your complaint. We may need to contact you if we need further information to investigate your complaint and will advise you of the outcome of the investigation as soon as it is completed. We will endeavour to investigate and resolve your complaint within 20 business days.
  3. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation, you can contact us again to discuss your concerns, or you may complain to the Australian Privacy Commissioner via www.oaic.gov.au
  4. Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) apply to not-for-profits with an annual turnover of $3m or more. If an NDB applies to the Foundation, an assessment of a suspected data breach will take place. If such a breach has occurred and it is likely to result in serious harm to an individual, the individual affected will be notified. The Australian Information Commission will be notified according to the NDB Statement form.

Visiting the website

  1. SGSF’s website may use cookies to track site visits, navigation within SGSF’s website and items added while using the online donation facilities. Cookies, of themselves, do not personally identify users, although they do identify a user’s browser. If you are concerned about the use of these cookies, your browser can be configured to notify you when you receive a cookie and provide you with the opportunity to accept or reject it. You may refuse all cookies from GSF’s website, however, some functions on our website may be unavailable if you do so.
  2. SGSF’s website may, from time to time, contain links to the websites of other organisations which may be of interest to you. SGSF does not accept any responsibility for the privacy practices or the content of linked websites. Linked websites are responsible for their own privacy practices and you should check those websites for their respective privacy policies.
  3. SGSF may, without notice, amend or modify this Privacy Notice and/or its Privacy Policy by posting an amended Privacy Notice and/or Privacy Policy on its website. Visitors to this website are responsible for consulting this page on a regular basis to inform themselves of any amendments that may have been made. The amended Privacy Policy will apply between us whether or not we have given you specific notice of any change.

The Spam Act 2003

  1. The Spam Act 2003 (Cth) prohibits the sending of unsolicited emails, SMS and MMS messages for commercial purposes from or within Australia or to people in Australia and bans the supply and use of software designed to harvest email addresses. While charities do have some exemptions from this Act, SGSF will be guided by the best practice guidelines developed for responsible electronic messaging practices by the Association for Data-driven Marketing & Advertising in conjunction with industry and consumer representatives and administered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
  2. All staff and volunteers on induction will be notified of their obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.
  3. Questions/Further Information. If you have any general questions or concerns relating to this policy, please contact the SGSF Privacy Officer, Sisters of the Good Samaritan Foundation, PO Box 1076, GLEBE, NSW 2037.

Board Updated and approved Sisters of the Good Samaritan Foundation:

  • Established on 19th November 2014
  • Updated on 28 July 2022
  • To be reviewed August 2024

Other Policy and Procedure documents

Complaints procedure

Commitment to Safeguarding

Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR)

ACNC

Review our Financial Reports listed below:

Audited Financial Report 2020

Audited Financial Report 2021

Audited Financial Report 2022

Review our latest annual report here:

Annual Report 2022

You can also get to know our Board Members, but clicking on the page below –

People & Patrons

We are committed to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults and maintain our commitment to providing a safe environment for all.  Our safeguarding policy can be downloaded here.

The Sisters of the Good Samaritan Foundation has joined the National Redress Scheme as part of the Good Samaritan Participatory Group. The National Redress Scheme was set up as a response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse. The arrangements under this scheme allow applicants to seek financial compensation for instances of historic child sexual abuse. If you have any questions or concerns relating to the safeguarding of children and adults at risk please contact the Congregational Safeguarding Coordinator at safeguarding@goodsams.org.au.