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Privacy

About this statement

The Accident Compensation Conciliation Service (ACCS) is a body corporate under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013. This website is owned and operated by ACCS, trading as the Workplace Injury Commission (WIC), under the domain names www.wic.vic.gov.au and careers@wic.vic.gov.au.

WIC collects and handles personal information and health information about individuals who have requested the provision of conciliation and arbitration services, employees and other persons, including third party service providers, who assist WIC in carrying out its functions and activities.

WIC is subject to the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) and Health Privacy Principles (HPPs) set out in the Privacy and Data Protection 2014 and the Health Records Act 2001 as minimum standards when dealing with personal and health information.

This Privacy Statement explains our policy for handling personal information which you may provide to us when you access and interact with our website. The Statement should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Policy, which sets out our general procedures and practices with respect to collection, use, disclosure, storage and handling of personal and health information.

Collection of Information

The information we collect about you depends on how and why you access our website. We will only collect personal information about you by lawful or fair means.

We may collect personal information from you at various times, including when you contact us in person, by phone, mail or online. For example, personal information is collected when you:

  • Lodge an Application for Conciliation or Referral for Arbitration Form;
  • Apply for a job with WIC;
  • Are engaged as a contracted service provider;
  • Provide feedback or make a suggestion by completing the online form.

Emailing WIC

When you send us an email, the contents of your email and your email address are generally retained by us for only as long as is necessary to respond to your inquiry, in accordance with the Public Records Act 1973 and other applicable legislation. However, they may be retained for longer if you consent, or where we believe we are required or authorised by law to retain the information for a longer period.  Third party cloud providers may also have access for email delivery purposes.

We may use your email address for any purpose for which you provide it. We may also use it to respond to feedback given to us about the website and our services, to provide you with any information you request, to confirm receipt of emails you have sent us or if we need to contact you for any other reason.

Automatic collection through the website (clickstream data and cookies)

Clickstream data

If you visit the website to read, browse or download information, our computer system will record information about the visit such as the type of browser and operating system you are using, the previous site you visited, your server's IP address, the date and time of your visit, the pages accessed and any information downloaded.

We only use this information for statistical, reporting and website administration and maintenance purposes. It is not used in a way that identifies you.

Cookies

Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to an individual’s hard drive for record keeping purposes. Cookies can make web surfing easier for you by saving your preferences while you are on a site.

Cookies may be used to store information about your use of the WIC website and there is certain information we automatically track via Google Analytics when you access the website. Once again, this data is used to improve the services and information we provide and does not include any personally identifying information.

Use and disclosure of information

Where we collect personal and health information from you via our website or email, we may use or disclose the information for purposes including the following:

  1. For the purpose that we have collected the information;
  2. Purposes connected with the operation, administration, development or enhancement of this website and our databases;
  3. For human resources purposes, including employment and payroll activities;
  4. Where we suspect that fraud or unlawful activity has been, is being or may be engaged in; or
  5. Any other purposes required or authorised by law.

We may share personal information within WIC and with third parties. The types of third parties to whom we will disclose your personal information includes our contracted service providers who assist us in providing this website.

We may also disclose your personal information to your authorised representative or third parties acting on your behalf.

The Privacy Policy provides further information on the use and disclosure of your personal information.

Security

We have implemented security policies and measures to protect the personal information that we have under our control. However, you should be aware that there are risks in transmitting information across the internet. So, while we strive to protect such information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted to us online and individuals do so at their own risk.

Once any personal information comes into our possession, we will take reasonable steps to protect that information from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.

Links to other Websites

Our website may contain links to websites which are owned or operated by third parties independent of WIC. This Privacy Statement does not apply to external websites. Those websites should contain their own privacy statements, and their owners or operators are responsible for informing you about their security and privacy practices. We are not responsible for information on, or the privacy practices of, such external websites.

Social media

We have social media sharing links on this website, located in the top right-hand corner of the webpages. By clicking this link you are given the option to share the webpage as a post on your social media account (such as LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube or Twitter). The social media platform may collect your personal information for its own purposes. Your individual privacy settings for profiles and accounts on social media accounts are your responsibility. WIC has no control or jurisdiction over the content you share on your social media account.

Access or correction

Requests for access to, or correction of, documents held by us should be made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FoI Act). The FoI Act also sets out the appropriate procedures for exercising a right of review of an agency’s decision about access and/or correction. There are certain exemptions to the obligations to provide access. For instance, if providing access to you would involve unreasonable disclosure of the personal affairs of another person, documents may be withheld.

If you would like access to information about your Application for Conciliation or Arbitration, contact WIC directly:

Workplace Injury Commission (WIC)
GPO Box 251
Melbourne Vic 3001

Email: info@wic.vic.gov.au

For access to other types of information, contact the Freedom of Information and Privacy Team at:

The Privacy Officer

Workplace Injury Commission (WIC)
GPO Box 251
Melbourne Vic 3001
Email: privacy@wic.vic.gov.au

Queries about the operation of this website

If you have any queries about the operation of this website, or if you wish to have access to personal information which we hold about you, or believe that the information which we hold may be inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, please contact:

Workplace Injury Commission (WIC)
Level 1, 215 Spring Street, Melbourne 3000
GPO Box 251 Melbourne Vic 3001

Email: info@wic.vic.gov.au

Changes to this Privacy Statement

You acknowledge and accept that your use of the WIC website indicates your acceptance of the terms of use outlined in this Privacy Statement. This Privacy Statement replaces any other Privacy Statement previously published for our website.

We may at any time vary the Privacy Statement by publishing the varied Privacy Statement on our website. You accept that by your use of our website after any variation, we have provided you with sufficient notice of the variation and you are taken to have accepted the revised Privacy Statement.