Amendments to the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988, which came into effect on 21 December 2001, extend privacy obligations to most organisations within the private sector, including unions. The new legislation sets out a number of principles concerning the way private organisations collect, use, disclose and store information about individuals.

The CEPU has always handled your personal information with care and diligence. However, to comply with the Act we would like to advise you of the following information.

CEPU privacy policy

The CEPU is an organisation of employees registered under the Workplace Relations Act 1996. The union is covered by the provisions of the Privacy Act 1998.

The principle activities of the union are:

• representing members in workplace and industry-wide negotiations with employers and employer organisations;
• representing members before the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, state industrial tribunals on matters relevant to workplace issues;
• providing information to members about their employment and related rights and obligations;
• lobbying State and Federal Government and other relevant bodies about matters of concern to members and their families in relation to employment;
• publicising to members and to the community, issues of concern to members and proposals to address these concerns;
• conducting research and other activities in order to enable the union to effectively carry out these functions;
• providing members and their families with access to a range of services on favourable terms.

Personal information

The union collects personal information from members, including name, address, employer occupation, date of birth, country of birth, main language spoken and contact details.

The union collects this information in order to:

• contact members about matters relating to their union membership;
• ensure that services and programs are relevant to the needs of members, including by carrying out surveys and other research;
• meet statutory requirements under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 and other relevant legislation. More detailed information such as medical and health information is collected where the union is assisting members with individual cases.

Privacy policy statement

The union's privacy policy includes:

• a commitment to secure storage of and control of access to personal information by the union and any other organisations with which it deals;
• a commitment not to pass information to third parties without the member's consent, other than in particular cases of contracted out services, such as use of mail houses, or where required by law;
• a member can contact the union to view information held about him or her and may correct any inaccuracies;
• members who do not wish to receive information from the union by mail, email or other means, may contact the union to arrange this.

How to contact us

If you wish to contact the Union in relation to this statement or other privacy issues, please contact the State Office by calling (03) 9349 2100 or by sending an e-mail to cwu@cwu.org.au.