Intellectual property rights protection is an important aspect of our website content. You should keep copyright protection and trademark integrity in mind when using our website.

The Commonwealth of Australia owns all the material we produce. All material presented on this website is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence, with the exception of:

• the Commonwealth Coat of Arms – terms of use are available at Commonwealth Coat of Arms | PM&C (pmc.gov.au)
• the NEMA logo
• materials specifically not provided under a Creative Commons attribution 4.0 licence
• content supplied by third parties.

License details and conditions are available in the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. 

You should not alter any NEMA website content and should attribute website material as “Australian Government: NEMA”.

Third party copyright

The copyright held by a third party to material on our website remains with that third party. You might need to obtain their permission to use that material.

We have made all reasonable efforts to:

• label clearly the material where the copyright is owned by a third party
• ensure we have the consent of the copyright owner to use this material on our website.

Logos and trade marks

Any logos, NEMA logos, registered trade marks and unregistered trade marks must not be used without prior, specific and written permission obtained in advance. 

More information

For further information about NEMA copyright and trade marks: contact@nema.gov.au

Disclaimer

Conditions of use

By using this website you accept the following conditions:

• the Commonwealth of Australia accepts no responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of any of the information contained on or accessed through this website and makes no representations about its suitability for any particular purpose
• while we make every effort to ensure that the information on this website is accurate and comprehensive, the information is only intended as a basic guide to relevant policies and laws, and does not address the complexities of particular circumstances
• you should seek independent advice about your individual circumstances
• to the extent permitted by law, the Commonwealth excludes all liability for loss or damage arising from the use of, or reliance on, the information contained on or accessed through this website whether or not caused by any negligence on the part of the Commonwealth or its agents.
• we make every effort to ensure that links on this site are up-to-date. The currency of the links is dependent upon the owners of those sites letting us know of any changes.
• If you find a link that does not work, contact us at: contact@nema.gov.au.

Information or materials which are offensive, pornographic, unsuitable for minors access or otherwise of a criminal or violent nature may potentially be accessible through this site either as a result of hacking or material placed on linked websites.

The Commonwealth makes no representations as to the suitability of the information accessible for viewing by minors or any other individual.

You assume all risks associated with use of the website, including:

• The risk of your computer, software or data being damaged by any virus, torjan which might be transmitted or activated via the website or your access to it
• or the risk that the content of this website and linked web sites complies with the laws of any country outside Australia.

Your use of this website will be logged for the purpose of security and usage monitoring. For further information refer to the websites Privacy Statement.

Unauthorised use of this website could result in criminal prosecution or the commencement of civil proceedings.

This website is hosted on a GovCMS web server in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

These terms are governed by the law in force in the ACT and any dispute about these terms or the contents of this web site are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the ACT.

Privacy obligations 

We have obligations for handling personal information as outlined in:

• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act)
• Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)
• Australian Government Agencies Privacy Code (the Privacy Code).

This policy is reviewed regularly and may be updated from time to time.

If your privacy complaint isn’t resolved to your satisfaction, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). The OAIC can receive privacy complaints through the below options:

Contacting our Privacy Officer

You can contact our Privacy Officer if you want to:

• ask questions about the Agency's Privacy Policy, or if you need a copy of this Policy in an alternative format
• get access to or seek correction of your personal information held by us
• make a privacy complaint about the Agency.

Third-party sites have their own privacy policies and may send their own cookies to your computer. We don’t control the setting of third-party cookies. We suggest you check the third-party websites for more information about their cookies and how to manage them.

Website analytics

We may use ‘cookies’ to improve your experience our website. We also use Google Analytics which is a service that sends website traffic data to Google servers in the United States.

Google Analytics doesn’t identify individual users or associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. We use reports provided by Google Analytics to help us understand website traffic and webpage usage.

By using our website, you consent to the processing of your data by Google in the manner described in Google's Privacy Policy and for the purposes set out above.

You can opt out of Google Analytics if you:

• disable or refuse the cookie
• disable JavaScript
• use the opt-out service provided by Google.

Our website also contains links to other websites. Please be aware that we aren’t responsible for the privacy practices of other sites.

When you visit other websites from our official website, we advise that you be aware and read their respective privacy policies.

Accessing and correcting personal information

You have a right to request access to personal information we hold about you, and to request its correction. We’ll respond to requests for access or correction within 30 days.

The Privacy Act allows us to refuse access in certain cases, including where an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) would apply.

Where we have refused access, we’ll give you reasons in writing. We’ll also provide you with information about how you can dispute the decision.

To request access to, or correction of, your personal information please contact the Agency's Privacy Officer. Discussing your request with the Privacy Officer will help us give you early guidance about your request. This may include guidance about whether your request is best dealt with under the Privacy Act, the FOI Act or another arrangement.

Privacy impact assessments

The Privacy (Australian Government Agencies – Governance) Australian Privacy Principles Code 2017 (the Code) requires agencies, to conduct a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for all high privacy risk projects.

PIAs completed by the Agency, since the Code commenced on 1 July 2018, are listed in the table below.

How to make a privacy complaint

If you aren’t satisfied with how we have collected, held, used or disclosed your personal information, you can make a formal complaint to the Agency's Privacy Officer. Your complaint should include:

• a short description of your privacy concern
• any action or dealings you’ve had with staff of the Agency to address your concern
• your preferred contact details so we can contact you about your complaint.

We may also collect information about how you use our online services and applications. For example, we use social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to talk with and support the public. When you talk with us using these services, your personal information may be collected to communicate with you and the public.

These social networking services will also handle your personal information for their own purposes.

These services have their own privacy policies. You can access the privacy policies for these services on their websites.

How we use and disclose information

We may use and disclose collected personal information for the purpose it was first collected. We’ll take reasonable steps to give you information about the reason for collection at the time of collection, or as soon as possible.

We will only use and disclose your personal information for a secondary purpose if APP 6 allows it.

We may disclose personal information to overseas entities (such as a foreign government or agency) where this is a necessary part of our work. We’ll only do this with your consent or in other circumstances allowed by APP 8.

We may also use third party providers or websites to deliver or communicate content such as:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Campaign Monitor
• LinkedIn
• YouTube.

When personal information is collected from a third party, we take steps to inform you of it. We can do this through the Privacy Policy, notices or discussions with staff.

We respond in line with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's Data breach preparation and response when personal information that we hold is:

• lost
• subject to unauthorised access or disclosure.

We aim to provide timely advice to affected individuals if a data breach is likely to result in serious harm.

Types of information held

In performing official functions, we may collect and hold the following kinds of personal and sensitive information:

• identity and contact details for individuals
  • for example, name, phone, email and postal address)
• photographs, video recordings and audio recordings of individuals
• information relating to personal circumstances
  • For example, age, gender, cultural and linguistic background, disabilities and other family circumstances including spouses, carers and dependents
• information relating to financial affairs
  • for example, payment details, bank account details
• other information relating to identity
  • for example, date of birth, citizenship and visa status, passport details, drivers licence
• information about employment
  • for example, employment status and work history, education status, referee comments, salary
• government identifiers
  • For example, tax file number.

How we collect personal information

We may collect personal information from:

• a person directly
• their authorised representative
• Through a third party if permitted by law.

We may collect personal information in a range of ways, including:

• surveys
• email and phone communication
• forms or notices
• online portals
• through our website.

You can also refer to the our Privacy Notice for further information.

How we safeguard personal information

We takes our obligations seriously to protect the personal information we hold.

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information against:

• misuse
• interference
• loss
• unauthorised access
• modification
• disclosure.

These steps include:

• classifying and storing records securely as per Australian Government security guidelines
• internal access to information is on a ‘need to know’ basis and only by authorised personnel
• monitoring system access which can only be accessed by authenticated credentials
• ensuring the Agency's buildings are secure
• regularly updating and auditing the Agency's storage and data security systems.

You can learn more about the Privacy Act and the Privacy Code on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website.

Why we collect personal information

We may collect personal information about you when it’s reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, one or more of the Agency’s functions or activities. You can find out more about our functions on the about section of the website.

Sensitive information about you may be collected where you consent, when the collection is authorised or required by law, or the collection is otherwise allowed under the Privacy Act. 

We collect personal information for purposes which include:

• invitations for public submissions
• feedback on review or reform processes
• invitations to subscription services related to official news and information
• undertaking recruitment
• maintaining employment records and facilitating travel
• facilitating events, appointments and official visits
• administering honours and awards
• delivering anniversary messages
• coordinating official responses on behalf of the Agency
• providing recovery assistance in relation to an emergency or disaster
• administering programmes and grants.

Our Privacy Policy outlines:

• what kinds of personal and sensitive information we collect
• why this information is collected
• how it’s handled.

‘Personal information’ means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

‘Sensitive information’ is a subset of personal information and includes information or an opinion about an individual’s:

• racial or ethnic origin political opinions
• religious beliefs or affiliations
• philosophical beliefs
• sexual orientation
• criminal record
• health information
• genetic information.

Public interest disclosure (PID) is the reporting of wrongdoing in the Commonwealth public sector.

This may include conduct which you reasonably believe:

• contravenes a law
• is corrupt
• perverts the course of justice
• results in a wastage of public funds or property
• is an abuse of public trust
• endangers health and safety
• endangers the environment
• is maladministration, including conduct that is unjust, oppressive or negligent.

PIDs to the National Emergency Management Agency can be made:

• Email: publicinterestdisclosure@nema.gov.au
• Post: Chief Operating Officer, National Emergency Management Agency, GPO Box 133, Canberra City ACT 2601

Making a Public Interest Disclosure

Public interest disclosures can be made by a public official. This includes:

• any person who is, or was, employed by the Australian Government
• individuals employed by any Commonwealth companies, authorities and statutory agencies, the Parliamentary service, statutory officeholders
• service providers under contract to the Commonwealth and anyone employed by them.

Disclosures are about matters where investigation and correction is in the public interest. This doesn’t include disagreements with government policy or expenditure.

A public interest certificate (PIC) is a document issued by our Coordinator-General (or their delegate). It is created in accordance with section 22 of the Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Act 2018.

A PIC will state that it’s not in the public interest for a particular procurement process to be suspended while applications for injunctions are being considered, or complaints are being investigated, under the Act.

The following PICs have been issued by the National Emergency Management Agency:

Personal information is collected by us when you subscribe to any subscription service on this website. The contact information you provide will only be used for the purposes of the subscription service. If you fail to provide the personal information we request when you subscribe, we may not be able to provide the subscription service to you.

This website is managed by us (the Agency).

This notification of collection outlines our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in relation to your use of this website in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988.

Learn more about our handling of personal information in our Privacy Policy below.

Collection of personal information

Clickstream data (information logged)

When visiting this site, a record of your visit is logged. This ‘clickstream data’ is collected for statistical purposes and is used to help improve this website and the experience of visitors.

The following information is supplied by your browser (for example Internet Explorer, Edge or Chrome) and collected by us:

• your server address
• your operating system (for example Windows, MAC)
• your top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov)
• the date and time of your visit to the site the pages accessed
• the documents downloaded the previous site visited the type of browser used.

Disclosure

We’ll only disclose your personal information where we are authorised to do so under the Privacy Act.