Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy outlines how the Autism Support Directory (ABN 72 350 144 356) collects, holds, uses, and discloses personal information.
We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring that you are informed about how your personal information is managed.
WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT & HOW AND WHY WE COLLECT IT
What personal information do we collect?
The personal information we collect is generally limited to your name, contact details, business information, and records of communications between you and the Autism Support Directory.
However, we may also collect:
Financial information, such as your credit or debit card details;
Website usage data, including how you interact with our site. This may be collected through third-party tools such as Google Analytics and similar technologies;
Cookies and tracking technologies, which help us understand user behaviour, improve functionality, and personalise your experience on our website. You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings.
How do we collect your personal information?
We value your trust and are committed to keeping your personal information safe and secure. We collect information in a few key ways — most often when you provide it to us directly or indirectly. This may include filling out forms on our website (such as sign-up or contact forms), registering an account, creating a Business Listing, or contacting us via phone, email, or social media. We may also collect information from someone who referred you, or from other individuals or organisations connected to your enquiry or interaction with us.
We also use cookies on our website — small data files that help improve your experience and keep our site secure. Cookies can identify your browser and track the pages you visit, helping us understand how our website is used and allowing us to personalise your experience (like remembering form details so you don’t have to re-enter them).
In some cases, personal information may also be collected through third-party tools such as Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel. These tools use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to collect or receive information about your activity across the internet, which helps us improve the performance and effectiveness of our website and marketing.
Why do we collect your personal information?
We collect and use your personal information for the following purposes:
To communicate with you regarding enquiries and requests
To send you updates, news, and relevant information about the Directory or your Business Listing
To operate and manage our website, services, and business operations
To process payments for monthly Listing fees
To conduct verification checks related to your Business Listing
To comply with legal obligations, such as record keeping and reporting
We are legally required to retain financial records for seven (7) years. For other types of personal information, we typically retain data for two (2) years from your last interaction with us, unless a longer retention period is required or you request deletion sooner. Otherwise, we only keep personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined above.
We may also collect personal information to analyse and enhance our business operations and improve your experience with our business. This is used as statistical information to analyse our website traffic and to customise the content and advertising we provide.
You can choose to opt out of the collection and use of your information for advertising and communications at any time.
To opt out of Google Analytics tracking, visit: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
To manage your Facebook ad preferences, go to the Facebook Help Centre > Manage My Account > Ad Preferences
To opt out of receiving promotional emails, you can click ‘Unsubscribe’ at the bottom of any email (if available), or email us directly at admin@autismsupportdirectory.com.au.
Please note: You cannot unsubscribe from important service updates or emails related to payments and account management if you have an active Business Listing.
How is your financial information stored?
When you provide payment details for a Listing Package or other services, your financial information is securely processed and stored by Stripe, our trusted third-party payment provider. When you provide your payment information, it is encrypted and securely stored by Stripe, which is certified as PCI DSS Level 1 compliant — the highest level of payment security.
The Autism Support Directory does not store or have access to your full credit card or direct debit details at any time. Your information is transmitted using SSL encryption and used solely to process payments for our services. This approach helps protect your data, prevent unauthorised access, and ensure your transactions remain safe.
WHEN DO WE DISCLOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION & HOW CAN YOU ACCESS IT?
When do we disclose your personal information?
We use reasonable precautions to make sure your information stays safe and secure. Access to your information is restricted to authorised personnel only, and we retain it in accordance with our legal record-keeping obligations.
When personal information is no longer needed, we take all reasonable steps to securely delete or de-identify it.
We generally do not disclose your personal information unless:
You have provided consent;
Disclosure is required or authorised by law; or
It is necessary to deliver our services to you (e.g. through third-party providers).
We ensure that all appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles and other applicable laws. We will only collect and use sensitive information for the purpose for which it was provided, for a directly related purpose you would reasonably expect, or where you have given your consent.
In some cases, we may disclose personal information to trusted third-party service providers — such as payment processors, data storage providers, analytics tools, or advertising platforms — where it is necessary to operate our business and provide services. We take steps to ensure that these providers handle your data in compliance with relevant privacy laws.
You can opt out of the collection and use of certain types of information (such as data collected via advertising platforms) by adjusting your privacy settings or following opt-out instructions provided by those services.
Legal Exceptions: In rare cases, we may be legally required to disclose your personal information if we believe there is a serious risk to your life, health, or safety, or that of another person. For example, if there is a clear and immediate risk of harm to yourself or others, we may need to report this to the relevant authorities. This also applies where there is a strong suspicion of abuse, neglect, or family violence involving a person under 18, or where a court order requires us to release certain information.
Cross-Border Disclosure of Personal Information
We may disclose your personal information to third-party service providers located overseas for purposes such as analytics, data storage, payment processing, or advertising services. We ensure that any overseas recipient of your personal information is subject to laws or contractual obligations that are substantially similar to the Australian Privacy Principles to protect your privacy.
Before we disclose your personal information to an overseas recipient, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that they do not breach the Australian Privacy Principles concerning your personal information. This may involve:
entering into binding contractual arrangements with the overseas recipients that require them to handle your personal information in accordance with our instructions and protect your personal information in a manner consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles;
verifying that the overseas recipient is subject to a law or binding scheme that, overall, provides for privacy protections substantially similar to the Australian Privacy Principles;
obtaining your express consent to the disclosure after informing you that the overseas recipient may not be required to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles.
How can you access or delete your information?
If you want to access, correct, or delete your information, please email us at admin@autismsupportdirectory.com.au. We’re happy to help, unless we’re required by law to withhold it. And if you have any concerns at all about your privacy, please email us. You can also make a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by phone on 1300 363 992, online at http://www.oaic.gov.au where you can go to the “Lodge a Privacy Complaint with us” page, or post to: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, GPO Box 5218, Sydney, NSW 2001.
ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS FOR EUROPEAN CITIZENS
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (“EEA”) or the UK you have certain rights and protections under the General Data Protection Regulations (“GDPR”) or its UK equivalent, The Data Protection Act 2018. We want you to know that we take these rights seriously and will always do our best to protect your personal information. We’re what’s called a “controller” under the GDPR as we collect, use, and store your personal information to provide you with our website services and information about them.
We’ll always rely on a lawful reason for processing your information like:
- where you have given us valid express consent to use your personal information we will rely on that consent, and only use the personal or sensitive information for the specific purpose for which you have given consent; and
- where we need comply with the law or act in an emergency, we will rely on that lawful means of processing your personal information.
Your Rights
As an EEA or UK resident, you have various rights including the right to be informed; right of access; to rectification; to object; to restrict processing; to erasure or to be forgotten; to data portability; and the right not to be subject to automated processing. If you want to access personal information we hold about you, or ask if that the information be corrected, or deleted or otherwise exercise your rights, please contact us at admin@autismsupportdirectory.com.au. You can also opt out of email newsletter communications by following the instructions in those emails or by clicking unsubscribe. In some circumstances where we have a legal basis to do so we may continue to process your information after you have withdrawn consent, for example if it is necessary to comply with an independent legal obligation or if it is necessary to do so to protect our legitimate interest in keeping our services secure.
Security
We keep all personal information on our website platform confidential and secure, and it can only be accessed by authorised personnel. We collect what’s necessary, and keep it only as long as is necessary, taking into account the purpose for which it was collected. We implement and maintain appropriate technical, security and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised or unlawful processing and use, and against accidental loss, destruction, damage, theft, or disclosure. We ensure the encryption and pseudonymisation of personal information and we have adequate cyber security measures in place. By providing us with your personal information you consent to us disclosing it to third parties who reside outside the EEA countries and the UK. We will ensure that those third parties are GDPR compliant as much as possible.
THANK YOU!
We appreciate the trust you place in us by sharing your personal information. We remain committed to protecting you privacy, managing your information with the utmost care and using it responsibly at all times.