Privacy Policy

Your Privacy Matters

Friends of Parks Queensland is committed to protecting your personal information and being transparent about how it is handled. We only collect what we need, use it responsibly, and take reasonable steps to keep it secure. We do not sell your information and aim to communicate with you respectfully and appropriately.

Privacy Policy

Friends of Parks Queensland Incorporated (FoPQ) is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly, transparently, and in accordance with applicable Australian law. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and store it, and your rights in relation to it.

This policy applies to all personal information collected by FoPQ through our website, membership applications, donation processes, event registrations, and any other interactions with us.

Applicable Legislation

FoPQ’s handling of personal information is guided by the following legislation:

  • Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
  • Spam Act 2003 (Cth) — governing commercial electronic messages and email marketing
  • Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme under Part IIIC of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
  • Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) — which applies to Queensland government agencies with whom we may share information
  • Australian Taxation Office (ATO) record-keeping requirements relevant to our Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status

What Personal Information We Collect

We collect personal information that is reasonably necessary for our operations. This may include:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Postal address
  • Phone number
  • Organisation name and contact details (for member group applications)
  • Donation amount, date, and payment details (processed via third-party providers)
  • Membership application details
  • Volunteer and event participation details
  • Technical information collected automatically when you visit our website

We do not intentionally collect sensitive information (as defined under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)), such as health information, racial or ethnic origin, or political opinions, unless you choose to provide it and consent to its collection for a specific purpose.

How We Collect Personal Information

We collect personal information directly from you through:

  • Individual membership application forms (via our website)
  • Member group application forms (via our website)
  • Donation forms (via the Charitable plugin on our website)
  • Newsletter subscription forms (via our website)
  • Event registrations and volunteer enquiries (for events requiring registration through our website, or if volunteers have contacted us via our website)
  • Email, phone, or written correspondence with FoPQ

We collect personal information only by lawful and fair means and, where reasonably practicable, directly from the individual concerned.

Website Analytics

When you visit our website (friendsofparksqld.org), we may automatically collect certain technical information for statistical and security purposes, including the date and time of your visit, pages accessed, referring website, and IP address. This information does not identify you personally and is used only for system administration, security monitoring, and improving our website.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. Our website and the third-party tools embedded in it (such as WordPress.com) may use cookies to improve functionality and user experience. You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings, though this may affect the functionality of some features.

Why We Collect Personal Information

We collect and use personal information for the following purposes:

  • Processing and managing individual memberships
  • Assessing and supporting member group applications
  • Processing donations and issuing tax-deductible receipts
  • Sending newsletters, updates, and other communications you have consented to receive
  • Organising events and volunteer activities
  • Meeting our obligations as a DGR-registered charity, including ATO record-keeping
  • Sharing relevant information with the Queensland Department of Environment, Science, Tourism and Innovation where required
  • Responding to enquiries and complaints
  • Complying with our legal obligations

We will not use or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than the primary purpose for which it was collected, or a directly related secondary purpose, unless you have consented or an exception under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) applies.

Email Communications

FoPQ sends electronic communications (including newsletters and member updates) using MailerLite. We comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), which requires that all commercial electronic messages are sent only with your consent, clearly identify FoPQ as the sender, and include a functional unsubscribe mechanism.

If you subscribe to our newsletter via our website, we collect your name and email address for the purpose of sending you updates about FoPQ’s activities, news, and events. You may unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email we send, or by contacting us at admin@friendsofparksqld.org.

Member Communications

By becoming a member of FoPQ, you consent to receiving membership-related communications, including your welcome email, renewal reminders, and organisational updates. You may opt out of non-essential communications at any time by emailing admin@friendsofparksqld.org

Donor Communications

If you make a donation through our website and opt in to email communications at the point of donation, we may contact you with updates relevant to our work. We will only add you to our email list where your explicit opt-in consent has been recorded through the Charitable donation form. We will not contact donors by email for marketing purposes without confirmed opt-in consent. Making a donation does not automatically subscribe you for regular updates.

Third Party Services

We use a number of trusted third-party service providers to operate our systems. These providers may collect, store, or process personal information on our behalf. We take reasonable steps to ensure they handle personal information in accordance with applicable privacy laws.

Our current third-party providers include:

  • WordPress.com (Automattic) — USA — website hosting and content management
  • Charitable — Australia/USA — donation processing and donor opt-in management
  • Square — USA — payment processing for membership fees
  • Stripe — USA — payment processing for donations
  • MailerLite — USA (EU GDPR compliant) — email marketing and member communications
  • Monday.com — USA/Israel — member register and organisational management
  • Make.com (Celonis) — Czech Republic/USA — automated workflow between membership systems

Each of these providers has their own privacy policy. We encourage you to review these policies if you have concerns about how your information is handled by these services.

Overseas disclosure

Some of our third-party service providers store or process personal information on servers located outside Australia. Under APP 8 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), we take reasonable steps to ensure that these overseas recipients handle your personal information in a manner consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles. In particular, MailerLite is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and complies with GDPR standards, providing a level of protection broadly equivalent to Australian law.

Disclosure to Government Agencies

FoPQ may share certain personal information — such as member group contact details and organisational information — with the Queensland Department of Environment, Science, Tourism and Innovation, as part of our work supporting conservation volunteers in Queensland’s protected areas.

The Department is a Queensland government agency subject to the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld). We will not disclose personal information to the Department or any other government agency beyond what is necessary for our stated purposes, and we will not do so without your consent unless required by law.

DGR Record-Keeping & Recognition

As a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR), FoPQ is required by the Australian Taxation Office to collect and retain certain donor information for taxation and reporting purposes, including name, contact details, donation amount, and date. This information is retained in accordance with ATO record-keeping requirements.

We will only publicly acknowledge your donation with your explicit written consent. By default, all donors are treated as anonymous.

Data Storage and Security

FoPQ takes reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. Our security measures include limiting access to authorised personnel only, using password-protected systems and multi-factor authentication where available, using reputable third-party providers with their own security practices, and securely destroying or de-identifying data when it is no longer required.

Despite these measures, no data transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. If you have concerns about the security of information you have provided to us, please contact us at admin@friendsofparksqld.org.

Notifiable Data Breaches

FoPQ voluntarily adopts the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme under Part IIIC of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm to any affected individual, we will take immediate steps to contain the breach, notify affected individuals as soon as practicable, and notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

If you believe your personal information held by FoPQ has been compromised, please contact us immediately at admin@friendsofparksqld.org.

Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this policy or as required by law. Member records are retained for the duration of membership and for a reasonable period thereafter. Donor records are retained in accordance with ATO requirements (generally five years). Email marketing subscriber data is retained while you remain subscribed. When personal information is no longer required, we take reasonable steps to securely destroy or permanently de-identify it.

Access and Correction

You have the right to request access to the personal information FoPQ holds about you, and to request that any inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated information be corrected. To make a request, please contact us at admin@friendsofparksqld.org. We will respond within 30 days. In some circumstances we may be unable to provide access, and if so we will provide reasons in writing.

Right to Erasure

You may request that we delete the personal information we hold about you. We will consider and respond to erasure requests within 30 days. Please note that we may be unable to delete certain information where we are legally required to retain it (for example, donor records under ATO requirements), and we will advise you accordingly.

Opting Out of Marketing Communications

You may opt out of marketing and newsletter communications at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email we send, or by contacting us at admin@friendsofparksqld.org. Opting out of marketing communications will not affect your receipt of transactional or membership-related communications while you remain a member.

Complaints

If you believe FoPQ has breached your privacy or handled your personal information inappropriately, please contact our Privacy Officer at admin@friendsofparksqld.org with as much detail as possible. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days and provide a substantive response within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may escalate your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at http://www.oaic.gov.au or 1300 363 992. For complaints related to the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), you may contact the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) at: http://www.acma.gov.au.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, systems, or legal obligations. Any updated version will be published at friendsofparksqld.org/privacy-policy with a revised date.

Contact Us

For any questions, requests, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or the handling of your personal information, please contact us: admin@friendsofparksqld.org

Last updated: June 2026