Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us

This statement outlines Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd’s policy on how we collect personal information and how we maintain, use, store and disclose the personal information we hold and reflects our commitment to you. It applies to all operations within Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd, including visitors to our website.

It is the policy of Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd to respect the confidentiality of information and the privacy of individuals. We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APP) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (as amended) in Australia; and by the Information Privacy Principles (IPP) contained in the Privacy Act 1993 in New Zealand.

Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd.’s Privacy Policy will be reviewed from time to time to take into account new laws and technology, changes to our operations and practices and to make sure it remains appropriate to the changing environment. Any information we hold will be governed by the most current Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd Privacy Policy.

Anonymity

Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd will not disclose the name and contact details of an individual except where this has been previously approved by the individual, and this will only occur in confidence to a potential employer for recruitment purposes or for direct marketing to the individual themselves. You can request anonymity at any time, or choose a pseudonym. Any market insight that is shared as a result of the information provided by individuals or employers (in whitepapers, blogs, marketing documents, etc.) is done anonymously and in the aggregate and in no way discloses the personal information of individuals or companies.

Type of personal information collected and held by Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd

Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd will only collect and disclose information that is reasonably necessary and directly related to the recruitment process. This would typically involve (but not be limited to) contact details, qualifications, work experience / employment history, assessment results, video interviews, references, visa status, salary expectations and other career preferences. For employees or subcontractors this would also include bank details, superannuation and tax information.

Information would typically be collected via third party employment websites (Seek etc.), LinkedIn or by direct submission to Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd. By submitting this information either directly to Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd or via a third party website, then you consent to its appropriate use. Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd only collects such information by lawful and fair means and discourages the use of any medium or avenue that collects unsolicited sensitive information on any individual or company.

Sensitive information is a special category of personal information. It is information or opinion about you, including membership of a professional or trade association or membership of a trade union; criminal record; health or disability, etc. Sensitive information, can, in most cases, only be disclosed with your consent.

Unsolicited personal information

Should Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd receive unsolicited information regarding an individual, then within 14 days of receiving the information, Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd will review this and if the materials could not have been normally made available through everyday means of solicitation or the means of collection detailed above, the materials would be destroyed and / or de-identified.

Notification of the collection of personal information

Where it is not apparent, Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd will inform an individual regarding the collection of any information and its intended use.

Dealing with personal information

Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd will not disclose personal information for secondary purpose (i.e. non recruitment related), without first gaining an individual’s consent and outlining the use for which it is to be disclosed.

Written notice of use or disclosure

Should Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd disclose information as per the above, then it would make a written note of such disclosure.

Collection

We may collect personal or sensitive information about you when:

• You complete one of our application forms or provide any other information in connection with your application
• We receive any reference about you
• We receive results of inquiries that we might make of your former employers, work colleagues, professional associations or registration body
• We receive the results of any competency or medical test or any background check
• We receive any complaint or other information from or about you in the workplace
• We receive any information about any insurance investigation, litigation, registration or professional disciplinary matter, criminal matter, inquest or inquiry in which you were involved
• We receive any information about a workplace accident in which you are involved
• You provide us with any additional information about you
• General information collected from visitors to our website

We gather information about all of our website users collectively, such as what areas users visit more frequently and what services users access the most. We only use such data anonymously and in the aggregate. This information helps us determine what is most beneficial for our users, and how we can continually create a better overall website experience for you.

Your personal information collected by Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd online

In some instances we may need specific information about you, such as name, address, email address, telephone number etc. We will collect this information if you apply for a job or sign up for a service via our website. We may also ask you for other information such as the types of jobs you are interested in and your workplace concerns in order to provide you with the best possible service and internet experience.

Purposes and use for which we collect personal information

Your personal and sensitive information may be used in connection with:

• Your actual or possible work placement
• Career guidance or management
• Any test or assessment (including medical tests and assessments) that you might be required to undergo
• Informing you of possible work opportunities, relevant candidates, or other events such as training or information sessions by direct mail/email/sms
• Our management and resolution of any complaint, inquiry or investigation in which you are involved
• Any insurance claim or proposal that requires disclosure of your personal or sensitive information
• Undertaking criminal reference checks
• For research, development, business systems, consulting, infrastructure testing, and other business purposes to assist us in providing our services to you
• Our direct marketing to you

If you do not give us the information we seek:

• We may be limited in our ability to locate suitable work for you
• We may be limited in our ability to place you in work

Disclosures

We may disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it is primarily held or for a related secondary purpose. In some cases we may only disclose information with your consent. We may disclose your personal information where we are under a legal duty to do so, including circumstances where we are under a lawful duty of care to disclose information.

Your personal and sensitive information may be disclosed to:

• Potential and actual employers, clients of Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd and trusted third parties
• Search and Consulting Pty Ltd employees and potential employers located in Australia (and any other countries where Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd may provide its services in the future) regarding possible work placements or to assist us in providing our services to you
• Referees
• External providers of reference and background checking
• Our insurers
• A professional association or registration body that has a legitimate interest in the disclosure of your personal and sensitive information
• A Workers Compensation body
• Any person with a lawful entitlement to obtain the information

We do not disclose information about your individual visits to the Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd website.

Direct Marketing

Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd will not disclose information for the purposes of direct marketing, except where:

• Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd has collected the information and the individual would reasonably expect Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd to use or disclose the information for that purpose; or
• The individual has not opted out of the use of the information, with this option clearly provided on all direct marketing materials

Disclosure of material to overseas or cross border parties

Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd will not disclose materials to an overseas entity except where this is an obvious requirement of the role being applied for, or Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd have gained prior approval.

Management of personal information

Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd trains its employees to respect the confidentiality of customer information and the privacy of individuals. Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd regards breaches of your privacy very seriously and any breach will result in disciplinary action being taken, dependent upon severity.

How we store and protect personal information

Safeguarding the privacy of your information is important to us, whether you interact with us personally, by phone, mail, over the internet or other electronic medium. We hold personal information in a combination of secure computer storage facilities and paper-based files and other records, and take steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We may need to maintain records for a significant period of time. However, when we consider information is no longer needed, we will remove any details that will identify you or we will securely destroy the records.

How we keep personal information up to date

Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd endeavours to ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate and up to date. We realise that information changes frequently with changes of address and other personal circumstances. We generally update your information over the telephone or via the online interview. Please advise your consultant when your personal details change and we will update our records accordingly.

Access

Subject to some exceptions that are set out in the National Privacy Principles you can gain access to the personal information that we hold about you. We do refuse access if it would interfere with the privacy rights of other persons or if it breaches any confidentiality that attaches to that information. Subject to providing suitable identification and proof of identity, Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd will not unreasonably withhold the supply candidates or clients with information, free of charge, in accordance with Clause 12.3 of the APP act. The information will be provided via email within 10 working days of a request being made to the privacy officer.

Correction of personal information

Search and Gro Consulting Pty Ltd Consultants contact candidates from time to time to ensure our information is always up to date and correct. We also encourage individuals to get in contact with us when their information and needs change. Should we be unable to contact an individual or they do not respond their personal information is securely archived. Similarly with our clients, we endeavour to hold the minimum level of sensitive information to provide the required services, securely archiving out of date and irrelevant data.

Enquiries and complaints

If you have an enquiry or complaint regarding the use of your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer via hello [at] searchandgro.com.au. We will then investigate your complaint as quickly as practicable and respond within a reasonable time from the date of receipt. If our response is not considered to be acceptable, it can be referred to the Australian Information (Privacy) Commissioner (see www.oaic.gov.au).