What type of personal information do we collect?

The type of personal information we may collect and hold about you includes but is not limited to your:

• name
• business, personal postal and street addresses
• your email addresses
• telephone numbers and other contact information
• place and date of birth
• gender
• financial records
• driver’s licence
• passport
• authorised representative certificate
• qualifications
• education (including academic transcripts)
• employment records
• practice details
• recommendations and reference letters
• membership history
• social media information
• records of communications and interactions with us
• information collected during any referral or inquiry made about you
• information collected during any inquiry, investigation, disciplinary proceeding or dispute process or other action relating to you
• information collected in relation to any monitoring or audit of your business, practice or that of your staff or authorised representatives

In addition, we may collect sensitive information about you directly or indirectly from third parties whether in Australia or elsewhere with your consent. Sensitive information is a category of personal information and may include:

• any criminal record
• health records
• information about racial or ethnic origins
• membership of a professional or trade association or political party
• tax file numbers

We refer to your personal and sensitive information as your personal information in this Policy.

How do we use your personal information?

We generally collect, hold, use and disclose personal information to:

• fulfil our role as a professional body or co-regulator in accordance with the Corporations Act and all other relevant legal and contractual obligations
• assess the suitability of applicants for membership and the suitability of members who wish to renew their membership
• confirm membership status with third parties, including with regulators or statutory bodies and to provide third parties with information as may be authorised or required by law
• process enrolment in or assessment of courses of study or training courses or conferences whether conducted by the AFA or by third parties
• perform accreditation of members
• maintain membership records including records on student members
• to regulate the activities of members
• conduct research, make submissions and engage in public advocacy
• assess suitability of appointment to any Board, committee, commission or Tribunal operated by or associated with the AFA
• promote and market our services and products
• conduct, manage and report on any monitoring or audit of our members
• manage complaints and conduct investigations and disciplinary or dispute resolution activities, including where permitted by law, to externally publish the outcomes of any disciplinary proceedings
• send out membership renewals, surveys, voting papers and other information relevant to our functions and obligations under our Constitution, Bylaws, Regulations, codes, policies, practices or guidelines
• vendors, suppliers, business partners and other third parties associated with AFA in order to ensure the provision of a particular service or product including without limitation for raising funds for charitable purposes, for payment processing, education or training, for the purposes of mentoring, dispute resolution, investigatory and/or disciplinary processes
• third parties in order to report a notifiable data breach under the Privacy Act or to otherwise mitigate a data breach
• do things for a purpose directly related to any of the purposes described above

You may notify us at any time that you do not want us to use your personal information for direct marketing purposes by notifying the AFA using the contact details set out in this Policy.

How to access your personal information, or seek to have it corrected

You may access your personal information or if you believe that it is incorrect, you may seek to have it corrected, following on a receipt of your written request. To request access, or to correct your personal information, please contact the AFA’s Privacy Officer or a member of the AFA’s Privacy Team who will contact you (either by phone or email) and will work with you to provide you with access to your information or to determine whether it requires correction.

Storage and security of personal information

We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Use of Cookies and Third Party Websites

We use “cookies” to collect data about the usage of our websites. Cookies are a small text file on your computer or other device such as a smartphone. Each time you use our website, details about your visit can be recorded such as your domain name or internet protocol address, the type of browser, time and date and the pages of the website you visited.

As cookies may identify your browser, they may remember your next visit and accordingly we remember your login details. We may use our cookies or third party cookies also for research, survey, analytical or marketing purposes or to personalise your website interactions with us.

Overseas Disclosure of Personal Information

We may disclose or transfer personal information overseas including without limitation to the Asia-Pacific, United Kingdom, European Union or the United States of America. We may also use cloud storage and IT providers that are located outside Australia.

Providing information about another person

In some instances, you may choose to provide information about another person, for example, the name and contact details of someone who might be interested in becoming a member or someone you are registering for a group event. If you provide personal information about someone other than yourself to the Association of Financial Advisers, you must make sure that they have agreed to you providing their personal information to us. We also ask that you make them aware of this Policy.