Defence Housing Australia (DHA) has a firm commitment to privacy in accordance with the Guidelines for Federal and ACT Government Websites issued by the Australian Privacy Commissioner. This statement discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for this website. All officers of Defence Housing Australia (DHA ) are subject to the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988.

Defence Housing Australia (DHA) is an agency as defined by the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 and must comply with the 11 Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) contained in section 14 of the Act.

The Information Privacy Principles govern how personal information is collected, stored, used and disclosed. The IPPs also require that people should have a right of access to the information that agencies hold about them, and to correct it if necessary, subject to any exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

To provide our clients with the best available service, DHA will provide as many services as possible online. However, clients who prefer to deal with DHA by traditional means may continue to do so and will not be disadvantaged.

In preparing this privacy policy, DHA seeks to adhere to the Guidelines for Federal and ACT Government Websites published by the Privacy Commissioner.

Collection of personal information

This site is operated by DHA and the connection to the Internet is managed by a company that specialises in security services. When you look at this website our server makes a record of your visit in a log.

The following information is provided by your browser and may be logged for statistical purposes and is used by DHA to help improve the site:

• user's server address
• user's operating system (for example Windows, Macintosh)
• user's top level domain name (for example, .com, .au, .uk)
• date and time of the visit to the website
• pages accessed and the documents downloaded
• previous website visited, and
• type of browser used.
  

No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except in the unlikely event of a security or other investigation, where we may inspect the logs. A law enforcement agency or other government agency may exercise a legal authority to inspect the logs (the legal authority could be a warrant, subpoena or notice to produce). In addition, we may provide information to Ministers, Parliament or its committees.

We collect personal information from you, for example, when you complete an online form. In doing so:

• collection will be by fair and lawful means and with your consent
• information will be used for a lawful purpose
• the purpose for the collection will be clear and explicit, and
• you will be told if it is DHA's usual practice to pass the information to another person, body or agency.
  

DHA uses a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that allows DHA to record and resolve all interactions with our customers. The objective of the CRM is to optimise the service DHA provides to its customers.

When you email us or subscribe to any email mailing list we maintain:

• we may record your email address in the CRM so that we can communicate with you, and 
• we will not disclose it without your consent.

Links to other website

This site contains links to other websites. DHA is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of these sites.

Cookies

Cookies are records of information that a website can transfer to a browser's computer hard drive for record keeping. Cookies can make websites easier to use by storing information about your preferences in relation to a particular website. The information remains on your computer after the Internet session is finished.

Security of information

You should be aware that there are risks associated with the transmission of information over the internet, including that the information may be accessed by unauthorised persons. For those who do not wish to use the internet, DHA provides alternative ways of obtaining and providing information.