Starlight Children's Foundation Australia ABN 80 931 522 157 (Starlight) respects and is committed to protecting the privacy of the people whose personal information it collects. We collect personal information about individuals who are employed by us, our donors, our volunteers, other supporters, consultants and service providers as well as the children and their families whose lives we aim to brighten.

Please note that supplementary rules apply in relation to individuals whose personal information we collect, if they are located in the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom (UK). For more information, refer here.

Information we collect

The types of personal information Starlight usually collects and holds includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, financial records, records of previous support and donations, records of merchandise orders, records of interactions and communications with and relating to us, and other information such as health related information pertaining to Starlight families to assist program delivery.

This information may be collected via our website, in person via Orbit as well as other sources including your representatives, our service providers and publicly available information.

When people visit our website, or download information from it, the following information is recorded: their internet address, domain name if applicable, the date and time of the visit, the pages they accessed and documents downloaded, the previous website they have visited and the type of browser they are using. This information is only used for statistical and website development purposes.

We make limited use of cookies on our website. We use cookies to improve the functionality of our website, and to remember user preferences when people return.

Some of the personal information we collect is collected pursuant to laws including the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) and other tax laws, Corporations Act, Fair Work Act, Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act, occupational health and safety acts, workers compensation acts and charitable collection/fundraising acts.

Outbound call suppliers working for Starlight, will disclose at the beginning of any conversation that the call may be monitored and recorded for the purposes of training and quality assurance. Where reasonable the operator may also seek to verify the information we hold for that individual is accurate, up to date and complete.

How we use and disclose personal information

We collect, use and disclose our stakeholders personal information to carry out the functions and activities of Starlight including to process donations, to comply with our legal obligations, to exercise and defend our legal rights, to recruit, train and manage our team members, to protect the safety and security of our team, families, sites and assets, to maintain and update our records and to help us manage and provide our services and in connection with any transition of our operations to another entity, or of another entity's operations to us.

We may not be able to do these things - or may not be able to do them effectively - without your personal information. For example, we may not be able to communicate with you or deal with your enquiries.

Information collected via Orbit (in our Starlight Express Rooms or as part of our Program Delivery) including names of individuals under 18 years of age, name of the accompanying adult(s) and phone numbers is mandatory for safety and security reasons in the participation in Starlight Express Rooms or related programs. However, those individuals may opt out of promotional and fundraising communications described below.

We may disclose personal information to third parties such as those who assist us in providing services or who perform functions on our behalf (such as providers of fundraising, delivery, payment, recruitment, technology, legal, auditing, accounting, business consulting, research, marketing, screening check and commercial mail preparation services). We may also disclose personal information to government and law enforcement authorities where relevant for lawful purposes. Some of the third parties to which we disclose personal information may be located in USA, Japan and other countries. Starlight will make reasonable endeavours to ensure that the overseas recipient does not breach the Australian Privacy Principles and any applicable supplementary rules contained in Appendix A: Additional rights for individuals located in the EU, or otherwise ensure the disclosure is in accordance with applicable law. Wish families are cross checked with Make A Wish Foundation Australia to ensure the family has not already received a wish.

Marketing and communications

We may use and disclose people's information in connection with marketing and fundraising campaigns, including to ask for support and to keep people informed about the ways in which our donors and supporters help us to make a difference to the lives of seriously ill children and their families. We may provide marketing communications to stakeholders on an ongoing basis by telephone, electronic messages (eg. email), online (including websites and mobile apps) and other means, unless they opt out or we are subject to legal restrictions. These may include communications relating to Starlight and our programs, campaign and promotional messages, event invitations, fundraising opportunities and newsletters. Starlight also sends transactional communications which include but are not limited to: Donation & Tax Receipts, forgotten password e-mails, event sign up confirmation and confirmations from Web forms.

To opt-out of receiving Starlight marketing communications people can:

  • Select the "unsubscribe" option in one of the marketing communications that they receive from us.

  • Send an email to: mail@starlight.org.au

  • Can call us on: 1300 727 827

  • Or Send us a written request to: Privacy Officer, Starlight Children's Foundation Australia, PO Box 101, St Leonards, NSW 1590

Occasionally we allow like-minded organisations to contact stakeholders with information that may be of interest to them, including some organisations located outside Australia. Those organisations allow us to do the same and this way we can reach more people with vital information. We will not share people’s details in this way if they opt out of our marketing communications as described above.

Recruitment information

When a candidate applies for a position at Starlight, we collect the following information:

  • Qualifications

  • Skills and experience

  • Character and behaviour data

  • Screening checks (which may include screening such as health, reference, background, directorship, financial probity, identity, eligibility to work, vocational suitability and criminal record checks).

In addition for our team members, we collect information about work conduct and performance, use of workplace resources and IT, incident reports, payroll and superannuation details and emergency contacts.

As part of our due diligence, we may check any information provided with a third party as relevant to the application. Our recruitment process also requires we conduct two reference checks. Starlight may also collect personal and sensitive information relevant to the role including (headshot) photographs for identification purposes.

Where we are unable to collect personal information that we reasonably require, we may not be able to consider a candidate's application, or may take disciplinary action in respect of a team member, including termination in serious cases.

Security of personal information

Starlight regards the security of personal information as a priority and takes a number of precautions to protect people’s personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, including where the information is held in electronic or physical form, or with service providers holding the information on our behalf. Specific security precautions we endeavour to have in place for processing online payments include the use of encrypted links, dedicated private connections and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. However the Internet is not a secure environment and although all care is taken, we cannot guarantee the security of information people provide to us via electronic means.

If people become aware of any inaccuracy in the personal information we hold about themselves, they are encouraged to contact the Privacy Officer so we can update any personal information we hold.

Access to personal information

Starlight will on reasonable request provide an individual access to the information we hold about them. Please contact our Privacy Officer in writing to request this information, verifying their identity and specifying what information they require. A fee may be charged for providing access and we will advise of any likely cost in advance. In some circumstances we may deny a request for access. If we do this, we will tell the individual why.

Anonymity

Where it is lawful and practicable, we will allow individuals to deal with us on an anonymous basis, or using a pseudonym. For example, if we receive a telephone enquiry we will not require that the enquirer gives us their name, although depending on the nature of the enquiry, we may not be able to answer it unless they do. Children and accompanying adults need to be identified in Orbit when attending a Starlight Express room for safety and security purposes.

We can also accept gifts and other forms of support anonymously. However, provisions contained in taxation legislation require Starlight to collect the name of the donor if the donor requires a tax deductible receipt.

Image copyright

Starlight's reputation and goodwill is extremely important. Permission to use images featured on this website has only been given to Starlight and therefore should not be downloaded or used in any way by a third party without consent. Many of the children featured on this website have life-threatening illnesses and to use their images without consent is against the wishes of their families.

For information on obtaining permission for an image, please email media@starlight.org.au or call 1300 727 827.

Acceptance of terms

If Starlight updates or changes this Privacy Policy, the changes will be made on this page and the modification date below updated.

This policy was last modified on 1 November 2021

Contact us

If you have any questions about privacy-related issues you wish to lodge a complaint about a breach of this policy or other privacy matter, or you do not wish to be contacted by us to ask for your support, please contact us by clicking here; alternatively our postal address is below.

Privacy Officer, Starlight Children's Foundation Australia, PO Box 101, St Leonards NSW 1590

We take your privacy concerns seriously. Where you express any concerns that we have interfered with your privacy, we will respond to let you know who will be handling your matter and when you can expect a further response. We may request additional details from you regarding your concerns, and may need to engage or consult with other parties in order to investigate and deal with your issue. We will keep records of your request and any resolution.

For information about privacy generally, or if your concerns are not resolved to your satisfaction, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at  www.oaic.gov.au and on 1300 363 992.