Privacy Policy

Protecting your privacy is important to Melbourne International Festival of the Arts Limited (ACN 058 535 863), organiser of the Melbourne Festival.  

A reference in this Privacy Policy to ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ is a reference to Melbourne International Festival of the Arts Limited.

We are governed by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) which are contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (the Act). We will only collect, use or disclose personal information in accordance with the Act and this Privacy Policy.

In this Privacy Policy, “personal information” has the meaning set out in the Act. Essentially, personal information is information or an opinion about an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

We collect personal information you provide us about yourself, for example if you register for our websites, purchase tickets from us or enter a competition or promotion we run.  We may collect information about your attendance at Melbourne Festival events and information about your use of our websites (including via cookies). We may also collect personal information about you from:

• third parties such as event venues and ticketing agents; and
• publicly available sources.

If you submit a job application to us, we will use the information provided by you to assess your application.  We may disclose the information contained in your application to contracted service providers for purposes such as screening, aptitude testing and human resources management activities.

If you are, or are seeking to become, an individual contractor to us we may collect information relevant to your engagement with us including qualifications, length of engagement, resume, pay rate and salary, bank details, feedback from supervisors and training records.  A reference to an individual contractor in this document includes those individuals who are contracted directly by us or who are engaged through a labour hire agency or similar organisation.

The personal information that we collect may include your name, contact details, credit card details if you are purchasing tickets from us, and information about the events that you attend as part of the Melbourne Festival.

In addition to the types of personal information identified above, we may collect personal information as otherwise permitted or required by law.

In general, the purposes for which we collect, use and disclose your personal information may include:

• to provide you with goods and services that you have requested (e.g. tickets you have purchased);
• to deal with any inquiries you have;
• to improve our goods and services;
• where you have consented or where otherwise permitted by law, to inform you about future Melbourne Festival events and carefully selected special offers by Melbourne Festival sponsors;
• to otherwise organise and conduct the Melbourne Festival;
• to facilitate your entry and participation in a competition or trade promotion;
• to consider you for a job with us (whether as an employee or contractor) or another relationship with us;
• to provide goods or services to you or to receive goods or services from you;
• to address any issues or complaints that we or you have regarding our relationship; and
• to contact you regarding the above, including via electronic messaging such as SMS and email, by mail, by phone or in any other lawful manner.

Your personal information may also be disclosed to:

• our contractors (including mailing houses, marketing agencies, insurance providers, website and data hosting providers and other IT service suppliers);
• other persons who perform services for, or in connection with, us (including to facilitate the delivery of purchases, for electronic direct mailing, for credit card payment authorisation, for trend analysis, for market research and for promotions);
• companies who may use your personal information in order to tailor electronic advertising to you (e.g. on a webpage) in relation to our products and services; 
• our accountants, insurers, lawyers, auditors and other professional advisers;
• if you are an individual contractor to us, to your employer or agency in relation to the performance of your work with us;
• if you are an individual contractor to us or a prospective employee, to our HR related service providers (e.g. for background checks, screening or aptitude testing);
• any third parties to whom you have directed or permitted us to disclose your personal information (e.g. referees);
• third parties who provide funding to us, such as government agencies;
• third parties that require the information for law enforcement or to prevent a serious threat to public safety; and
• otherwise as permitted or required by law.

Some of the third parties to whom we disclose personal information may be located outside Australia. For example, we may disclose personal information to our overseas service providers.  The countries in which these third parties are located will depend on the circumstances.  In the ordinary course of business we commonly disclose personal information to parties located in the USA.  Except where an exception applies under the Act, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that such overseas recipients do not breach the APPs in relation to such information.

We may contact you via email, SMS or other means in order to provide you with updated information about our website, in relation to events, to encourage donations or to provide you with other information about our services. If you do not wish to receive such information please contact us using the details set out below.

We may use or disclose your personal information:

• for the purposes for which we collected it (and related purposes which would be reasonably expected by you);
• for other purposes to which you have consented; and
• as otherwise authorised or required by law.

We will take reasonable steps to keep any personal information we hold about you secure. However, except to the extent liability cannot be excluded due to the operation of statute, we exclude all liability (including in negligence) for the consequences of any unauthorised access to, disclosure of, misuse of or loss or corruption of your personal information. Nothing in this Privacy Policy restricts, excludes or modifies or purports to restrict, exclude or modify any statutory consumer rights under any applicable law including the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). Please notify us immediately if you become aware of any breach of security.

If you believe that we have not dealt with your personal information in a manner that complies with the Act you should contact us to discuss how we may better deal with it.

Similarly, if you wish to access, correct or update personal information that we hold about you, you may make a request in writing. We may charge for providing access to this information and we may refuse access where the Act allows us to do so.

If you wish to complain about our collection, use, handling or disclosure of personal information, you may do so in writing. We will take any privacy complaint seriously and any complaint will be assessed by an appropriate person with the aim of resolving any issue in a timely and efficient manner.

All correspondence in relation to the above should be directed to:

Executive Director
Melbourne Festival
PO Box 10
FLINDERS LANE VIC 8009

Alternatively, you can contact us at contact.us@festival.melbourne or call +61 3 9662 4242

You can unsubscribe from our direct marketing, or change your contact preferences, by contacting us at contact.us@melbournefestival.com.au.

We may change this Privacy Policy at our discretion. By continuing to use our websites, or otherwise continuing to deal with us, you accept this Privacy Policy as it applies from time to time.

Last updated: July 2014