Last Updated on Thursday, 17 March 2011

Please note: this is the Department of Justice's privacy statement and policy.

The Department of Justice has:

• a privacy policy (PDF 286KB) available as information sheets
• a website privacy statement (below).

Website Privacy Statement

The State Government of Victoria values the privacy of every individual's personal information and health information. The State Government of Victoria is committed to protecting the information it collects and uses by compliance with its obligations under the Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic) and the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic). Protecting your privacy and your personal and health information is an important aspect of the way we create, organise and implement our activities online and offline.

This Website Privacy Statement applies to this website which is operated by the Department of Justice under the domain name www.justice.vic.gov.au ('website'). This Website Privacy Statement explains how your personal information (being information capable of identifying you as an individual) will be treated as you access and interact with this website. The practices outlined in this Website Privacy Statement are subject to any rights we may have to handle personal information in accordance with law.

Collection of your personal information

The personal information we collect via this website includes:

• the content of any electronic forms you submit via this website, requesting us to provide services or information, or take actions
• information submitted if you participate in an online survey
• any messages or comments you submit to us via this website or to email addresses displayed on this website, which may include personal information such as name, email address and telephone number.

Web Statistics Data Collection

Pages on the site may be coded with Nielsen//NetRatings software. This is transparent to the user, as the software makes use of an invisible image at the bottom of the web page. This software stores a cookie in your browser, which contains a unique identifier, and sends information to Nielsen//NetRatings. This enables Nielsen//NetRatings to track the number of unique visitors to the site. In no way does this unique identifier identify a user personally. We do not and will not marry any data collected by Nielsen//NetRatings with any personal information.

While you can browse this website anonymously, without disclosing your personal information, we may not be able to provide the full range of services through this website if we are not provided with the information outlined above.

When you provide us with personal information about other individuals, we rely on you to make them aware:

• that such information will or may be provided to the Department of Justice
• of the types of third parties we may provide it to
• of the relevant purposes that we and such third parties will use it for
• how they can access it.

Use and disclosure of your personal information

In addition to providing our services to you and carrying out your requests, we may use or disclose personal information that we collect about you for purposes including the following:

• for the purpose that we have collected the information
• p urposes related to our research, planning, product and service development, security and testing
•  purposes connected with the operation, administration, development or enhancement of this website
• where we suspect that fraud or unlawful activity has been, is being or may be engaged in
• any other purposes required or authorised by law.

We may share personal information within the Department of Justice and with third parties. The types of third parties to whom we may disclose that personal information includes our service providers who assist us in providing this website and our products and services such as organisations who provide archival, auditing, professional advisory, banking, mailhouse, delivery, recruitment, call centre, technology, research, utility and security services. We may also disclose your personal information to third parties acting on your behalf, for example your solicitor or interpreter.

If you have made an online application, your application will be forwarded to the appropriate Department of Justice business unit or agency and any other third parties to whom your application relates or who can assist in processing your application.

If you make a payment using this website, we may process your payment with the assistance of a reputable third party electronic payments service provider and present you with an online receipt for your records.

Security

We have implemented technology and security policies, rules and measures to protect the personal information that we have under our control. However, you should be aware that there are risks in transmitting information across the internet. So while we strive to protect such information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted to us online and individuals do so at their own risk. Once any personal information comes into our possession, we will take reasonable steps to protect that information from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. If you are concerned about conveying sensitive material to us over the internet, you might prefer to contact us by telephone or mail. We will remove personal information from our system where it is no longer required (except where archiving is required).

If you make an online application or another payment transaction using this website, or via www.online.justice.vic.gov.au, we take additional steps to protect the security of your personal information, such as strong 128-bit SSL encryption. Before using these facilities, you should ensure that you are using a web browser that supports 128-bit encryption. In many web browsers, you can confirm that your session is encrypted by the appearance of a locked padlock symbol at the foot of the browser.
Feedback form, information request form and email

We may preserve the content of any feedback form, information request form, email or other electronic message that we receive. Any personal information contained in that message will only be used or disclosed in ways set out in this Website Privacy Statement. We will not use that information to add you to a mailing list without your consent.
Links to external websites

This Website Privacy Statement does not extend beyond this website. When following links to other sites from this website, we recommend that you read the privacy statement of that site to familiarise yourself with its privacy practices.
Clickstream data

This website's web server automatically records non-personal clickstream data. To the extent that any clickstream data could make you identifiable, we will not attempt to identify you from clickstream data unless required by law or to investigate suspected improper activity in relation to the website or to assist in law enforcement.

The following clickstream data are automatically recorded by this website's web server for statistical and system administration purposes only:

• your server address
• y our top level domain name (e.g. .com, .au, .gov)
• the date and the time of your visit to the site
• the pages you accessed and downloaded
• the address of the last site you visited
• your operating system
• the type of browser you are using.

Cookies

Like many sites, this website may use cookies from time to time.

Cookies are small data files that a website is able to place on a user's hard drive to record aspects of that user's experience of the website. For example, we may use cookies to record that a user visited a particular section of the website, that their browsing software was a particular version or to ensure that online applications and transactions do not require you to re-input information when moving between web pages. In this way, cookies can improve the operation of the website, and make the experience more efficient, more enjoyable or more personalised. Importantly, in depositing information on a user's computer and referring to it later in the same session (sessional) or on a subsequent visit (persistent), cookies do not need to identify the user or record any personal information.

The default settings of browsers like Internet Explorer may allow some or all cookies, but users can easily take steps to erase cookies from their hard-drive, block all cookies, or receive a warning before a cookie is stored. However, some parts of sites may not function fully for users that disallow cookies.

Web beacons

This website uses web beacons, also known as web bugs, pixel tags or clear GIFs, as some pages on the site are coded with Nielsen//NetRatings software (see further information above under collection).

Used in combination with cookies, a web beacon is an often-transparent graphic image, usually no larger than 1 pixel x 1 pixel, that is placed on a site or in an email that is used to monitor the behaviour of the user visiting the site or receiving the email.

When the HTML code for the web beacon points to a site to retrieve the image, at the same time it can pass along information such as:

• the IP address of the computer that retrieved the image
• the time the web beacon was viewed and for how long
• the type of browser that retrieved the image
• previously set cookie values.

Web beacons are typically used by a third party to monitor the activity of a site.

If you have concerns about web beacons, turning off the browser's cookies will prevent web beacons from tracking your activity. The web beacon will still account for an anonymous visit, but your unique information will not be recorded.

Access and correction

To request access to or correction of your personal information held by the Department of Justice, please contact us to find out about access and correction procedures.

It is our policy in the Department of Justice that where appropriate you should be able to request access to your personal information directly, without the need to make a formal application under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic). However, there are situations where it will not be appropriate to provide direct access to information, and you will be required to make an FOI application. (For example, where providing direct access would compromise the privacy of another person).

For information on making an FOI application please visit www.foi.vic.gov.au for further information or contact:

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