Introduction
This Research Information Privacy Policy applies to Ethnolink Pty Ltd ACN 601 462 677 trading as ‘Ethnolink’ and any entity owned or controlled by it, together “Ethnolink” or “we”.
This Policy outlines how we protect your privacy rights and uphold our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”). It covers the collection, use and disclosure of personal and sensitive information obtained during our research activities. This Policy informs you of the personal information we hold, what we do with it, who we disclose it to and how you can access it. You can also find out here how to change inaccurate personal information and how to make complaints about our conduct.
We are committed to protecting your privacy and upholding your personal information rights. We are bound by the Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2021 (“2021 Privacy Code”), which is an enforceable code under the Privacy Act.
What information do we collect and hold?
Personal Information
As part of our research activities, we are likely to collect your personal information. This may include:
- names;
- signatures;
- addresses;
- telephone numbers;
- dates of birth; and
- commentary or opinions about a person.
We may collect any of this information as well as any other personal information that is sufficiently relevant to the topic of our research.
Sensitive Information:
Depending on the nature of the research we conduct, we may also collect sensitive information from you. This may include:
- racial or ethnic origin;
- political opinions or memberships;
- religious beliefs or affiliations;
- philosophical beliefs;
- membership of professional or trade associations or trade unions;
- sexual orientation or practices;
- criminal records;
- health information; and
- genetic information.
Sensitive information will typically only be collected with your prior consent and only if it is directly related to, or reasonably necessary for, the research we conduct.
How we collect information and the purpose of collection
The information we hold is typically collected directly from research participants during their participation in our research, either via surveys, telephone interviews, in-person discussions, online groups, face-to-face interviews or other qualitative research and evaluations.
We may also from time to time receive personal and/or sensitive information about you from third parties for the purpose of administering, conducting and reporting on research on behalf of those organisations.
We may also collect personal information from sources such as community panels, websites, public directories, promotional activities or events for purposes such as inviting participants to our research. We also collect your contact details for the purpose of responding to your queries and complaints.
Use
We will only use and disclose your personal information for the purpose of administering, conducting and reporting on our research in accordance with this Policy and the 2021 Privacy Code. We will not use or disclose your personal information for advertising, promotions or direct marketing activities.
Should you decline to participate in our research we might use your personal information to re-contact you (for research purposes) if we have valid reasons to believe there is a genuine research concern that warrants such a re-contact. If you have participated in our research, we will only re-contact you if you were informed of our need to do so or if we have valid reasons to believe a genuine research concern warrants such re-contact.
Disclosure
We will not disclose any personal information we collect or hold about you to third parties for any purpose other than administering, conducting or reporting on our research, unless we have your consent or are required to do so by Australian or overseas law or court/tribunal order.
While undertaking activities associated with conducting research, we may disclose your personal information to third-party service providers, contractors, software or cloud providers both within Australia and overseas. These providers may assist us with various functions, including data storage, email and SMS distribution, research personnel, survey, interview or community platforms/tools and survey transcription services. Please note that some of our research personnel may also be temporarily based outside of Australia and may have access to your information for research-related activities.
We take reasonable steps to ensure that these third-party service providers and our overseas-based personnel handle your personal information in accordance with strict confidentiality obligations and applicable privacy laws. For overseas recipients, including service providers, this includes taking reasonable steps to ensure they comply with laws that offer a comparable level of protection to the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”).
Data Protection and Security
Ethnolink will take reasonable steps to protect your personally identifiable information as you transmit your information from your computer to our website and to protect such information from loss, misuse and unauthorised access, use, modification, disclosure, alteration or destruction.
However, you should keep in mind that the transmission of information over the Internet is never completely secure or error-free. In particular, e-mail sent to or from this website may not be secure, and you should therefore take special care in deciding what information you send to us via e-mail.
Openness
You have the right to request access to any personal information we hold about you. This includes confirmation as to whether or not your personal data is being processed, where and for what purpose. You can request this information by contacting the Privacy Officer at the details listed below. Where we hold information that you are entitled to access, we will respond to your request in a reasonable time and endeavour to provide you with a suitable range of choices as to how access is provided. You have the right to request for your identifiable research information to be destroyed or de-identified.
If at any time you believe that personal information we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request amendment of it and we will either amend the information or make a record of your comment, as we think appropriate. You also have the right to receive your personal data and the right to transmit that data to another controller.
Anonymity and Pseudonymity
Given the nature of the research conducted by Ethnolink, anonymity or pseudonymity may not always be practical for research participants. Participation in our research is voluntary, and we will inform you if a specific research project allows participation using a pseudonym or anonymously.
In rare instances, we may be required by law to collect certain personal information from you. We will clearly inform you if this is the case and explain the specific legal requirement that necessitates the collection. Generally, your decision to not participate or provide personal information will not directly adversely impact you.
Data Disposal
Ethnolink will destroy or de-identify your personal information as soon as reasonably practicable once it is no longer required to complete the research for which it was collected. We may, in certain circumstances, be required by law to retain your personal information after our research has been completed. In this case your personal information will continue to be protected in accordance with this Policy.
Questions and Complaints
If you have any questions about this Policy or believe that we have failed to handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act, the APPs or the 2021 Research Code, please contact us immediately at:
Privacy Officer
Costa Vasili
Ethnolink
Email: costa.vasili@ethnolink.com.au
Phone: 1300 727 441
We will respond within 30 days and advise whether we agree with your complaint or not. If we do not agree, we will provide reasons. If we do agree, we will advise what action we consider appropriate.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Phone: 1300 363 992 (local call cost, but calls from mobile and pay phones may incur higher charges).
TTY: 1800 620 241 (this number is dedicated to the hearing impaired only, no voice calls)
TIS: Translating and Interpreting Service: 131 450 (If you don’t speak English or English is your second language and you need assistance, ask for the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner)
Post: GPO Box 2999 Canberra ACT 2601
Fax: +61 2 9284 9666
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Changes to This Privacy Policy
Ethnolink may update this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the updated Policy on our website and indicating the date of the last update. We encourage you to review this Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.
Last Updated 02 July 2025