Welcome to The Children's Guardian's website!

This website has been developed and made accessible with a view to encouraging the public availability and free exchange of information and opinion. Despite the relatively unregulated nature of the Internet, there are a few things you should remember when visiting our site.

Searching for information on the Internet

The Internet lets people like you have better and faster access than ever to a vast amount of information. Of course, the output of any Internet search relies on both the nature of the search engine and the search topic used. You should keep this in mind when using any Internet search facility. Similarly, you should not expect a search conducted through any search engine to provide you with an exhaustive list of the sources of information on the search topic.

Site content

The site, and any links from it to third party sites, have been set up as an information source to help promote tolerance, cultural and other diversity in our society. Therefore you should keep in mind that some material which appears on the site and any linked sites may possibly cause offence or upset some people. The Children's Guardian regrets this but can not take responsibility for any such offence or upset caused.

If you are offended or upset by material which appears at an Internet website you are entitled to lodge a complaint with the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA). They will investigate the complaint and take any necessary action. If you would like to know more about the ABA's role in regulating Australian Internet content, you can visit its website at www.aba.gov.au.

Due to the Children's Guardian desire to promote a free exchange of opinion and information, it does not necessarily endorse or support the views, opinions, standards or information which appear at this site or any linked sites. You should also not interpret the absence of a link from the site to any other site as a criticism or comment by the Children's Guardian on the provider or content of that other site.

Unfortunately, the Children's Guardian can not warrant and does not represent that the material which appears at the site or any linked sites is complete, current, reliable and/or free from error. The Children's Guardian also can not accept any responsibility or liability for any loss, damage, cost or expense you might incur as a result of the use of or reliance upon the materials which appear at this or any linked sites.

You should be aware that the providers of linked sites often have their own protocols and standards in relation to their sites and the information which appears at them. We urge you to familiarise yourself with any such protocols and standards.

Copyright

Copyright in the material on this site or any other Internet site (including any text, photographs or artwork) vests, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968, in the author of the material whether that be the site content provider or some other person or organisation.

You are welcome to reproduce for personal, in-house or non-commercial use any material which the Children's Guardian creates and displays at the website. If you wish to reproduce, alter, store or transmit the material for any other purpose, you should apply in writing to the Children's Guardian either by email, fax or mail to one of the following addresses:

The Children's Guardian can not and does not grant you any permission or authority in respect of the copyright in the material which is posted to our site by others, or which appears at third party Internet sites. We strongly recommend you refer to the copyright statements at those sites before using the material.

We hope you enjoy using our site and find the information useful. If you have any questions about this site please feel free to contact us on (02) 8219 3600.

Privacy Statement

Introduction
The Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 provides the people of NSW with rights in relation to the collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information by public sector agencies. Personal information collected by the Children’s Guardian will be managed in accordance with this Act.

The Act defines personal information as:
Information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database and whether or not recorded in material form) about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion. (Section 4)

Unsolicited information
When you visit our website to read pages or download information, we do not collect any information about you.

For security purposes we use software programs to monitor network traffic and identify unauthorised attempts to up-load or change information or otherwise cause damage. It is a criminal offence to interfere with computers or data. We may disclose data which provides evidence of such offences to law enforcement agencies.

Solicited information
By contacting us via the Complaints sections of this website, you will be providing us with personal information needed to contact or reply to you. This information will be held at our office at Level 13, 418a Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills NSW, and disposed of in accordance with the State Records General Disposal Authority for Administrative Records.

Under the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 1989, you may apply to access these records we hold about you, and to apply to amend or correct information which is inaccurate, irrelevant, out of date, incomplete or misleading.

E-mail messages
Your e-mail messages will be:

(a) retained and stored electronically in accordance with standards and authorities under the State Records Act 1998 which fix variable retention periods depending on the transaction which is recorded.

(b) used and disclosed for the purpose of replying to you and subject to the requirements of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.

Electronic mail is not a secure form of communication and we cannot guarantee that your message will not be viewed by someone else when being sent to us. We strongly recommend that you write to us if the information you wish to provide is highly confidential.

More information about privacy
The Children’s Guardian has prepared a Privacy Management Plan, describing the steps taken to protect privacy and the procedures to be followed when people seek internal review of conduct, which they claim breaches an information protection principle or a privacy code of practice. A copy of the plan can be obtained from our office by ringing (02) 8219 3600.

For more information about the NSW privacy legislation call Privacy NSW on 9268 5588 or visit the Privacy NSW website at www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/pc.