Collection of information
We know your privacy is important to you. We have processes in place to ensure that when you contact us or use our services in any way, we meet our obligations to you under the Privacy Act 2020. 

Your information can only be accessed by authorised staff and is protected against unauthorised use, modification, access, or disclosure. All our staff (employees, contractors and volunteers) have signed a confidentiality agreement. Staff must also comply with their professional and ethical obligations of confidence.

When you call us or use our services it is important that you understand how we manage your information. We explain below how we do that.

How we collect and use your information
We usually collect personal information directly from you when you contact us by any method; including telephone, text, email and referral forms.

This personal information may include your name, gender, ethnicity, date of birth, contact details and other information which will help us provide you with the right support according to your needs.

We may also check our records to make sure that we have identified you correctly if you have used our services before.

When you contact us to make a donation, we will retain only your name, email address, phone number and donation amount. We will use this information only to contact you with newsletters and information about Appeals. We will not pass on or sell your personal information to any other person or company.

We sometimes collect or receive information from a third party, for example from a member of your family/whānau or from someone who is looking after you. If someone contacts us on behalf of another person, we also collect the name and contact details of the person contacting us.

We collect and use your information to enable us to provide you with the best advice possible to ensure your safety and that of your children. This includes providing you with information about other services, and with your agreement, may include connecting you to other services. In order for us to do this, and to make safe decisions, we collect and use your information for a number of purposes:

• Firstly, we collect and use it to make sure that we assess your needs properly.

• We use it to match your previous records and visits to our services if you have contacted us before. You may not be able to remember all the details of your last contact, and we may be able to look up information that is relevant.

• If you give us permission to refer you to another service provider, we pass relevant information on to that provider so you don’t have to repeat all the details to them and they have all necessary information about you.

• We may need to pass on information to Oranga Tamariki or the Police if we believe that you or a child are in danger.

• On occasion we may need to speak to you to provide you with further information, support and advice.

You can choose not to provide information to us. However, if you choose not to provide relevant information to us this may affect our ability to give you the best possible service. If you don’t want to give us any information about yourself, or only provide limited information, we will give you the best service we can using the information you do provide.

We will not contact you by any means unless you have told us you are happy for us to do so. The only exception to this may be if we believe there is a risk of serious harm to you or any other person, or in an emergency situation when we may call you back on the number you have provided to us.

If we do try to contact you, and we can’t get hold of you, we will not leave a detailed text or voice message.

Surveys and feedback
We ask people for feedback on the services they have received from us. You may receive an email after your engagement with us, with a link to provide feedback. Your feedback is used to inform and improve our services.

If you do not want to receive a survey after your engagement with us – please let us know at any time during your service with us and we will remove you from our distribution list.

Who we may share your information with
Where you, or someone concerned about you, has contacted us we may provide limited information to an appropriate agency in order for the agency to contact you or the caller to offer you support or advice if you would like it.

In other situations, where you have given us permission to refer you to another service provider we may share relevant information with this provider where we think it is important for continuity of care and so that you can receive appropriate and seamless services. In this case we will seek your permission before sharing any information with the other provider unless it is not practicable to do so.

We will only share your information for other purposes where we are permitted or required by law. This might include:

• Disclosing relevant information where that is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to someone’s life, health or safety or a threat to public health or safety.

• For quality assurance, audit and complaint management as set out below.

When we disclose your personal information to third parties, we make all reasonable efforts to ensure we disclose only relevant information and that it is accurate, complete and up to date.

Quality assurance, audit, research, managing complaints and training
We undertake quality assurance and monitoring of our services to ensure that we provide you the best service possible, and that the decisions we make are sound. In order for us to be able to do this, staff responsible for training, monitoring and improving the quality of our services, undertaking audits, or investigating and managing complaints, may access and use your information for these purposes.

At times we provide services in conjunction with other service providers and on occasion we may undertake quality assurance or service improvement activities jointly with the other service provider. Where we do this, and where practicable, we use non-identifiable information. However, at times to ensure the services we are providing meet expected quality standards it may be necessary to share identifiable information with the other provider. Where we do this we ensure confidentiality agreements are in place with the other provider and that your information is only used for the purposes of the quality assurance or service improvement activity.

Information that does not identify you
We provide non-identifiable information to the Ministry of Social Development and other funding organisations for auditing and reporting purposes. We do not disclose your name, or address when we pass on data like this.

Storage of information
Te Whai Community Trust has systems and procedures in place to protect your information from misuse and loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Your information is stored securely in Case Management Software, and is accessed only by staff providing services to you, or in the course of carrying out service quality reviews and audits. Staff all sign confidentiality agreements when they join us, and there are systems and policies in place to prevent them sharing data inappropriately.

If you want to see a copy of your information
If you want to check information that we hold about you, please contact one of our staff members providing at least 24 hrs notice. We will ask you to provide evidence that you are in fact the person whose information you are requesting, or that you are entitled to this information.

Sometimes it may not be possible to give you a copy of all the information if it contains details about other people, or if it would be unsafe to provide the information in that it may lead to harm being done to another person. If we refuse to provide you with access to your record or to update your record in the way you request, we will tell you of our reasons for refusal. If you want us to do so we will attach a statement from you of the correction sought to your record.

If you believe any information we hold about you is incorrect you can ask us to correct it. We will either make the correction or explain to you why we are not prepared to do so. In that case you may ask for a statement of your views to be placed on your record.

Making a complaint
If you have a privacy complaint or concern, especially if you think your privacy has been affected please follow our Complaints Process or ask a staff member for more information.

Privacy breach
If Te Whai Community Trust Mangawhai experiences a privacy breach that either has caused or is likely to cause anyone serious harm, our Privacy Officer (Kiri Eriwata, General Manager) will notify the Privacy Commissioner and any affected people as soon as practically able. A breach notification will be made to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner no later than 72 hours after we are aware of a notifiable privacy breach.