Your Privacy

BGC is a leading privately owned Western Australian Group of Companies with interests in residential and commercial construction, manufacturing, mining, civil engineering works and property investment.

BGC's commitment to our clients

Management and staff are aware of the need to exercise discretion and recognise the importance of protecting the privacy of individuals who come in contact with us.

We are committed to ensuring the privacy of the personal information we collect and that you have provided to us in the course of business. We believe that respect for your privacy forms part of the ongoing trust we wish to develop with you.

We are bound by the 10 National Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the guidelines and policies published by the Australian Privacy Commissioner. For your information details can be found at the office of the federal privacy commissioner's website located at www.privacy.gov.au.

The new Act regulates the way private sector organisations can collect, use, keep secure and disclose personal and sensitive information. It gives individuals the right to know what information an organistaion holds about them and the right to correct that information if it is wrong.

Personal Information

The Privacy Act describes 'personal information' as information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database) whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion.

The following statement sets out our general policy for the protection of your privacy and outlines our obligations in managing personal information we hold about individuals who interact with us.

Exemption

New privacy provisions in the Privacy Act as detailed in the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 includes an exemption for employee records of an individual if the act or practice directly relates to a current or former employment relationship between the employer and the individual.

What kinds of personal information does BGC collect?

Personal information we obtain varies and is dependent on the product requested or the service to be rendered. Details can include but are not limited to:

name
date of birth
current and previous address
contact details
E-mail address
occupation
bank account details
credit references or reports from a third party (with consent)
drivers license details
property ownership
information relating to your financial condition
consumer and commercial credit reports from mercantile reporting agencies. (with consent)

The above information is collected and recorded about individuals who interact with us such as:

our customers, potential customers and their representatives
our suppliers and their representatives
contractors and their representatives providing goods and services to us
our employees past and present, including applicants
any other person who comes into contact with BGC

In most cases, if you do not provide BGC with the information it requests, then BGC may be unable to accept your request for goods and/or services or promote any products which may be of interest to you.

How does BGC collect personal information?

Generally, when providing goods and services to our clients or obtaining goods and services from our suppliers or contractors, we collect personal information directly from the individuals where reasonable and practical.

Personal information may be obtained directly from you by way of a personal interview, telephone, general enquiries and e-mail from our website, business cards and forms or applications we may request you to complete.

We may also collect information about you from other sources such as:

nominated representatives of the individual (e.g. spouse, accountant, power of attorney and other professional advisors)
other credit providers (with consent)
mercantile reporting agencies (with consent)
publicly available sources of information
related companies and businesses within BGC

Why does BGC collect personal information?

BGC is committed to providing quality customer service to our internal and external clients and to operate its businesses within statutory requirements and comply with its legal obligations.

We collect personal information in order to operate our businesses efficiently as well as to provide and market our products and/or services for the benefit of our customers.

We may use your personal Information:

to identify and communicate with you
to enable us to provide requested goods and services
to assess any request you make for supply of goods and services on credit by establishing your financial position and credit status
to manage and maintain credit accounts for the provision of goods and services on credit
to help us to manage and enhance goods and services we provide to you
to help us to manage and enhance goods and services we purchase from our suppliers
to develop and market goods and services that we consider may be of interest, unless you advise us not to do so
to protect you and us from fraud
to comply with our statutory and legal obligations

When does BGC disclose your personal information?

Depending on the product or service being provided to you, we may disclose your personal information to third parties where it is necessary to enable us to provide a product or service.

We may disclose your personal information to:

related companies and businesses within BGC
nominated representatives of the individual
mercantile reporting agencies (with consent)
other credit providers or trade suppliers to assess and manage credit accounts
other companies or individuals who assist us in providing products and services to you
professional service providers and advisors who perform functions on our behalf
Government, regulatory authorities and other organisations as required or authorised by law

To manage and provide cost effective services, we outsource various administrative functions to third parties that provide:

mailing services
invoice and statement printing services
archiving functions
marketing functions
other services and functions as deemed necessary by management from time to time

Organisations providing professional services to us are required to keep those dealings and personal information provided by us as confidential unless required to disclose such information by statute or law.

How does BGC manage data quality

We take all reasonable precautions to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

We encourage you to contact us in writing to advise us of any errors or changes to personal information you may have provided to us or we hold about you.

How does BGC manage data security

We take reasonable steps to protect the security of your personal information by ensuring it is protected from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Our personnel are required to respect the confidentiality of your personal information and the privacy of individuals.

Where we no longer require your personal information we will take reasonable steps to delete, de-identify or destroy the information held.

You can access to your personal information

You may obtain access to personal information that we hold about you. Upon written request, we will provide access to your personal information, except in circumstances limited by the Privacy Act and law.

We will require you to verify your identity and to specify what information you require. We may charge a resonable fee depending on the complexity of the request to cover costs in retrieving, coping and supplying the information to you.

How BGC handles sensitive information

The Privacy Act describes 'sensitive information' as information relating to a person's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, trade union or other professional or trade association membership, sexual preferences, criminal record, and health information about an individual.

Occasionally it may be necessary to collect sensitive information. If you or third parties provide us with sensitive information, we will as a matter of policy only use and disclose the information for the purpose for which it was provided or another related purpose, unless you agree otherwise, or where required by law.

Where practical and reasonable, your consent will be required to collect sensitive information.

Sending information overseas

In general, we do not send to your personal information to overseas recipients. However, if we send any personal information to overseas recipients, we would require the your consent (in some cases this consent will be implied) or otherwise comply with the National Privacy Principles.

BGC may disclose your personal information to our related companies and businesses, including those located outside Australia. We take steps to ensure that such recipients respect the confidentiality of this information by abiding by the National Privacy Principles or equivalent privacy laws.

How BGC deals with complaints

If you believe we have breached our privacy obligations as disclosed in this policy or infringed your rights as disclosed in the Privacy Act in any way, please us advise us as soon as possible. Any complaints received will be promptly acted upon within reasonable time frames depending on the complexity of the complaint.

All complaints should be made in writing detailing relevant information pertaining to the complaint and those parties involved in the alleged breach.

Updates to this Policy

This Policy may vary from time to time, subject changes in law or changes to our operations and practices. A current version of this Policy is located at www.bgc.com.au.

Enquiries

If you have any concerns or queries about our privacy policy, or if you would like more information about privacy-related issues please contact our Privacy Officer at:

E-mail address:	privacy@bgc.com.au
Mailing Address:	The Privacy Officer BGC Privacy Services P.O. Box 1408 Canning Vale WA 6970, Australia
Facsimile Number:	+61 8 93344954