The Privacy Act and the National Privacy Principles (NPPs)
The Greater National Group has always valued the privacy of personal information.
From 21 December 2001, we are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). It sets out
standards to be met in the collection, use, disclosure and handling of personal
information. "GNG" means Greater National Limited (ACN 003 245 843) trading as Greater National Group and its related companies.
About our Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy outlines how we manage personal information. It applies
to any personal information you provide to GNG and any personal information
we collect, use, disclose or handle about individuals from other sources. It
does not apply to our employee records which are not subject to the Act.
Any updates of our Privacy Policy can be accessed via our website or by contacting
one of our offices.
Why we collect personal information
We collect personal information to offer, provide, manage and administer the
many financial services and products we and our group of companies are involved
in. These include insurance broking and claims management, risk management consulting,
other forms of insurance services (including underwriting of insurance products
and reinsurance), employee benefits, superannuation and investment advisory
services.
If you would like more information on the services and products available please
contact us.
We also collect personal information to be able to develop and identify products
and services that may interest you, conducting market or customer satisfaction
research, developing, establishing and administering alliances and other arrangements
with other organisations in relation to the promotion, administration and use
of our respective products and services.
The usual type of personal information collected includes your name, postal
or e-mail address, date of birth, financial details etc. We may also need to
collect sensitive information about you in relation to life, general and workers
compensation insurance, information about your membership of professional or
trade associations, health information, sexual preferences and criminal record.
If you do not provide the information requested, we or those involved with the
provision of the service or product, may not be able to provide the appropriate
type or level of service or product.
How we collect personal information
We generally collect personal information directly from the relevant individual
but in some cases we may collect it indirectly from a third party.
For example, an insured's representative may tell us about other persons wanting
the benefit of our service or the relevant product such as a nominated driver,
a director or officer or professional or other staff member. Alternatively,
we may collect through our own representatives, advisers or another third party,
such as loss adjusters, lawyers, insurers health care workers, publicly available
sources or witnesses to a claim etc.
Who we disclose personal information to
We have a duty to maintain the confidentiality of our clients' affairs, including
personal information. Our duty of confidentiality applies except where disclosure
of personal information is with our client's consent or compelled by law.
We disclose personal information to third parties who we believe are necessary
to assist us in providing, managing and administering the services we provide
and products we are involved in.
For example:
our related companies and
alliance partners who may wish to tell you about their services, products or
promotional opportunities which may be of advantage to you, unless you tell
us not to
your representatives such as your lawyers, accountants, financial
advisers etc.
for banking and finance products - card producers, card schemes, credit
and fraud reporting agencies, debt collection agencies, insurers, reinsurers
for financial planning and investment products and trustee or custodial
services -superannuation and managed funds organisations and their advisers
and organisations in which you invest
for insurance broking and life and general insurance products - insurers,
reinsurers, other insurance intermediaries, insurance reference bureaus, medical
service providers, fraud detection agencies, our advisers such as loss adjusters,
lawyers and accountants, and others involved in the claims handling process.
Your personal information may also be used in connection with such purposes.
What we expect of you
When you provide us with personal information about other individuals, we rely
on you to have made or make them aware that you will or may provide their information
to us, the types of third parties we may provide it to, the relevant purposes
we and the third parties we disclose it to will use it for, and how they can
access it (as described in this document). If it is sensitive information we
rely on you to have obtained consent to the above. If you have not done either
of these things, you must tell us before you provide the relevant information.
If you collect, use, disclose or handle personal information on our behalf,
or receive it from us, you and your representatives must meet the relevant requirements
of the National Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 and only
use and disclose it for the purposes we agreed to.
Security of your personal information
Your personal information may be stored in hard copy documents, as electronic
data, or in our software or systems. We endeavour to protect any personal information
that we hold from misuse and loss, and to protect it from unauthorised access,
modification and disclosure. Some of the ways we achieve this are:
confidentiality requirements on our employees
policies on document storage security
security measures for access to our systems
only providing access once proper identification has been given
controlling access to our premises
website protection measures - see our website for details
Transfer of information overseas
We may transfer your personal information overseas where it is necessary for
the purposes described above. For example, some insurers are based overseas
and we need to provide your personal information to them to arrange your cover.
Keeping information up to date and accessing it
We take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is accurate,
complete, and up-to-date whenever we collect, disclose or use it.
We will, on request, provide you with access to information we hold about you,
unless there is an exception which applies under the NPPs. Things that may affect
a right to access include:
access would pose a serious threat to the life or health of any individual;
access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others
a frivolous or vexatious request
the information relates to commercially sensitive decision making
process
access would be unlawful or denying access is required or authorised
by law (e.g. we have a duty of confidentiality to our client's and will not
provide access to personal information about you if it will breach that duty)
access would prejudice enforcement activities relating to criminal
activities and other breaches of law, public revenue, a security function, or
negotiations with the individual
legal dispute resolution proceedings
If we don't provide you with access, we will provide you with reasons for the
refusal and inform you of any exceptions relied upon.
You can also gain access to correct or update your personal information.
Contact your GNG representative or see our website to get a Personal Information
Request Form requesting access. Your request to provide information will be
dealt with in a reasonable time and we may recover from you our reasonable cost
of supplying you with this information.
Opting out of receiving marketing information etc.
If we send you any information about services or products, or you do not want
us to disclose your personal information to any other organisation (including
related bodies corporate) you can opt out by contacting your GNG representative
or by sending us a completed Personal Information Request Form.
Dealing with us Anonymously
Where lawful and practicable to do so you can deal with us anonymously e.g.
general inquiries about the services we can offer you.
How to contact us
If you wish to gain access to your personal information, have a complaint about
a breach of your privacy or you have any query on how your personal information
is collected or used, or any other matter relating to our Privacy Policy you
can:
speak directly with our staff who will do their best to try to resolve
your issue as simply as possible.