RTSA, a Technical Society of Engineers Australia, is an organisation that is, by nature, personal information-intensive. We rely on comprehensive and accurate personal information about our members and other people with whom we deal. We collect information from members and non-members so that we can provide you with our services, manage our relationship with you, communicate with you effectively and identify which of our services will best suit your needs. We have robust systems and procedures in place to protect your privacy whenever we collect, store, use or disclose your personal information.

What kind of personal information do we collect?

Personal information, including sensitive information, that RTSA collects and holds includes, but is not limited to:

• Members’ official and preferred names, titles, post-nominals, personal awards, address, telephone, e-mail and facsimile contact details (private and business), date of birth, gender.

• Members’ qualifications, education and academic history, work experience and skills, occupation, employer information, insurance details, areas of practice, areas of interest, details of complaints and disciplinary action.

• Financial details including credit card numbers, bank account information, financial status of membership, and subscriptions to Engineers Australia publications.

• Assessment records created when a member applies for a certain membership grade. This can include Curriculum Vitaes (CVs), Engineering Practice Reports (EPRs) Competency Demonstration Reports (CDRs) and Migration Skills Assessments.

• Information required to nominate members for honours and awards.

• Information from persons who participate in RTSA sponsored seminars, conferences or other events and programs.

How we collect your personal information

We collect most personal information direct from you, for example, when you fill in an application for admission, readmission, concession or direct debit. Information may also be collected direct from you when you deal with us personally, over the telephone, send a letter, or visit the web site.

Information is collected from you when you nominate for an award, are invited to the grade of Life Member, or stand for election for a position on a Committee. Information is also collected from you when you participate in an RTSA or Engineers Australia survey.

There may be occasions when a third party provides information about you, such as when you are nominated for an honour or award, or when a complaint is made against you.

We also collect information about members and non-members who register for Engineers Australia events, seminars and conferences.

How we use your personal information

We will use your personal information to provide you with a particular product or service and to contact you about matters pertaining to membership of the RTSA. This includes (but is not limited to) the following:

• Assessing membership applications.

• Processing payments of applications.

• Making decisions relating to nomination or election to a position on a Committee.

• Providing membership services such as Track & Signal Magazine, e-News, and other member benefits.

• Inviting you to partake in Chapter events, technical seminars, professional development activities and networking activities.

• Contacting board and committee members to distribute business papers.

 

We may use your personal information for purposes related or ancillary to the main reason we collect it, such as:

• Internal accounting and administration.

• Regulatory reporting and compliance.

• Helping us to identify and inform you about other services that may be of benefit to you

In the event of a complaint against you we use personal information provided to us to investigate the complaint in accordance with the procedures set down in Engineers Australia’s Disciplinary Regulations.

As a not-for-profit organisation, the RTSA needs to enter into sponsorship arrangements with third parties from time to time. This allows us to keep membership fees at a low level, and to provide a greater range of services. When we enter a sponsorship agreement, we may use your personal information to provide you with information about products, services and promotions offered by our sponsors.

Disclosure of your personal information

The RTSA may disclose personal information and sensitive information as defined by the Privacy Act, held about you to:

• A membership committee/ board or panel to assess applications and investigate complaints;

• Members authorised to vote on candidates elected to office bearing positions and judging committees for awards and honours;

• Members on the same Committee or group; and

• A person or agency when you are nominated for an honour or award.

 

We disclose a member’s mailing details (i.e. name and address) to Engineer Australia and its wholly owned subsidiary companies, Engineers Media for the purpose of mailing to you the quarterly Track & Signal magazine.

RTSA may disclose personal information when we contract out specialised functions and activities. These may include printing of renewal invoices, membership cards, and arrears notices, and conference information. We may also provide names and addresses to a mailing house to mail information to you. In these situations, we prohibit the third parties from using personal information about you except for the specific purpose for which we supply it.

We treat all personal information held about you as confidential. This applies except where disclosure of your personal information is compelled by law, in the public interest, or with your consent.

In the event of a complaint against you, disclosure of personal information is restricted to those authorised under the Disciplinary Regulations and Manual of Investigation and Procedures.

Consent

Members have been asked to agree or disagree with four basic questions regarding the use disclosure of personal information. The questions relate to:

• Disclosure to third parties of a member’s membership status of RTSA.

• Use and disclosure of information being used for the purpose of receiving the RTSA electronic newsletter.

Accuracy of your personal information

If we have accurate personal information about you, it enables us to provide you with the best possible service. We take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date whenever we collect or use it.

If you find that the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, please contact us immediately. Alternatively, you may correct this yourself through the member services section of the website.

Access to your personal information

You may access limited personal information through our secure the member services section on our website. Alternatively, on request, we will provide you with access to your personal information. Your request will be dealt with in a reasonable time and we may charge you a small administration fee for sending the information to you.

Security of your personal information

RTSA protects any personal information that we hold about you from misuse and loss. We protect your privacy by restricting access to your personal information to those staff or authorised office bearers who need it, either to process information or to provide you with membership services. Our staff and office bearers are responsible for handling personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Your personal information may be stored as hardcopy documents, or as electronic data. We maintain physical security over our paper and electronic data stores and premises. We also maintain computer and network security. For example, we use firewalls (security measures for the Internet) and other security systems such as user identifiers and passwords to control access to computer systems.

RTSA will keep your information for as long as it is needed to provide you with the products and services you have requested from us. We will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify personal information when we no longer need it.

Our online applications available to members from the website undergo extensive security testing by external professional companies to ensure your data is protected to the highest level against potential hacking. All data transmitted between web browsers and our online applications are protected by encryption.

Resolving your concerns

If you believe that the privacy of your personal information has been compromised, you are entitled to complain. If you have a complaint, contact the area where you believe the breach has occurred. If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, forward a written complaint to:

RTSA Sekretariat
Engineering House
11 National Circuit
Barton ACT 2600

A written complaint must include a return address, and identify the conduct that is the basis for the complaint. There are no fees for lodging a complaint.