NSW Government
Planning

Privacy

This website is provided and maintained by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (the department). This privacy statement sets out the department's practices regarding the privacy of your personal information. The department's privacy practices are regulated by the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) (PPIP ACT) and the department's Privacy Management Plan.

The department will only collect personal information for a lawful purpose which directly relates to our primary function as a NSW Government agency and for obtaining feedback about our services. The department will not collect any more information than is necessary for it to fulfil these functions.

The department will not disclose your personal information to anyone without your consent, unless legally required to do so.

Anyone engaged to collect, store or use personal information for the department will be required to comply with the PPIP Act and the department’s Privacy Management Plan.

Note that the department does not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to this website.

What is personal information?

Your personal information relates to you personally and includes any information or opinion made about you. Personal information includes your name, address, phone number, email address or any information from which your identity can be reasonably ascertained.

Personal information is information that identifies you, some examples include:

  • a written record which may include your name, address, and other details about you
  • electronic records, photographs, images, video or audio footage
  • biometric information such as fingerprints, blood and records of genetic material.

What is not personal information?

The PPIP Act excludes certain information from the definition of personal information. The most significant exemptions are:

  • information contained in publicly available publications
  • information about a person’s suitability for public sector employment
  • information about people who have been dead for more than 30 years
  • a number of exemptions relating to law enforcement investigations
  • matters contained in Cabinet documents.

Submissions

When you make a submission to the department we collect your personal information, including:

  • name (including title)
  • address
  • email (if provided)
  • internet protocol (IP) address (if the submission is made online)
  • any other personal information contained in a political donations disclosure statement (if provided); and
  • any other personal information contained on your submission.

Making a submission is entirely voluntary and you are under no obligation to provide the department with any of your personal information, except as otherwise required by law.

How will your personal information be used when you make a submission?

We may publish some of your personal information online, including:

  • your submission
  • your name (unless you state that you want your name withheld)
  • your suburb
  • any political donations disclosure statement.

We may publish any personal information you have included in your submission on a proposal. Do not include any personal information in your submission that you do not want published.

We will use your contact details to send you notifications. For example, where there is a statutory requirement to notify submitters that an application has been determined.

Your submission may be published in reports, or other documents that are produced following the exhibition period.

We may forward your submission and personal information to the Planning Assessment Commission if the proposal has been referred to them. The Commission will use your contact details to notify you of any public meetings scheduled for the proposal. The Commission may publish your submission on their website, or in a report in accordance with the Commission’s Privacy Statement.

We may forward your submission to third parties including other public authorities, government agencies, local government, or to an applicant. There are statutory requirements to forward submissions on some applications to these third parties as part of the assessment process.

Community consultative committees

If you are nominating to be the chairperson or member of a committee, you will be asked to complete some forms:

  • nomination form
  • code of conduct
  • declaration of interests

These forms will collect your name and contact details, and the declaration form may collect other sensitive information so that the chairperson of the committee will understand what commercial or other interest you might have in a particular project.

The information is being collected for the purpose of assessing your suitability to be appointed to a committee. It will not be used or shared for any other purpose without your consent, or unless required or authorised by law.

Providing the requested information is entirely voluntary. However, your nomination to a committee may not be able to be considered if you do not provide it.

Chairpersons

Your nomination form must be sent to the department to be assessed for appointment as a chairperson. If successful, the department will securely store your information for the duration of your appointment and in accordance with the State Records Act 1998. Your contact details may be shared with the project proponent.

If your nomination is not successful, your information will be securely destroyed.

You can contact the department at any time to amend, correct or update your information.

Members

Your completed forms must be submitted to the chairperson of the committee you are nominating for, and the chairperson will determine your suitability for appointment to the committee. If successful, your nomination form will be provided to the department and stored securely for the duration of your appointment.

Your code of conduct and declaration of interest forms will be held by the chairperson and will not be shared with the department or the project proponent unless necessary.

The code of conduct for chairpersons requires that any personal information collected in their role must be held securely and disposed of when no longer needed. Chairpersons are instructed that your information is not to be used or shared for any purpose outside of administering the committee.

You can contact the chairperson at any time to amend, correct or update your information.

Online registration for NSW Housing Code and NSW Commercial and Industrial Code training

Any personal information collected through the online registration process will be used by the department solely for the purpose of providing you with information about the NSW Housing Code and NSW Commercial and Industrial Code and will not be provided to third parties unless required by law.

There is no legal requirement for you to provide the department with your personal information; but failing to provide your contact details may mean that you will not be able to register for training or receive further information about the Codes.

Email management

If you email the department, we will only retain and use your e-mail address for the purpose for which you have provided it. It will not be added to a mailing list without your consent.

If you subscribe to an electronic mailing list, we will only send you information relevant to the purpose or project for which you have provided it. If you have recently completed a submission we reserve the right to provide you with updates about the project, plan and policy et al for which the submission is for.

We operate in accordance with the Spam Act 2003 (the Act) and will not send unsolicited electronic messages unless they are permitted by the Act. Under the Act, a government department may send unsolicited emails if they contain only factual information or if they relate to goods or services provided by the department. Read more information about spam and the Act.

If you have any other queries or concerns, contact us.

Website data

To help the department improve its website and provide better services to its users, the agency makes a record of your visit and logs the following information:

  • the user's service address
  • the user’s top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc.)
  • the address of your server
  • the date and time of your visit to the site.

Cookies are not used from the department’s website to collect information.

Facebook pixel use

The department uses Facebook remarketing pixels to aid in customised, targeted follow-up advertising. The department may display interest-based ads to you when you are using Facebook through Facebook's Custom Audience Tool. This tool allows us to personalise our ads based on your interests, demographics, location and any previous interactions with us.

This website uses the Conversion Tracking Facebook Pixel to allow us to follow your actions once you have been redirected to the website via clicking on one of our Facebook ads. This assists us in recording the effectiveness of Facebook ads for reporting and market research purposes.

The data collected through the Facebook pixel and provided to us is aggregated and remains anonymous, meaning that we cannot see the personal information of the individual user. However, the collected data is also saved and processed by Facebook and used in accordance with Facebook's Data Use Policy.

The department may also share information about your use of this website and your interactions with our Facebook ads with our trusted social media, advertising and web analytics partners, including Google Analytics.

Facebook Conversion Tracking also allows Facebook and its partners to show you advertisements on and outside Facebook. A cookie will be saved onto your computer for these purposes.

Visit Facebook Ad Preferences if you wish to revoke your permission.

Exceptions

There are a number of exemptions from compliance with the Information Privacy Principles in the PPIP Act. Some of the exemptions include the following:

  • law enforcement and related matters
  • investigative agencies
  • where lawfully authorised or required
  • when it would benefit the individual concerned
  • Minister being informed of certain matters.

Right of access to amend your personal information

Under the PPIP Act you have the right to access your personal information held by the department without excessive delay or expense. You also have the right to have your personal information corrected in certain circumstances (e.g. if it is incorrect), Should you wish to access or correct your personal information contact the department’s designated privacy officer at:

Information Access & Privacy Unit
4 Parramatta Square, Locked Bag 5022, Parramatta NSW 2124
Phone: 02 9860 1440
Email: [email protected]

Complaints

If you feel there has been a breach of your privacy under the PPIP Act, you have the right to make a complaint to the department or to the NSW Privacy Commissioner.

Contact

If you have any questions about the application of the agency's privacy policy contact:

Manager, Information Access & Privacy
Information Access & Privacy Unit
4 Parramatta Square, Locked Bag 5022, Parramatta NSW 2124
Phone: 02 9860 1440
Email: [email protected]