Privacy
Privacy Policy
This privacy policy tells you how we collect and use information.
We respect and protect the privacy of our users.
The term ‘personal information’ means any information from which your identity is apparent or can be reasonably ascertained.
The department is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 with respect to collection, use and disclosure of personal information.
Personal information
If you fill out the feedback or contact us form on any of our pages we will collect the email address you provide and any other identifying information you include, such as your name or phone number and your postcode.
Your personal information will not be released unless the law permits it or your permission is granted. If you ask us about an issue that needs to be dealt with by another agency, we will provide you with the necessary details to make contact yourself. You may opt out of further contact from us at any time.
Your postcode will only be used to provide a more tailored answer to your questions, as your rights and support services as an energy consumer vary depending on where you live.
Your email address will only be used by us for the purpose for which you have provided it and will not be added to a mailing list unless you have asked us to, nor will we disclose it except as described in the previous paragraph.
If you have concerns in this regard, the department has other ways of obtaining and providing information. Normal mail, telephone and fax facilities are available.
Clickstream data
Clickstreams are the paths a user takes when navigating a web site and the internet in general. When you visit one of our sites, our servers record the following information for statistical purposes:
- Your server (IP) address and machine name.
- Your top level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk, etc).
- The date and time of visit to the site.
- The pages accessed and documents downloaded.
- The number of bytes transmitted and received for each request.
- The previous site or page visited.
- Search terms used.
- Your browser type.
- The address of the referring page.
The department examines this information to determine the traffic through the server and to specific pages or applications. In order to deliver better services, we also perform statistical analysis to establish priorities and allocate resources.
No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect server logs.
The statistics and log files may be preserved indefinitely and used at any time and in any way necessary to prevent security breaches and to ensure the integrity of the information supplied by the department.
Website analytics and cookies
To improve your experience on our site, we use ‘cookies’. Cookies are an industry standard and most major websites use them. A cookie is a small text file that our site may place on your computer as a tool to remember your preferences. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however if you do this, you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.
Our website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of any other site and they may have a different privacy policy.
Our website uses analytics services which send website traffic data to servers offshore. These services do not identify individual users or associate your IP address with any other data held by the company for other purposes. We use reports provided by analytics providers to help us understand website traffic and webpage usage to provide a better service to the public. Cookie information is not stored or collected by the department.
Freedom of Information (FOI)
For details about access to information held by the department, please contact our Freedom of Information Officer.
