Privacy Policy
By-law - Privacy and Data Policy
Murray River Retriever Association Inc. - made under rule 78 and rule 75A of the Rules
Murray River Retriever Association Incorporated · Registration No. A00______ · ABN 55 253 792 938
Committee approved: ________ · Notified to members: ________ · Effective: ________ (14 days after notification)
1. Purpose and scope
1.1 This By-law is the privacy and data policy of the Association required by rule 75A(5) of the Rules. It is to be read with rule 75A (Registers and data of the Association) and rule 18 (Register of members).
1.2 It applies to all personal information the Association holds about members, associate members, applicants, breeders, puppy purchasers, people who contact the Rescue and Rehoming service, and visitors to the Association’s website and membership platform.
1.3 The Association is not currently required to comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). It has chosen to handle personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles in that Act as a matter of policy, and to comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) in all electronic messaging.
1.4 In this By-law, personal information has the meaning given in the Privacy Act 1988: information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. Records about a dog are personal information to the extent they identify the dog’s owner or breeder.
2. The Association’s commitment
2.1 Information provided to the Association is collected for the Association’s purposes and is used only for those purposes.
2.2 The Association does not give personal information to any third party without the consent of the person it concerns, except as set out in section 6.
2.3 The Association does not transfer, licence, sell or disclose in bulk its Register of Prefixes, Stud Book, Dog Register or register of members, or any copy or extract of them, to any other organisation. Under rule 75A of the Rules the Association cannot do so without the prior approval of the members by special resolution at a general meeting.
3. What the Association collects
3.1 Membership information: name, postal address, email address, phone number, membership category, date of joining, renewal date, and for a Family membership the names of both adults, which adult is the voting member, and the names of children under 18 in the household.
3.2 Payment information: payments are processed by the Association’s payment gateway. The Association records the amount, date and purpose of each payment. The Association does not receive or store card numbers.
3.3 Dog and breeding records: dog names, prefixes, registration numbers, microchip numbers, dates of birth, pedigrees, DNA parentage and health test results, photographs, litter notifications, stud service certificates, registration section, transfers of ownership, and the names and contact details of the breeder and each owner.
3.4 Breeder information: Recognised Breeder applications, prefix, kennel details, and any profile or listing content the breeder provides.
3.5 Rescue and rehoming information: the details a person provides when seeking help to keep or rehome a dog, or when applying to adopt one, which may include personal and household circumstances.
3.6 Governance records: applications for membership, nominations, proxies, complaints, disciplinary and grievance records, minutes, and correspondence with the Committee.
3.7 Website and platform information: login records, the pages accessed within the members’ area, and standard web server logs and analytics. The Association does not use this information to identify individuals except for security or to administer a member’s account.
4. How the Association collects it
4.1 Directly from the person, through the online application process and the member’s account in the membership platform, through forms in the platform, and by email or correspondence.
4.2 From Recognised Breeders in respect of puppy purchasers. A breeder registering a litter must supply each new owner’s name and email address. The platform validates each email address by sending the new owner a message; the litter cannot be closed until every new owner’s address has been validated. That message tells the new owner what information the breeder has supplied, that it is held by the Association for the purpose of registering the puppy and providing the Puppy Owner Associate membership, and where to find this By-law. It is the Association’s collection notice to the new owner.
4.3 From the Association’s own records, when a dog’s pedigree or ownership history is compiled from earlier registrations.
4.4 The Association does not collect personal information from any other third party without telling the person.
5. Why the Association collects and uses personal information
5.1 To administer membership: applications, subscriptions and renewals, the register of members, notices of meetings, proxies, nominations and elections.
5.2 To maintain the Register of Prefixes, the Stud Book and the Dog Register, and to issue registration certificates and pedigrees.
5.3 To recognise breeders, register litters, register puppies to their new owners, and record transfers of ownership.
5.4 To publish the Recognised Breeder listing and to respond to enquiries from prospective puppy purchasers (section 6.4).
5.5 To operate the Rescue and Rehoming service, including matching dogs in need with prospective homes.
5.6 To process an owner’s request for a dog to be registered with ANKC, in addition to its registration with the Association, under the Dog Register By-law.
5.7 To compile breed health, DNA and population statistics. Statistics published or shared outside the Association are de-identified so that no individual owner or breeder is identifiable.
5.8 To communicate with members (section 7).
5.9 To handle complaints, disciplinary matters and grievances under the Rules.
5.10 To meet the Association’s obligations under the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic), its financial and tax obligations, and any other law.
6. Disclosure
6.1 The Association discloses personal information only as set out in this section. Any other disclosure requires the consent of the person concerned.
6.2 Service providers. The Association uses service providers to host and administer its website, membership platform, email tenancy and backups, process payments, deliver email and SMS, and maintain its pedigree database. A provider - including a member of the Association providing these services - operates under a written agreement with the Association as required by rule 75A of the Rules, may access personal information only to provide its service to the Association, and may not use it for any other purpose. The Committee keeps a current list of providers, which is available to members on request.
6.3 Required by law. The Association discloses personal information where required by law, including to the Registrar of Incorporated Associations (Consumer Affairs Victoria), a court, or a regulator with power to require it.
6.4 Breeder listing and puppy enquiries. A Recognised Breeder’s name, prefix, general location (state or region) and nominated contact details are published on the Association’s breeder listing and given to prospective puppy purchasers who enquire, unless the breeder opts out through the breeder’s profile in the membership platform. A breeder may opt out or change the published details at any time.
6.5 Register of members. Under sections 56 to 59 of the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012, any member may inspect the register of members. It is an offence under section 58 of that Act to use information from the register improperly. A member may ask the Secretary to restrict access to the member’s personal information on the register under section 59; the Secretary decides the request and notifies the member in writing.
6.6 Registration of a dog with ANKC. A dog may be registered with the Association, with ANKC, or with both. At the request of a dog’s owner, and where the dog meets the criteria in the Dog Register By-law, the Association Registrar issues the certificate and letter needed for the owner to register the dog with ANKC, and provides ANKC with the dog’s registration details and the owner’s details needed for that registration. The dog’s registration with the Association continues. This is the only circumstance in which the Association provides registration data to ANKC or any other canine body, and it occurs one dog at a time at the owner’s request.
6.7 Rescue and rehoming. Information about a dog needing a home, and about a prospective adopter, is shared between the parties only with each party’s consent.
6.8 Registration certificates and pedigrees. A registration certificate identifies the dog’s breeder and owner. Pedigrees identify the breeders of the dogs in them by their prefixes. A person who registers a dog or a litter consents to this.
6.9 De-identified statistics (section 5.7) are not personal information and may be published.
7. Messages to members
7.1 Transactional messages - renewal notices, receipts, notices of meetings, registration and transfer correspondence, and messages about a member’s account - are sent by email, and where appropriate by SMS, to every member and associate member. These are part of membership and cannot be opted out of while membership continues.
7.2 Newsletters and other messages about the Association’s activities, events and the breed are sent by email and SMS to members and associate members. A member may opt out of these at any time through the membership platform or by using the unsubscribe function in any message, and the Association will stop sending them within 5 business days.
7.3 Every message identifies the Association as the sender and, for messages under 7.2, includes a working unsubscribe facility.
7.4 The Association does not sell, rent or provide its member contact list to any other organisation for the purpose of sending messages.
8. Where personal information is held
8.1 The Association’s website, membership platform and registers are hosted in Australia.
8.2 Payment processing and the delivery of email and SMS are performed by providers that may store or process limited personal information outside Australia, in the United States and other countries where those providers operate. No other personal information is stored outside Australia. The Association only uses providers that are bound by their own privacy obligations and by the terms in 6.2.
9. Security
9.1 Personal information is held in the membership platform and pedigree database with access limited to the Secretary, the Association Registrar, administrators the Committee has authorised, and the service provider administering the systems under its agreement with the Association, each with an individual login.
9.2 Members access and manage their own information through their account in the membership platform.
9.3 The Association’s domain names, email and cloud tenancies, hosting and platform accounts, software licences and backups are held in the Association’s name, in Australia, with administrative access held by at least two office holders, as rule 75A(6) of the Rules requires.
9.4 If the Association becomes aware of unauthorised access to, or loss of, personal information that is likely to cause serious harm to any person, it will notify the affected people and tell them what has happened and what they can do, as soon as practicable.
10. Retention
10.1 Register of members and former members’ records. When a person ceases to be a member, the register of members is reduced, within 14 days, to the person’s name and the date of cessation, as section 56(4) of the Act requires. The Association retains the person’s membership history, contact details and dog records in its records outside the register of members, indefinitely, for the purposes of reinstating the person’s account if they rejoin, maintaining the breed record and the Association’s history, and meeting legal obligations. Those records are not published, are not open to inspection as part of the register, and are not used to send newsletters or other non-transactional messages. A former member may ask the Secretary to mark their contact details inactive; the record of their membership and of any dogs they owned or bred is retained under 10.2.
10.2 Dog and breeding records are the permanent breed record of the Murray River Retriever. Registrations, pedigrees, DNA and health results, litter records and ownership history are retained permanently, including after the owner’s or breeder’s membership ends. The Association will not delete a dog’s record or its ownership history on request, but will correct any error.
10.3 Financial records are retained for 7 years after the transaction, as the Act requires.
10.4 Complaint, disciplinary and grievance records are retained for 7 years after the matter is closed, then destroyed.
10.5 Rescue and rehoming enquiries are retained for 2 years after the enquiry is closed, then destroyed. The record of a dog’s rehoming is kept with the dog’s record under 10.2.
10.6 Website logs and analytics are retained for no longer than 12 months.
11. Access, correction and choices
11.1 A member may view and correct their own membership and contact information at any time through the membership platform, and may change the voting member of a Family membership.
11.2 A person may ask the Secretary for access to, or correction of, other personal information the Association holds about them. The Association responds within 30 days. Access may be refused where giving it would disclose personal information about another person, or would prejudice a disciplinary or grievance procedure, or where the request is frivolous or vexatious; the reason is given in writing.
11.3 A member may ask for their details on the register of members to be restricted (section 6.5), opt out of the breeder listing (section 6.4), and opt out of newsletters and other non-transactional messages (section 7.2). A former member may ask for their contact details to be marked inactive (section 10.1).
11.4 The limits on deletion in section 10.2 apply to dog and breeding records.
12. Children
12.1 Junior Associate members and children covered by a Family membership are under 18. The parent or guardian who applies for or holds the membership consents on the child’s behalf, and communications about the membership are sent to that adult.
13. Complaints
13.1 A person who believes the Association has not handled their personal information in accordance with this By-law may complain in writing to the Secretary. The Committee considers the complaint and responds in writing within 30 days.
13.2 If the person is a member and is not satisfied with the response, the grievance procedure in Part 3, Division 3 of the Rules applies.
14. Changes to this By-law
14.1 The Committee may amend this By-law under rule 78 of the Rules. Members are notified of any amendment within 28 days of Committee approval, and it takes effect 14 days after notification. The current version is published on the Association’s website.
14.2 Nothing in this By-law permits anything that rule 75A of the Rules prohibits.
15. Contact
Secretary, Murray River Retriever Association Inc. - send a message to the Secretary through the committee contact form.
Schedule - Categories of service provider and location of processing
| Service | Location of processing |
|---|---|
| Website, membership platform, email tenancy and backups - hosting and administration | Australia |
| Pedigree database | Australia |
| Payment processing | May include the United States and other countries where the provider operates |
| Email and SMS delivery | May include the United States and other countries where the provider operates |
The Committee maintains the list of current providers, each provider’s agreement under rule 75A, and the office holders who hold administrative access under rule 75A(6). The list is available to members on request.
