Privacy

Cotton

Residents' protection of and access to personal information is governed by the Information Privacy Act 2009

The Act contains two sets of privacy principles which regulate how personal information is collected, secured, used and disclosed by Queensland public sector agencies (such as Balonne Shire Council). 

Council can provide informal (administrative) access and amendment options to people wherever practicable. 

The Act also provides a formal mechanism for a person to apply to access or amend their own personal information, which is intended to be used as a method of last resort. 

For further information and a guide to the Personal Information Amendment process, see the Queensland Government's Information Privacy website

  • Council understands that you, as a visitor and user of this website, are concerned about your privacy and the confidentiality and security of any information you provide to Council. 

    Balonne Shire Council has a firm commitment to privacy in accordance with the Privacy Act 1998 and the Information Privacy Act 2009. 

  • When you visit this site, Council's server logs information provided by your browser. 

    Council uses this information only for statistical analysis or systems administration purposes. The information allows Council to assess the number of visitors to the site and sections within, and in turn make the site more useful to visitors. 

    Council's server logs the following information: 

    • Date and time of site visit; 

    • Type of browser used; 

    • IP address (a number unique to the machine through which you are connected to the internet - usually a service provider's machine); 

    • Top level domain name (.com, .gov, .au, .uk, etc.); 

    • Address of the referring site; 

    • Address of the pages accessed; 

    • Any documents downloaded. 

    No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities unless disclosure is required by law, or by requirement of a Court, Government Agency, or Regulatory Authority. 

  • Email correspondence sent to addresses listed on this site and information submitted via web forms on this site are treated as a public record, and must be retained as required by the Public Records Act 2002. 

    Personal information contained in emails or web forms will only be used for the purpose it is provided for.  

    Council will not add personal information to a mailing list, nor disclose it to third parties without prior consent, unless required by law. 

    Email messaged may be monitored by our Information Technology staff for system troubleshooting and/or maintenance. 

  • Search terms entered when using the search bar are collected, but are not associated with any other information which Council collects. 

    Council uses search terms to ascertain user behaviour, and in turn improve the web services provided.