Privacy Policy

St Pius X Catholic Parish Dernancourt (the Parish) is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide and conducts pastoral, liturgical, educational and community activities. In the course of these activities the Parish collects personal information to enable it to minister to the faithful and to meet its canonical and civil law obligations.

This Privacy Policy sets out how the Parish collects, holds, uses, discloses, protects, provides access to and corrects personal information. It is intended to support compliance with applicable Australian privacy law, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles to the extent that they apply to the Parish, and to reflect relevant Church, safeguarding and records-management obligations.

This Policy applies to:

• Parishioners and worship visitors
• Children and families participating in Parish programs and sacramental preparation
• Volunteers, contractors and prospective employees
• Members of the public who interact with the Parish
• Any other individuals whose personal information is collected by the Parish

This Policy does not apply to employee records where an exemption applies under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The Parish may nevertheless handle employee-related information in accordance with applicable law, Archdiocesan requirements and good administrative practice.

Personal information means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether true or not and whether recorded in a material form or not. Sensitive information includes information or an opinion about religious beliefs or affiliations, health information, racial or ethnic origin, criminal history, biometric information and other categories of information that are given a higher level of protection under applicable privacy law.

Unless otherwise indicated, references in this Policy to personal information include sensitive information. The Parish will only collect sensitive information where consent has been obtained, where the information is reasonably necessary for one or more of the Parish’s functions or activities, or where collection is otherwise required or authorised by law.

The Parish collects personal information only where reasonably necessary for its pastoral, sacramental, administrative, safeguarding, community, legal or canonical functions and activities. These purposes include, but are not limited to:

The Parish collects personal information by lawful and fair means, including:

• Forms and registrations submitted online or in hard copy
• Pastoral and sacramental records created during ministry and sacramental preparation
• Direct communications by phone, email or in person
• Third parties where consent has been given or where permitted by law
• Publicly available sources where appropriate

For children and young people, information is ordinarily collected from a parent, guardian or authorised responsible person unless it is appropriate, lawful and reasonably necessary to collect information directly from the child or young person, including for safeguarding, pastoral care or legal compliance purposes.

The Parish may hold:

• 01

  Contact details

  Name, address, telephone, email

• 02

  Sacramental records & register entries

  Baptism, Reconciliation, Holy Communion, Confirmation, Marriage

• 03

  Pastoral notes

  Information relevant to pastoral care, counselling, and ministry

• 04

  Health information

  Only where necessary for pastoral care, program safety, or medical support

• 05

  Volunteer & employment application details

  Resumes, reference checks, screening status

• 06

  Safeguarding documentation

  Working With Children checks, codes of conduct, training certificates required by law or Archdiocesan policy

• 07

  Donation & payment-related records

  Where applicable and necessary for administration, receipting, reporting, and audit purposes

The Parish will use personal information for the purpose for which it was collected and for related purposes that an individual would reasonably expect, or otherwise with consent or where required or authorised by law. In particular, the Parish may use personal information:

• To identify individuals and maintain accurate Parish, sacramental, volunteer, safeguarding and administrative records;
• To provide pastoral care, administer sacraments, conduct liturgical and community activities, and manage Parish programs;
• To communicate with individuals about Parish worship, activities, events, stewardship, volunteering, safeguarding and administrative matters;
• To assess suitability for volunteer, ministry, contractor or employment roles, including screening, induction, training and safeguarding compliance, with consent where required.

The Parish will not disclose personal information to third parties except where disclosure is reasonably necessary for the Parish’s functions or activities, where the individual has consented, or where disclosure is required or authorised by law. Permitted disclosures may include disclosure:

• To the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide and relevant Church authorities for pastoral, administrative, safeguarding, canonical, audit, reporting or governance purposes;
• To contractors or service providers engaged to perform functions for the Parish (subject to confidentiality obligations);
• Where required by law, for safeguarding or child protection purposes, or to prevent a serious threat to life or safety;
• To regulators, law enforcement, child protection authorities, courts, tribunals, insurers, professional advisers or other persons where required or authorised by law, including for safeguarding, mandatory reporting, child protection or serious threat purposes.

The Parish website may collect limited technical information, such as browser type, device information, server logs, pages visited and anonymous or aggregated analytics. The Parish does not intentionally collect personal information from website visitors unless it is voluntarily submitted, for example through online forms, email, event registration, newsletter subscription or other direct communication.

Where the Parish uses online forms, email platforms, website hosting, analytics, payment or other digital service providers, personal information may be processed or stored by those providers on behalf of the Parish. The Parish will take reasonable steps to use reputable providers and to ensure that personal information is handled consistently with this Policy and applicable law.

The website may contain links to external sites. The Parish is not responsible for the privacy practices of external websites.

The Parish may use personal information to communicate with individuals about Parish worship, pastoral initiatives, community activities, volunteering, giving, stewardship and fundraising. Individuals may request not to receive non-essential promotional or fundraising communications by contacting the Parish. The Parish may still send communications that are reasonably necessary for pastoral, sacramental, safeguarding, administrative or legal purposes.

The Parish takes reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, unauthorised modification and unauthorised disclosure. These steps may include:

Personal information will be retained for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet legal, safeguarding, archival, audit, insurance, canonical and pastoral obligations. When personal information is no longer required, and where lawful and appropriate, the Parish will take reasonable steps to destroy it or de-identify it. Sacramental registers and some Church records may be retained permanently or for extended periods in accordance with canonical, Archdiocesan and records-management requirements.

If the Parish becomes aware of a suspected or actual data breach involving personal information, it will take reasonable steps to contain the incident, assess the nature and likely consequences of the breach, mitigate any risk of harm, and notify affected individuals, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, the Archdiocese or other relevant authorities where required by law or applicable policy.

Individuals may request access to personal information held by the Parish and may request correction of personal information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. Requests should be made in writing to the Parish Priest using the contact details set out in this Policy. The Parish may require evidence of identity before responding to a request.

Access may be refused or limited where permitted by law, including where access would unreasonably affect the privacy of others, prejudice safeguarding or legal processes, reveal confidential evaluative information, or be otherwise unlawful or inappropriate. Where access or correction is refused, the Parish will provide reasons to the extent reasonable and lawful.

If an individual does not provide requested personal information, the Parish may be unable to:

• Administer sacraments or maintain sacramental records
• Provide pastoral care or welfare support
• Register the individual for programs or events
• Assess suitability for volunteer or employment roles

The Parish will seek to acknowledge and respond to privacy complaints within a reasonable time. If a complaint is not resolved to the individual’s satisfaction, the individual may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Individuals may also raise concerns with the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide where the matter relates to Archdiocesan policy, safeguarding or Church governance.

The Parish may amend this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, regulatory guidance, Archdiocesan direction, technology, safeguarding practice or Parish operations. The current version of this Policy will be made available on the Parish website or otherwise on request.