Privacy and security

Your privacy

The Commission is committed to protecting user privacy and understands that users and visitors to this website are concerned about their privacy and the confidentiality of information that may be provided to us.

The Commission makes every effort to adhere to the Guidelines for Federal (and Queensland) Government World Wide Websites developed by the Australian Privacy Commissioner. For more information on these guidelines, go to the website for the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner.

The Commission complies with the eleven Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) contained in the Information Privacy Act 2009, (the IP Act) that set out how personal information must be collected and managed in the public sector environment.

Cookies

This website uses cookies to collect information about our visitors and to track advertising campaign data. A 'cookie' is a small file that is sent to your computer when you visit our website. When you visit our website again, the cookie provides us with information about your interactions within our website. Cookies may store user preferences and other information. You can set your browser to refuse cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some of our website features or services may not function properly without cookies.

Information collected

Unless you specifically tell us, the Commission will not know who you are.

Any personal information you provide will be used for the purpose specified at the time it is collected, and will otherwise be managed in accordance with the IP Act.

When you visit the Commission’s web site, our web servers make a record of your visit and records anonymous information for statistical purposes only.

The information collected includes the type of browser, computer platform and screen resolution you are using, the internet address of the server accessing our site and your traffic patterns through our site. This includes:

the date, time and, duration of your visit to the site,
the pages you accessed and documents downloaded and,
the page you visited prior to accessing our site.

This information will only be made available to the Commission.

No attempt will be made to identify your personal details unless we are legally required to do so.

Email

As this is a Queensland Government web site, email correspondence sent to this site will be treated as a public record and will be retained as required by the Public Records Act 2002 and other relevant regulations.

Your name and address will not be added to a mailing list and we will not disclose these details to third parties without your consent, unless required by law. However, email messages may be monitored by authorised IT staff for purposes such as system troubleshooting and maintenance.

We will disclose your email details to the relevant authorities if necessary to protect the safety of the public or to protect the rights and property of the State of Queensland.

Security

This site does not provide open access facilities for securely transmitting information across the Internet. We provide a secure environment and a reliable system, but you should be aware that there may be inherent risks associated with the transmission of information via the Internet. For those who do not wish to use the Internet, the Commission provides alternative ways of obtaining and providing information. This site may contain links to other websites. The Commission is not responsible for the privacy or security practices or the content of such websites.

Records Held

In accordance with the Electoral Act 1992 (Electoral Act), the Commission holds the following:

Application for Ballot Papers
Postal Votes
Absent or Unenrolled Votes
Ballot papers of all electors who cast their ballot at the last State Election.
All this material is destroyed under supervision just prior to the next State election.
Certified Lists of voters who voted in all State elections since 1992.
For State elections since 1995 information on persons who failed to vote.
The electoral roll is maintained by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) under a Joint Roll Arrangement entered into between the Commonwealth and the State. The publicly available portion of the roll (that is, name and address), is available for public search at the Commission’s Office, between the hours of 9.00am and 5.00pm.

The roll can be searched via the following media:

the most recent printed version of the roll for the 89 electoral districts
the most recent electronic record of the State roll, searchable via a computerised search application.

The Commission keeps details of the following categories of staff:

permanent staff of the Commission appointed under the Electoral Act or the Public Service Act 2008
returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers appointed by the Governor in Council pursuant to the Electoral Act 1992
casual staff who work for the Commission on a periodic basis and casual staff who were engaged by the Commission to assist with the conduct of the last State election

The Commission also holds for limited specified periods:

details of persons who have applied for appointment to positions within the Commission
copies of correspondence received by the Commission as well as outgoing correspondence generated by it
submissions received from political parties, candidates, electors, elected officials and the general public in relation to the redistribution of State electoral boundaries and reviewable local government matters
lists of persons who were issued with a category of security pass, providing access to the central tally room

The Commission maintains the:

register of political parties in Queensland
register of party agents
election funding claims - for all elections since 1995
candidates disclosure returns - for all elections since 1995
third parties disclosure returns - for all elections since 1995
annual returns by registered political parties
annual returns by associated entities
register of special postal voters.

Access to your information

The Right to Information Act 2009 (the RTI Act) and the IP Act give a right of access to information held by government (including documents held by the Commission), unless, on balance it would be contrary to the public interest to release the information.

You may make an application under the IP Act 2009 to access your own personal information held by the Commission. Your application must be made using the approved form which can be found on the Right to Information page, along with further information about requesting personal information.