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Purpose of this policy

As we reach out to our community with the gospel of our Lord Jesus, we collect personal information to form connections and build ongoing relationships with those who worship, serve and belong at NorthLight.

We respect your right to privacy and are committed to dealing with personal information we collect from you in a careful and responsible manner.

This policy sets out how NorthLight Anglican Church (“NorthLight”, “we”, “us”, “our”) will handle your personal information. Where the Privacy Act 1988 does not apply to us, we have nonetheless been guided by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in our approach to your privacy.

Application and scope

This policy covers the handling of personal information of individuals who are not officeholders or employees of NorthLight.

It applies to all NorthLight staff, including officeholders and employees, as well as authorised volunteers, who handle personal information collected by NorthLight.

This policy must be read together with Faithfulness in Service: A national code for personal behaviour and the practice of pastoral ministry by clergy and church workers (as amended from time to time), and applies in addition to safe ministry obligations set out in that code and in the Safe Ministry Blueprint For Churches published by the Office of the Director of Safe Ministry (as amended from time to time), available at https://safeministry.org.au/resource-docs/.

This policy may be reviewed and amended by NorthLight at any time. It does not form part of any employee’s contract of employment and imposes no contractual obligations on NorthLight.

Collection of personal information

Personal information is information or an opinion that reasonably identifies an individual, such as a person’s name, address, phone number, photo or video.

Sensitive information is a subset of personal information and includes information or an opinion about matters such as a person’s religious beliefs, health, or criminal record.

We generally collect personal information where it is reasonably necessary for the ministry and related activities of NorthLight. No one is under any compulsion to give us personal information, though if certain information is not provided, we may not be able to offer access to some services or activities. Where practicable, the reason for collection will be made clear at the time of collection.

We only collect sensitive information about you and/or your children where it is reasonably necessary, with your consent, or where we are required or authorised by law to do so.

Types of personal information we collect

We usually collect personal information directly from you, including through our website, ChurchSuite (our online database) and event or activity forms and check-in systems (name tags). In some circumstances, we may collect personal information via third parties, such as our online payment systems. Examples of the information we may collect include:

•      name and contact details

•      date of birth

•      family details, including of any children

•      congregation and church status (visitor, newcomer, attendee, member)

•      your image, video and sound recordings

•      financial details, for giving or event payments

Safe ministry information

For safe ministry purposes, we also collect and hold the following information about individuals who serve in child-related ministries at NorthLight:

•      full name and date of birth

•      Working with Children Check (WWCC) clearance number and expiry date

•      date and expiry of last Safe Ministry training

Use and disclosure of personal information

We use your personal information only for the purposes stated at the time of collection, for other purposes within your reasonable expectations, or otherwise as set out in this policy. We will not use or disclose your personal information for any other purpose without first seeking your consent, unless authorised or required by law.

We will not mention sensitive information you have provided, such as health information, in newsletters, bulletins or prayer points without your approval (or that of the person responsible for you). Generally, we use and disclose personal information to:

•      maintain a record of your involvement and attendance;

•      facilitate your participation in NorthLight’s activities, including recording registration and payment for events;

•      provide you with pastoral care and support;

•      answer your questions or respond to your feedback;

•      keep you informed of NorthLight news, events and activities we believe may be of interest to you;

•      maintain our parish directory in ChurchSuite (see Parish directory, below); and

•      comply with our legal and safe ministry obligations.

We may use your personal information to generate aggregated, de-identified statistics and reports for internal analytics, to help us improve our ministries and outreach.

Data quality

We will take reasonable steps to keep your personal information complete, accurate and up to date. Where you have login access to ChurchSuite, you can update your own contact details directly.

We do not use Government or agency numbers, such as tax file numbers, to identify individuals, and do not retain such numbers unless required by law.

Security of personal information

Only authorised persons, such as ministry and administrative staff, have access to your personal information. Access to financial information is limited to the Church Treasurer and warden responsible for finances.

Your personal information is stored on ChurchSuite (our online SaaS database) and/or our account with Microsoft 365 and is protected through role based password-protected access, encryption and standard computer security systems. 

Email is not a secure method of transmitting information, and NorthLight cannot accept responsibility for the security of information you send to us by email.

Parish directory

NorthLight maintains a parish directory through ChurchSuite for the benefit of our church family. Your contact details will only appear in the directory if you have specifically consented to this. The details of anyone under the age of 18 will not be shared in the directory.

Access to ChurchSuite is tiered according to role:

•      NorthLight ministry and administrative staff have access to all information and processes within ChurchSuite;

•      NorthLight staff and administrative staff have access to the personal information of church members;

•      Growth group leaders may have access to the individuals and groups for whom they are responsible; and

•      Church members can gain access to their own personal information and to the directory, where they have consented to their details being included.

While we encourage members of our church family to reach out to each other for fellowship, encouragement and hospitality, directory details must only be used for purposes related to NorthLight’s ministries and must not be used to create bulk distribution lists without express consent.

ChurchSuite’s own privacy notice is available at churchsuite.com/privacy-notice.

Access and correction of personal information within ChurchSuite

We will take reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is relevant, accurate, complete and up to date, and to provide you with access to it on request.

You may access or correct your personal information at any time if you have login access to ChurchSuite. Otherwise, please contact the Ministry Support at office@nlac.org.au or 9498 0000.

If you do not wish to receive our communications, or would like us to delete your personal information, please let us know at the details above. 

Questions and complaints

If you have a question about this policy, or a privacy-related complaint, please contact the Ministry Support or Senior Minister at office@nlac.org.au or 9498 0000. We care about protecting your privacy and will seek to address your concerns promptly.

Review of this policy

This policy may be reviewed and updated by NorthLight from time to time. The current version is available on our website and from the Church Office.

Policy owner: Parish Council, NorthLight Anglican Church

NorthLight Anglican Church | ABN 79 227 325 114 | 9498 0000 | office@nlac.org.au

Dated: September 2026