Privacy Policy

Who we are

Divers for Climate Ltd (ABN 96 673 166 535) is a registered Australian charity. We mobilise divers, snorkellers and marine tourism professionals to take climate action for ocean protection.

This policy explains how we collect, use, store and share personal information when you visit our website, donate, contact us, subscribe to updates, take part in our surveys, events and programs, or volunteer with us. "Personal information" means information or an opinion about an identified or reasonably identifiable person.

We handle personal information with reference to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles, and the Spam Act 2003 for electronic messages.

Information we collect

We only ask for what we need for the activity you are taking part in. Depending on how you engage with us, this may include:

• Contact details — your name and email address, and sometimes a phone number or region.
• What you tell us — messages, enquiries, ideas and stories you send through our forms.
• Dive and ocean observations — where and what you noticed in the water, survey responses about your experiences of climate change, and photos you choose to share with a credit and caption.
• Participation details — event attendance, delegation or program interest, volunteer roles and communication preferences.
• Donation records — see Donations below.

Many of our forms let you leave your name and email blank. You can contact us without identifying yourself where that is practical, although we may not be able to reply.

Sensitive information. We do not collect sensitive information — such as health information, political opinions, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or criminal records. Please don't include this kind of detail in messages you send us; if it reaches us by accident, we will delete it.

How we collect it

We collect information directly from you wherever possible, including through:

• our contact form, mailing-list sign-up and feedback forms on this website;
• hub idea and story submissions, ocean observation reports and photo submissions;
• expressions of interest, such as joining a delegation to Parliament;
• surveys and research projects, such as our national diver survey;
• our donation platform, event registration pages and social media;
• emails and conversations with our team and volunteers.

When we collect information, we aim to tell you what it is for at the time.

How we use it

We use personal information to:

• reply to your enquiries and feedback;
• run events, workshops, hubs and volunteer programs;
• process donations and issue tax receipts;
• carry out research on divers' experiences of climate change;
• review and, with permission, publish community stories, observations and photos;
• advocate for ocean and climate policy;
• send newsletters, campaign updates and event invitations you have asked for;
• improve our programs and meet our legal and insurance obligations.

We use your information for the purpose you gave it to us, for related purposes you would reasonably expect, with your consent, or where the law requires it. We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it with other organisations for their own marketing without your consent.

Donations

Donations made on this website are handled through Raisely, our online fundraising platform. The donation form is provided by Raisely, and card or wallet payments are processed by Raisely's payment providers.

Raisely collects the details you enter, such as your name, email address, address and payment information, and handles them under its own privacy policy. We receive donation records — for example your name, contact details, donation amount and date — so we can issue receipts, thank you and keep financial records.

Surveys and research

Our research, including surveys of divers, explains its purpose and how responses will be used at the start of each survey, and asks for your consent before you take part.

Every survey we conduct is anonymous. Responses are not linked to your name, email address or any other identifying detail, so a response cannot be traced back to you. We keep surveys anonymous to meet research ethics standards, and we report findings in aggregate.

Because responses are anonymous, we cannot identify and remove one person's answers once a survey has been submitted. You can stop taking part at any time before you submit.

Photos, stories and submissions

Photos, observations, ideas and stories sent through this website are kept private until our team reviews them. Nothing is published automatically. If you ask us to publish a photo, we show it with the credit you provide; your email address and other contact details are never shown publicly.

To reduce privacy risk, photos are resized and their embedded location and camera data are removed in your browser before they are uploaded.

Children and young people

Where children under 18 take part in our programs, we ask for a parent's or guardian's consent before collecting their personal information, and before photographing, filming or publishing images of them.

When we share information

We may share personal information with:

• Service providers who help us run our work — such as our website hosting and database, donation platform, event ticketing and email platform (Mailchimp) — only as needed to provide their service;
• Partner organisations, only with your consent or where you would reasonably expect it (for example, a co-hosted event);
• Government, regulators or law enforcement, where the law requires it.

Event registration and ticketing happen on Eventbrite, which collects your registration details under its own privacy policy and shares attendee details with us as the organiser.

Overseas storage and disclosure

Some of the online services we use — including our donation, ticketing, website and email providers, such as Mailchimp — are operated by companies that may store or process information outside Australia. Where we use these services, your information may be held overseas under those providers' terms and privacy policies.

Cookies, embedded content and third-party links

This website does not currently use advertising trackers or analytics cookies of its own. It does use:

• Browser storage to remember that you have read our acknowledgement of Country, and to keep your progress in forms.
• Embedded content from YouTube (videos, loaded in privacy-enhanced mode), Instagram (our feed), Raisely (the donation form) and Google Fonts. These services may receive your IP address and device information, and may set their own cookies, when their content loads.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; some embedded content may not work if you do. Our website also links to other websites. We are not responsible for their privacy practices, so please read their policies.

Storage and security

We store personal information in online systems with access limited to the people who need it. Information sent through this website travels over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, and form submissions are kept in a private database that only authorised administrators can view.

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, but no online system is completely secure.

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purpose it was collected, or as the law requires — for example, financial and donation records are kept for the period required by Australian tax law. When information is no longer needed, we delete or de-identify it.

Newsletters and updates

We only send newsletters, campaign updates and event invitations to people who have signed up or who would reasonably expect to hear from us. Email addresses collected through this website are kept in our own records. Our newsletters and mail are sent through Mailchimp, which stores the addresses we send to and records how our emails perform under its own privacy policy. Every email identifies Divers for Climate as the sender and includes a way to unsubscribe, and you can ask us to stop at any time by contacting us.

Accessing or correcting your information

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, or ask us to delete it. We will respond within a reasonable time. In some cases we may need to keep information — for example, donation records we are legally required to retain — and we will explain if that applies.

To make a request, please contact us. We may need to confirm your identity first.

Privacy concerns and complaints

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first so we can look into it. We will acknowledge your complaint, investigate and explain our response.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may be able to complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) — phone 1300 363 992. The OAIC can tell you whether your complaint falls within its jurisdiction.

If something goes wrong

If personal information we hold is lost, accessed or disclosed without authorisation, we will act to contain it, assess the risk of harm and take steps to prevent it happening again. Where a breach is likely to cause serious harm and notification is required, we will notify the people affected and the OAIC.

Changes to this policy

We review this policy from time to time and will publish any changes on this page, with the date it was last updated.