The congregation of Hoppers Crossing (HXUC or HXUCA), together with the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA), believe privacy is important and that people have a right to their personal information being kept private. Below is a summary of how these principles are applied to the information we collect, and how we hold, use and disclose that information.

Collection of Information

We collect and retain information when necessary for the purposes of the ministry and related activities of HXUC. No one is under any compulsion to give us any personal information. HXUC may collect general information about you such as your name, address and other details so that we can contact you. We may also collect personal information during the course of communications with you, for example, if you wish to obtain services from HXUC, when you register for events and when you participate in Church activities or complete other forms. The information collected may include some sensitive information such as health information. Where practicable, the purpose for which we collect personal information will be made clear at the time of collection. Providing certain information will ensure we are able to provide you with access to the relevant services or the assistance you have requested.

Use and Disclosure of Information

We use the information only for the purposes we have disclosed at the time of collection, or otherwise as set out in this privacy 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 any sensitive information provided to us, such as health or personal information without the approval of you or the person responsible for you. Generally, we will only use and disclose your personal information as follows:

  • to maintain contact and keep you informed of developments and activities which may be of interest to you;
  • to establish and maintain a record of your involvement and attendance at services and groups;
  • to maintain an online database of contact details of congregation members which is only accessible by members and to publish a directory of participating congregation members. Your contact details will only be available to other congregation members if you specifically agree to your details being disclosed. The details of anyone under the age of 18 years will not be disclosed to any congregation members or in the published directory. (See Appendix 1 for specific details);
  • to provide the services you have requested from the church;
  • to answer your inquiry.

Security of Personal Information

At HXUC, personal information may be stored both electronically and in hard-copy form. We are committed to keeping your personal information secure regardless of the format in which we hold it and we take all reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. However, you use the Website at your own risk and we accept no responsibility, whether we are deemed to have been negligent or not, in the event of a security breach that affects your privacy.

N.B. No information transmitted over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Although we will endeavour to protect your personal information as best as possible, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us or receive from us. The transmission and exchange of information is carried out at your own risk.

Data Quality and Identifiers

We will endeavour to keep personal information complete, accurate and up to date. We will also provide you with secure login access to the database to allow you to update your contact details. We will not use any Government or agency numbers to identify an individual. Unless required by law we do not retain any personal numbers such as Medicare or Tax File Numbers.

Data Security

We will take reasonable steps to secure the personal information which we hold and to protect it from unauthorised disclosure and misuse. Email is not a secure method of transmitting information and so we cannot accept responsibility for the security of information you send us by email.

Access and Correction

We will provide individuals with access to their personal information as required by law and take reasonable steps to correct information which is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date. To request access to the personal information HXUC holds about you please contact us using the details below. If you wish to have your personal information deleted please let us know and we will delete that information as far as practicable.

Appendix 1

Elvanto

At Hoppers Crossing Uniting Church, our central online database system is Elvanto.

Elvanto is used by staff, ministry leaders and congregation members and information in Elvanto is only obtained, collected and used for the furtherance of internal church communication.

In line with HXUC’s Privacy Policy, each individual has access to their own personal information and all personal information is accessible to the relevant person through password-protected access. All personal information can be changed, corrected and updated only by the relevant person, staff and administrator.

Personal information will only be made available with the consent of the person in the following ways through Elvanto:

  • an online church directory available only to consenting members on Elvanto;
    • As outlined in the Privacy Policy, the church directory will only be available through Elvanto to those who have consented to their information being in the directory. Access is only available through Elvanto via personal username and password to these consenting church members. No information of anyone under the age of 18 years will be included in the directory.
  • a printed church directory available only to consenting members on Elvanto;
    • Although we make every effort to moderate viewing of the online directory by providing password-protected access only to congregational members, we can only limit the production and distribution of printed copies. We cannot safeguard the information once distributed.
      • The option exists to include and exclude yourself from both the online and printed Member Directory separately.
  • accessible by staff and church leaders for the purpose of communication regarding activities or events.

To ensure privacy is maintained through Elvanto, there are different levels of access established for Elvanto, determined by the role and leadership position of different congregation members:

  1. The Church Administrator has access to all information and processes within Elvanto;
  2. HXUC’s staff have access to all personal information of church members;
  3. Small group leaders have access to the groups and individuals within those groups for whom they are responsible;
  4. Church members have access to their personal information and information regarding their volunteer roles within the HXUC Community. As outlined above, a Church Member will only have access to the church directory provided they have consented for their information to be made available within the online directory.

If you are concerned about the security of Elvanto, you can read their Privacy Policy online: elvanto.com/privacy/privacy-policy/

Contacting this Office

If you have any questions, concerns or ideas about how we could improve our Privacy Policy, please contact our Privacy Officer with the details below:

Hoppers Crossing Uniting Church
PO Box 1256
Werribee Plaza VIC 3029
Ph: 03 9748 8700
Email (via Contact Page)

Where you provide suggestions, materials or feedback it is considered non-confidential and we may, at our complete discretion, use it to improve the Website, service and/or how we handle personal information without any obligation to compensate you regardless of how we use, implement, copy, modify, display, distribute and/or otherwise benefit from your suggestions, materials or feedback.