Privacy policy

Hazara Cultural Association (HCA) is a not-for-profit community association based in Melbourne. This policy explains how we handle personal information through our website, membership, volunteering, donations, enquiries and community updates.

Contact: info@hazara.org.au
Level 2, 311 Lonsdale Street, Dandenong, Victoria 3175, Australia
ABN: 60 858 912 479

What we collect depends on how you interact with HCA:

• Enquiries: your name, email, optional phone number, enquiry type and message.
• Membership: your name, contact and address details, any date of birth you provide, participation interests, membership category, relevant student or fee-waiver information, signature and agreements. We also keep application, membership and billing records.
• Volunteering: your name, email, optional phone number, suburb, postcode, interests, availability, information you share about yourself and permission to contact you.
• Donations: donor and contact details, address, organisation details where provided, amount, frequency, acknowledgement preference, payment references and payment status.
• Family reunion concerns: contact and residential address details, information you choose to share about visa applications and family circumstances, your concern and requested help, private staff notes, consent records and any MP correspondence you approve. This may include sensitive personal information. These case records are restricted to authorised HCA administrators.
• Newsletter signup: your email address, the consent wording you agreed to, when you subscribed and the signup source.
• Accounts and website use: account details, password hashes, session information and technical information such as pages visited, browser or device details and service logs.

We collect information you submit directly and receive relevant account, delivery or transaction information from the providers that operate these features. Required fields are marked on our forms; without them we may be unable to process your request.

Please provide only information needed for your request. Avoid including identity documents, health details or other sensitive information in general enquiries unless HCA has specifically asked for it and explained why.

We use information to respond to enquiries, review applications, administer membership and payments, coordinate volunteering, acknowledge donations, communicate about community activities and maintain the website.

We also use relevant records to resolve payment issues, protect accounts, investigate misuse and meet applicable record-keeping obligations. Access should be limited to people who need the information for their HCA responsibilities. We do not sell personal information.

HCA asks for your consent before recording a family reunion concern. Saving a registration does not send an email or subscribe you to newsletters. Staff can keep private follow-up notes about the assistance requested and actions taken.

Before contacting an MP, staff prepare a letter, confirm the intended recipient and ask for your permission to share that exact text. Private intake notes and application references are not automatically included. An MP’s office may require its own consent documentation before seeking information from Home Affairs.

These records and approved emails are handled through HCA’s database and email providers. Contact us if you need to correct information, withdraw permission for an unsent letter, or request deletion. Once an email has been sent, the recipient’s office controls its copy.

The newsletter form asks you to agree to receive HCA news and community updates. We record that consent. Submitting a contact enquiry, volunteer application or donation does not automatically subscribe you through the newsletter form.

To stop receiving newsletter updates, email info@hazara.org.au and identify the address to remove. This does not stop necessary messages about an existing application, membership, donation or account.

Stripe processes online card payments. HCA stores the information needed to administer donations and membership billing, such as amounts, transaction references and payment status, rather than full card numbers or card security codes.

The donation form explains that a successful donation’s name and amount will be publicly acknowledged unless you select the anonymous option. Choosing anonymity hides these details from the public acknowledgement; it does not remove the records needed to process and administer your donation. Contact us if you want an existing acknowledgement changed.

Stripe handles information under its privacy policy.

Our website uses providers for hosting, database storage, email delivery, payments, analytics and media delivery. These include Stripe for payments, Resend for email delivery, Google for analytics and optional address search, and Cloudinary for some images and videos.

Information relevant to each service may be processed or stored outside Australia. Locations depend on the provider and service configuration; this policy does not promise Australian-only storage. Contact HCA if you need more information about the providers used for your request.

Where a community activity involves another organisation, such as Kateb Offices or Little Bamiyan Directory, check the notice on the relevant form. A form submitted on another organisation’s website is handled under its own privacy arrangements. We may also disclose information where required or authorised by law.

Account features use cookies to maintain your session. Google Analytics is used when configured to help us understand website visits and usage. It may use cookies and collect device, browser and interaction information.

You can manage cookies through your browser. Blocking necessary cookies may prevent account features from working. Google provides further information and controls in its privacy policy.

If you use optional address search, the address text you enter is sent to Google Maps to find suggestions. You can enter your address manually instead.

HCA publishes community photographs, videos and stories to document events and share our work. If you have a concern about an image, a credit or personal information shown on the website, contact us with the page link and details so we can review it.

When contributing a photograph or story, make sure you have permission to share it, particularly where it identifies another person or a child. Tell us about any restrictions on publication.

Personal information is held in the systems used to operate HCA’s website and administration, including our database and email services. Account passwords are stored as hashes. No online system can be guaranteed secure.

We keep information for the purpose it was collected and for relevant accounting, membership, dispute-resolution and legal requirements. Retention depends on the type of record; closing an account or leaving a mailing list does not necessarily remove payment records. If a suspected breach occurs, we will assess it and provide notifications where required by applicable law.

Email info@hazara.org.au to request access to, correction of or deletion of your information, or to raise a privacy concern. Describe the request and the email address or activity involved. We may need to verify your identity before releasing or changing records.

We will review your request and explain any information we need to retain. A deletion request does not itself cancel a recurring payment; please also request cancellation through the relevant membership or donation process.

You can also read our data deletion instructions. If you are dissatisfied with our response, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner provides information about privacy complaints and whether it can handle your concern.

We may update this policy as our website and activities change. The date at the top identifies the latest revision. Contact us if you have questions about how a change affects your information.