Terms of use

Compliance with law

All use of AUSPestCheck® by you or your organisation, including provision of data to AUSPestCheck® and use of data obtained from AUSPestCheck®, must be done in accordance with these terms of use and all applicable Commonwealth, State and Territory laws, including laws relating to biosecurity, privacy and intellectual property.

Access to AUSPestCheck®

Access to AUSPestCheck® is restricted to authorised Users, who will be determined at the sole discretion of the Administrator or Steering Committee of the system. PHA may suspend or terminate you or your organisation’s access to AUSPestCheck® at its sole discretion and at any time.

Access and use by Administrator

You and your organisation consent to the Administrator accessing, downloading and/or uploading your organisation’s data, and managing it, including reformatting it, as required to conform to the policies, procedures, styles and formats of AUSPestCheck®.

Your organisation’s rights as a Participant

As a Participant, your organisation:

will be entitled to have a secure login to AUSPestCheck® for one or more specified individuals (who will have individual logins to allow tracking of system access and use).
will continue to own all rights in respect of the information it provides.
may nominate pest or surveillance program level permissions for each record provided to AUSPestCheck® (noting that the default position, which will apply if you do not make a nomination, is that data can be seen by all users).
may set publication conditions on the use of its data by other parties.
will be entitled to view surveillance data uploaded to AUSPestCheck® and download reports for surveillance programs in accordance with the permissions granted to your organisation.
may complete a pest nomination form for new pests.
may notify the Administrator regarding new pest profile nominations.
may request the deletion of records uploaded to AUSPestCheck® by your organisation or by the surveillance program to which your organisation belongs, provided that your organisation provides a reason for the deletion request.
may edit its existing records, which must be done by:
- updating the existing records (without modifying the unique record identifier) and re-uploading the updated record to AUSPestCheck®; or
- requesting deletion of the record (using the above procedure) and re-uploading a modified data record.

Your organisation’s obligations as a Participant

As a Participant, your organisation:

will be responsible for the quality of all data provided to AUSPestCheck®.
must ensure that each nominated user keeps their AUSPestCheck® login details confidential and does not share them with other parties.
must accept that the Administrator, or in the case of a dispute, the Steering Committee, can determine all matters related to access permissions.
must respect the rights of other Participants and must not share, publish or distribute the data of another Participant, unless your organisation has the other Participant’s explicit consent.
must ensure that data records provided by your organisation conform to applicable legislation, AUSPestCheck® policies and procedures and national biosecurity governance processes.
must inform the Administrator of its surveillance program level permission preferences using the AUSPestCheck® Participant Request for Access form.
must make personal details (name, email address, contact number) of the individual who will be granted access to AUSPestCheck® available to the Administrator and, if necessary, a contracted AUSPestCheck® software support provider to allow for account administration, to ensure the security and/or accuracy of AUSPestCheck® and to assess eligibility for access to AUSPestCheck®.

Acceptable use policy

You and your organisation agree that you and it:

must use AUSPestCheck® in a manner that does not infringe the rights of or inhibit the use of the system by any third party. This includes a prohibition of any conduct which is unlawful or which may harass or cause distress or inconvenience to any third party, and of the transmission of obscene or offensive content or disruption to any part of the website.
must not use text or information provided via AUSPestCheck®, including datasets or data it contains, in a manner that misleads or is incorrect, that supports a criminal or illicit activity, or in any application, or in any other ways to defame any person.
must not do anything that has an impact on the performance of AUSPestCheck® nor interfere with the operation of AUSPestCheck® or the display of information on AUSPestCheck®. This includes attempting to gain unauthorised access to the secure areas of AUSPestCheck®. The inclusion of any email addresses on AUSPestCheck® does not consent from that person to receiving unsolicited commercial electronic messages or SPAM.

Your organisation’s account

You and each other user in your organisation agree to:

be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password.
accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password.
only use your own account and password when accessing the AUSPestCheck®. If you become aware of unauthorised access to your account, you must notify PHA immediately on:
- 02 6215 7700
- [email protected]

Website access

You and your organisation acknowledge that access to AUSPestCheck®:

may not be continuous or uninterrupted at all times; and
may be interfered with by factors or circumstances outside of PHA’s control. If you experience problems with AUSPestCheck® not related to your PC or other device, communications line or internet service provider, please contact PHA immediately on:
- 02 6215 7700
- [email protected]

Internet connection

PHA accepts no liability for any interference with, or loss or damage to, your organisation’s computer system, software or data (including loss from viruses, disabling codes, worms or other devices or defects) occurring in relation to your organisation’s internet connection or use of AUSPestCheck®.

Privacy

Please refer to the privacy policy in relation to access, use and storage of any personal information you provide when accessing and using AUSPestCheck®. This policy is available on the Latest Updates page on AUSPestCheck®. Notwithstanding the terms of the privacy policy, you agree to PHA:

making a record each time you visit AUSPestCheck® and logging the following information:
using the information supplied by your browser for analysing usage of AUSPestCheck® and monitoring or investigating security breaches, provided that the information is not disclosed without your consent (except if the Administrator is required by law to disclose the information).

The Administrator will, upon request, give you access to any information which it has collected about you through AUSPestCheck® in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988.

Downloadable documents

If PHA allows you to download particular material from AUSPestCheck® and you download that material, you and your organisation agree to:

comply with the terms of the copyright applying to that material, if any;
conduct such virus scanning and take appropriate and adequate precautions (including up-to-date firewall and anti-virus software) as may be necessary to ensure that the downloaded material is free of viruses or other contamination and will not corrupt or damage your property (including damage to software, hardware or data) or that of any other person; and
only provide the downloaded material to a third party if appropriate to do so and permitted by law.

Intellectual Property

All intellectual property rights in material made available through AUSPestCheck® remain the property of the owners of that material. You are licensed to use material made available through AUSPestCheck® only for the purposes permitted by these terms of use. You and your organisation agree that the provision of access to AUSPestCheck® does not confer any intellectual property rights (other than the above licence) on you or your organisation and that you and it will not act in a manner which infringes those rights.

Notification service

PHA will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that the information in notifications and alerts provided are accurate and up to date. However, events may occur that delay the transmission of notifications and alerts or otherwise cause the information in those notifications and alerts to be inaccurate or out of date. Accordingly, PHA makes no guarantee that notifications and alerts will be accurate or received in a timely manner.

DISCLAIMER

Warranties

The information available on AUSPestCheck® is made available for information purposes only and has been provided without warranties of any kind either express or implied. You and your organisation acknowledge and agree that you must exercise your own skill and care with respect to your use of the AUSPestCheck® and carefully evaluate the accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance of information on AUSPestCheck®.

PHA does not warrant or make representations about any of the following:

uninterrupted or error free transmissions to and from AUSPestCheck®
the accuracy, currency, reliability or integrity of material available from AUSPestCheck® or the sites of any third parties
the security of your organisation’s computer when accessing AUSPestCheck®
uptime (continuity) and security of AUSPestCheck® or any linked site.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, PHA expressly excludes all terms and warranties expressed or implied by legislation, the common law, equity, trade, custom or usage, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose which might otherwise apply to you or your organisation’s use of AUSPestCheck®.

Liabilities

To the maximum extent permitted by law, PHA excludes liability for any loss caused by or arising directly or indirectly from you or your organisation’s use or reliance on the data contained within AUSPestCheck®.

External websites

When AUSPestCheck® provides links to external websites, PHA does not endorse that external website and does not warrant that it is accurate, authentic or complete. PHA does not control and accepts no liability for the content of external websites or for any loss arising from you or your organisation’s use or reliance on those websites. Use by you or your organisation of any external website is governed by the terms of that website and you and your organisation are responsible for being aware of, and ensuring compliance with, any terms of use or privacy statements related to the external websites. The provision of a link within AUSPestCheck® to an external website does not authorise you or your organisation to reproduce, adapt, modify, communicate or in any way deal with the material on that external website.

Privacy Policy

This document is the Privacy Policy of Plant Health Australia Limited (PHA) (Privacy Policy) which applies to the collection of information via the AUSPestCheck website (website).

PHA understands your privacy is important and is committed to respecting your rights and complying with all privacy obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). The APPs are designed to protect your privacy by regulating the way personal information is managed.

Under the Privacy Act, personal information is defined as information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, irrespective of whether the information or opinion is true or is recorded in a material form (Personal Information).

This Privacy Policy sets out how and when PHA will collect, use and disclose Personal Information obtained via the website, and how you may access your Personal Information.

Collection of Personal Information

Purpose

PHA collects and holds Personal Information that is reasonably necessary for, or related to, the activities and services PHA provides, and to administrative functions associated with these services. Accordingly, PHA collects Personal Information of visitors to the website (visitors) for the primary purposes of improving its services. PHA will only use Personal Information for this purpose, or for a related secondary purpose for which such information was collected.

Kinds of Personal Information collected
- The kind of Personal Information collected and held by PHA may include your name, email address, home or work address and telephone number, which are encrypted for your security.
- The kind of computer hardware and software information collected and held by PHA may include IP addresses, browser type, domain names, access time, referring website addresses, average hits per day, most visited pages, length of visit, most and least active day/week/time/date, top referring URLs, top search engines, top search phrases, top search keywords, top browsers and versions and top operating systems.
- Based upon this information, PHA may record statistics on successful site hits, page hits, document views, visitors who visit the website once and visitors who visit the website more than once.
Method of collection

PHA may collect Personal Information from a range of sources including: directly from you, your use of the PHA website and the use of standard forms.

Use and disclosure of information

PHA may use Personal Information to manage your account, assess eligibility for access to the website, respond to any enquiries made or complaints lodged by you, provide services you have requested, analyse usage and accuracy of the website, and monitor and investigate security breaches.
PHA will only disclose your Personal Information for the purpose it was collected, for a reasonably expected or related secondary purpose, or for other purposes explained at the time of collection.
PHA will only record the email address of the individual who is granted access to the website. This e-mail address will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided, and will not be added to any mailing list or disclosed to a third party without your consent.
No attempt will be made to identify you or your browsing activities individually, except in the unlikely event of an investigation (for example, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the Internet Service Provider’s logs).

Security of your Personal Information

PHA will take all reasonable steps as defined by the APPs to ensure your Personal Information is kept securely and is not misused, interfered with or disclosed unless authorised by this Privacy Policy.

Access to, and correction of, your Personal Information

PHA will take reasonable steps to ensure that the Personal Information collected, used or disclosed is accurate, complete or up to date. You can help us to do this by letting us know if your personal details change. You are able to manage your Personal Information including updating, changing or removing Personal Information.
You are entitled to request access to your Personal Information held by PHA by contacting PHA on 02 6215 7700 or by emailing [email protected]. PHA may deny your request to access or correct your Personal Information in limited circumstances, in accordance with the APPs. In these circumstances, PHA will provide you with a reason for its decision, and, in the case of a request for correction, PHA will include a statement about the requested correction.

Use of Cookies

PHA uses cookies to record your viewing preferences or other input submitted by you to provide a secure, personalised experience on the website. Cookies are small data files that a website is able to place on a user’s computer hard drive or in its memory to record aspects of that user’s experience of the website.
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies, most browsers automatically accept cookies however you can modify your browser settings to decline cookies if you prefer.
Cookies are not used by the website for identifying or tracking site visitors or for passing details to third parties.

Links

The website may contain links to websites operated by third parties. PHA makes no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of third party websites and is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of any third party website. Third party websites are responsible for informing you about their own privacy practices.

Complaints

You are able to make a complaint with regard to the collection, disclosure or retention of your Personal Information by contacting PHA on 02 6215 7700 or by emailing [email protected].
PHA will consider your complaint to determine whether there are simple or immediate steps which can be taken to resolve the complaint.
If your complaint requires more detailed consideration or investigation, PHA will endeavour to complete the investigation into your complaint promptly. PHA may ask you to provide further information about your complaint and the outcome you are seeking. PHA will then typically gather facts, locate and review relevant documents and speak with individuals involved. In most cases, PHA will investigate and respond to a complaint within 30 days of receipt of your complaint. If the matter is more complex or the investigation may take longer, PHA will let you know.
If you are not satisfied with the response to your query or with the resolution of your request or complaint, you may make a further complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on 1300 363 992 or by using the contact details found at oaic.gov.au.

Variations and Updates to this Privacy Policy

PHA will review this Privacy Policy regularly, and may make changes from time to time. If so, PHA will update this Privacy Policy to reflect those changes. The updated version of this Privacy Policy will be effective from the date of posting on the website. PHA recommend that you visit the website regularly to keep up to date with any changes.
This Privacy Policy was last updated on 6 March 2019.