On the 12th of March 2014, changes to the Privacy Act resulted in the introduction in a new set of privacy principles outlining the way that personal information is collected and managed. Kowalski Recruitment must obtain some personal information about yourself in order for you to register with Kowalski Recruitment for potential employment or to place you in either a temporary assignment or a permanent job.
What is Personal Information?
Personal Information is any information or an opinion (whether true or not) about a particular person. It may range from information that is very sensitive, such as medical records, memberships, etc. to basic identifying information such as your name and address. Personal information is defined in section 6(1) of the Privacy Act as ‘information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:
- whether the information or opinion is true or not, and
- whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
What constitutes personal information will vary, depending on whether an individual can be identified or is reasonably identifiable in the particular circumstances. For example, personal information could include:
- a name or address;
- bank account details;
- photos or videos;
- information about an individual’s traits, their opinions or where they work.
Who Will Be Collecting This Personal Information?
Personal Information will be collected by Kowalski Recruitment Pty Ltd for its own use, and on behalf of its clients, who may require access to your personal information in connection with your possible work placement. Our clients are a wide range of organisations in both public and private sectors, and your permission will be sought prior to your resume being forwarded to one of our client organisations.
How To Contact Us:
If you wish to contact us with regard to your personal information, please contact:
Anne Kowalski, Director, Kowalski Recruitment
Office Hours: 9:00am – 5:30pm Monday to Friday – all other times: email anne@kowalski.com.au
How Will Your Information Be Collected?
Kowalski Recruitment will collect information about you in several ways:
- From you directly when you fill out our registration forms;
- From you verbally when you are interviewed by a Kowalski Recruitment consultant;
- From your past employers, or contacts when we conduct references;
- From you when we receive the results of competency or psychometric tests you conduct;
- From clients when we receive feedback on your performance, whether positive or negative;
- If we receive information about a workplace incident or accident;
- If we receive any information about any insurance investigation, litigation, registration or professional disciplinary matter, criminal matter, inquest or inquiry in which you are involved;
- Or any additional information you provide us with.
The Way Your Information Will Be Used:
Your personal information may be used in connection with:
- Your actual or possible work placement;
- Your performance appraisals;
- Our assessment of your ongoing performance;
- Any tests or assessment that you might be required to undertake;
- Our identification of your training needs;
- Any workplace rehabilitation;
- Our management of any complaint, investigation or inquiry in which you are involved;
- Any insurance claim or proposal that requires the disclosure of your personal information.
Your Personal or Sensitive Information May Be Disclosed To:
- Potential employers and clients of Kowalski Recruitment Pty Ltd;
- Referees;
- Our insurers or a Workers’ Compensation body;
- A professional association or registration body that has a proper interest in the disclosure of your personal information;
- Any person or organisation with a lawful entitlement to obtain the information.
If You Do Not Wish To Provide Us With the Personal Information We Require To Conduct Our Business:
- We may be limited in our ability to locate a suitable placement for you;
- We may be limited in our ability to place you in a position;
- We may choose not to proceed with your application for employment.
According to the legislation, you can gain access to the information we have about you to correct it if it is wrong. According to the National Privacy Principles, you have a right to see and have a copy of personal information about you that we hold. If you are able to establish that the information we hold about you is not accurate, complete and up to date, we will take reasonable steps to correct it. If we are unable to agree that personal information that we hold about you is accurate, complete and up to date you may ask us to place with the information a statement written by you that claims that particular information is not accurate, complete and up to date. If you wish to exercise your rights of access and correction, please contact our Business Manager.
In some cases we may impose a moderate administration charge for providing access to personal information, however we will not charge you simply because you lodge a request for access.