Website privacy statement

When visiting our websites, the site server makes a record of the visit and logs the following information:

• The user's IP address – this allows us to consider the visitors who use the site most and tailor the site to their interests and needs (this information also allows us to optimise and build audiences for our advertising campaigns).

• The user's operating system (for example Windows, Mac) – this allows us to tailor browser or platform specific parts of the site to each operating system because browsers act differently on each platform.

• The user's top level domain name (for example, .com, .gov, .au etc.) – this can allow us to tailor information relevant to different domains.

• The date and time of the visit to the site – this is important for identifying the website's busy times and ensuring maintenance on the site is conducted outside these periods.

• Pages accessed and documents downloaded – this indicates to us which pages or documents are most important to our users and also helps identify important information that may be difficult to find.

• Duration of the visit – this indicates to us how interesting and informative our site is to our users.

• Geographic location (to the nearest city) – this shows us how well marketed our site is and allows us to target our advertising campaigns to a particular geographical area/s.

• The site visited before and the site visited after our website – this helps us determine the interests of our users and which sites are providing links to ours as well as sites where we may be able to seek links.

• The type of browser used – this is important for browser specific coding eg JavaScript.

The NSW Electoral Commission will use click-stream data and cookies to analyse and improve its services and systems, including the functionality, accessibility and security of those systems.

The NSW Electoral Commission may also use the information to optimise and build audiences for our advertising campaigns. The NSW Electoral Commission captures this information on its own computers and those of its contracted service providers. Clickstream data is provided to third parties via Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel.

Generally, the NSW Electoral Commission makes no attempt to use clickstream data to identify users. The provision of clickstream data to Facebook does enable Facebook to identify our website users (if those users also have a Facebook account). Facebook Pixel is discussed further below.

The NSW Electoral Commission will identify users and disclose this information to relevant staff and law enforcement authorities where:

• the information will assist relevant staff of the NSW Electoral Commission with respect to a potential or ongoing investigation of an offence under our governing legislation

• the use of this site raises a suspicion that an offence is being or has been committed eg unauthorised attempts to intercept message, access files, tamper or interfere with files

• communications are received that are defamatory, abusive, vilifying individuals or groups or which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed

• attempts are made to otherwise compromise the security of the web server, breach the laws of the State of New South Wales or Commonwealth of Australia, or interfere with the enjoyment of the site by other users.

Google Analytics

Our websites use Google Analytics, a service that transmits website traffic data to Google servers in the United States. Google Analytics does not identify individual users or associate individual IP addresses with any other data held by Google.

We use reports provided by Google Analytics to help us understand website traffic and webpage usage. For more information about this, see Google's Privacy Policy. You can opt out of Google Analytics if you disable or refuse the cookie, disable JavaScript, or use the opt-out service provided by Google.

Information collected by Google Analytics

The information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports so we can identify patterns of usage of our websites. This helps us improve the site and the services offered on it. We will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent unless authorised or required by law or if those circumstances above in which we would disclose clickstream data and cookies arise.

Facebook pixel

Please visit Facebook Ad Preferences if you wish to alter your settings. You can opt out of the collection and use of information for ad targeting by visiting for example, aboutads.info/choices and youronlinechoices.eu. 

Facebook may use cookies, web beacons and other storage technologies to collect or receive information from our websites and elsewhere on the internet and use that information to provide measurement services and target ads.

Our website uses Facebook remarketing pixels to aid in customised, targeted follow-up advertising. This may result in interest-based ads being displayed to you when you are using Facebook and other third party websites and assists us with personalising our ads based on your interests, demographics, location and any previous interactions with us.

This website uses Facebook pixels to allow us to follow your actions once you have been redirected to the website via clicking on one of our Facebook ads. This assists us in recording the effectiveness of Facebook ads for reporting and market research purposes. A cookie will be saved onto your computer for these purposes.

The data collected through the Facebook Pixel and provided to us is aggregated and remains anonymous, meaning that we cannot see the personal information of individual users. However, the collected data is also saved and processed by Facebook and used in accordance with their policies.

Facebook Conversion Tracking also allows Facebook and its partners to show you advertisements on and outside Facebook. A cookie will be saved onto your computer for these purposes.

Advertising analytics 

When you arrive at our website by clicking on our online advertisement, we collect and disclose data about your interactions with our website to third party advertising platform. Like Google Analytics, we are only privy to aggregate, anonymised data. However, the collected data is also saved and processed by these advertising platforms and used in accordance with their policies.

We use this information to track users who have visited our websites after clicking on our advertisements to assist with targeted follow-up advertising on the relevant platforms.

Our contact us webpage enables users of our website to send us an enquiry or feedback.

The NSW Electoral Commission will collect the personal information used to complete the online form.
The personal information collected on these forms will be used by the NSW Electoral Commission for the purpose of facilitating the management, response and investigation of issues raised. The information will also be used to facilitate the legislative and administrative functions of the NSWEC and for the improvement and review of our services.

Your email address and other personal information you provided via the form will be used to respond to specific user queries or in relation to an investigation/compliance issue. In certain investigation and enforcement matters, reports of contraventions of electoral or lobbying laws may be disclosed in the public interest.

Your email address may be added to the Electoral Information Register as part of the NSW Electoral Commission’s functions to maintain and verify enrolment information.

Not supplying all the information requested may delay or prevent the processing of the form.

The information is held by the NSW Electoral Commission and accessible by relevant staff and its contractors. 

It may also be disclosed to other persons or entities if required or authorised by law.

In some instances, it may be necessary to disclose your identity to provide the subject of a complaint with the full grounds to which they must respond.

For further information, please refer to “Feedback (including complaints) and enquiries information” in our Privacy Management Plan. You can also find additional information in the NSW Electoral Commission’s Complaints Management Policy and Compliance and Enforcement Procedures.

Your email address will not be added to any mailing lists without your consent.

The NSW Electoral Commission collects this information for the purpose of ascertaining an applicant’s eligibility to vote by post, to process an elector’s application and to provide information to an applicant about the application/voting processes.

The NSW Electoral Commission may also use this information to seek feedback about its online registration processes and voting experiences as part of its research functions but will never ask an elector who they voted for.

Any personal details including mobile numbers and email addresses not already known to the Electoral Commission may be added to the Electoral Information Register as part of the Commission’s functions to maintain and verify enrolment information.  This information may also be used to inform electors about upcoming election events.

The administration of these voting services and research functions are undertaken by relevant staff and contractors engaged by the Commission. The information may be disclosed to the Australian Electoral Commission in accordance with the joint enrolment arrangement under the Electoral Act and as otherwise required or authorised by law.

The information required on these forms is compulsory unless otherwise indicated and a failure to provide it may hinder or delay the application and voting processes. There is a number of eligibility requirements that pertain to health information. An applicant only needs to select which ground or grounds are applicable, eg there is no requirement to identify their illness or disability.

The NSW Electoral Commission does not retain an individual's application to vote by post for future election events, ie an applicant is required to complete an application for each election event (unless a registered early voter).  The personal and health information collected will be kept in secure storage until the conclusion of the election’s preservation period in accordance with section 175 of the Electoral Act.

Funding and disclosure online is an online portal that supports political participants to comply with their obligations under electoral funding laws.

Only a natural person (not an entity) can apply to have an online account.

Your request to gain access to Funding and disclosure online will be assessed by the NSW Electoral Commission.

When requesting access you will need to submit your personal details, contact information and the details of two supported Australian identity documents that will be used to verify your identity through the Australian Government’s Document Verification Service (DVS).

You are required to consent to us using the DVS to assist us in verifying your identity.

The outcome of the DVS check does not guarantee your request for an online account will be refused or approved.

If you cannot or do not access and utilise Funding and disclosure online, you are required to use paper forms and manual processes.

If we approve your request, the features of Funding and disclosure online available to you will depend on the permissions attached to your role e.g. whether you are a party agent or elected member. The permissions are determined by legislation that sets out what you are responsible for.

Please refer to the Terms of Use on the “Request access” webpage of the portal for further information including how your personal information is collected, used and disclosed by the NSW Electoral Commission when interacting with the portal.

Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to your computer's hard disk for record-keeping purposes. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies. However, if you do not wish to receive any cookies you may set your browser to refuse cookies. In some instances this may mean you will not be able to take full advantage of parts of the network.

Cookies may also be used to confirm where an identified user came from when they entered the site. This information may be used to tailor the services provided to the user.

The code for the country or type of internet connection a user comes from, such as '.com' '.gov' '.au' '.uk'.

A company or organisation that provides access to the internet for users.

Your Internet Service Provider assigns you an IP address (short for “internet protocol address”). It is a numerical sequence (separated by periods) that is unique to your device or computer network. This IP address links you to your online activity when connected to the internet. 

The PPIP Act defines personal information as: “information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database and whether or not recorded in a material form) about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion.”

The PPIP Act and the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Regulation 2019 (PPIP Regulation) excludes particular types of information from the definition of personal information. Please refer to our Privacy Management Plan for further information.

Section 33 of the PPIP Act requires all NSW agencies to have a Privacy Management Plan. This Plan details how the NSW Electoral Commission manages personal information collected to ensure compliance with the PPIP Act and the HRIP Act.