It appears unlikely that the Privacy Act 1988 applies to REA NSW at present, as it seems that REA NSW falls within the exemption provided for 'small businesses'.

However REA NSW has chosen to voluntarily comply with privacy principles, because REA NSW is committed to meeting increasing customer and member expectations about privacy.

• What does Privacy compliance require? ↓
• What Privacy issues has REA NSW addressed? ↓
• What is REA NSW doing with respect to Privacy compliance? ↓
• What is the intended purpose for information collected by REA NSW? ↓
• How does this affect you? ↓
• What Personal or Sensitive information does REA NSW hold? ↓
• How do I get a copy of any information REA NSW holds about me? ↓
• Final comments ↓

Privacy compliance requires organisations to:

• tell individuals the purpose for which personal information is being collected and how the organisation can be contacted to get access to that information
• only use or disclose personal information for the purpose it was collected (or another purpose that the individual would reasonably expect)
• give individuals reasonable access to their personal information and have a process in place for dealing with any complaints
• take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is secure
• develop a publicly available policy which outlines how the organisation deals with privacy.

REA NSW ensures that any information it is given is only used “for the purpose for which it was collected”, and not used for some “secondary” purpose without the individual’s consent.

REA NSW has also reviewed its administrative procedures with respect to confirming membership information (e.g. when someone calls and asks “is my membership current”, how do we confirm the identity of the person asking the question).

REA NSW already ensures that:

• it keeps membership information confidential
• neither “personal” nor “sensitive” information is passed on to any third party, other than as required by law.

In order to voluntarily comply with the Privacy Act, REA NSW has:

• reviewed how it collects personal information
• reviewed how it uses and discloses personal information
• made amendments to the forms it uses to collect information (membership application/s, and on-line collection points)
• developed a brief policy document that outlines the its privacy processes
• addressed issues such as access to information and how complaints about privacy matters are handled.

The intended purpose for information collected by REA NSW is:

• Communication with members about matters which affect their interests
• Membership renewal.

REA NSW members and others are entitled to expect that information REA NSW holds about them will be kept confidential:

• “Personal” information (e.g. your home address) or “sensitive” information (e.g. if you are a REA NSW member, your membership details) will not be passed on to any third party without your consent
• If you have an agreement registered with REA NSW, the data collected was only used for award compliance purposes.

REA NSW has a role as both a membership organisation and administrator of the real estate industry's agreement registration process.

For REA NSW members, REA NSW holds the following “personal“ information, as provided by that individual to REA NSW:

• Home address
• Home and/or mobile phone numbers
• Personal email address.

For REA NSW members, REA NSW also holds the following “sensitive“ information:

• Membership status
• Membership commencement date (and, if applicable, resignation date)
• Date membership is paid to.

For those who have an agreement registered with REA NSW, we also hold the following “personal“ information:

• Home address
• Home and/or mobile phone numbers
• Personal email address
• The name of and contact details for the employer party to that agreement
• Archival records of the above information.

Individuals may apply to REA NSW in writing for a copy of the personal or sensitive information held by REA NSW about them.  A letter of request clearly showing the applicant's signature may be forwarded to "The REA NSW Privacy Officer" as follows:

• By mail - REA NSW, PO Box 8269, BAULKHAM HILLS BC  NSW  2153
• By fax - 02 9672 6772.

Please note that emailed requests for the above information will not be accepted.

As you can see from the above, REA NSW has reason to believe that it’s doing a good job of complying with privacy principles.

However if you have any suggestions about how REA NSW can improve its Privacy management, please let us know.