The NSW Small Business Commission is dedicated to supporting the State’s small businesses by helping them overcome barriers to doing business and improving the economic and regulatory environment they operate in. The NSW Small Business Commissioner is a statutory appointment under the Small Business Commissioner Act 2013.
This Statement provides an overview of how we collect, store, use and disclose your personal information in line with our obligations under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIP Act) and Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIP Act).
Where required by law we will provide you privacy information (in the form of a Privacy Collection Notice or other privacy disclosure documentation) specific to the services you want to obtain from us or your dealings with us.
For further information on our privacy practices, refer to the DCS Privacy Management Information page.
What is personal information?
“Personal information” means information or an opinion about an identified individual (or an individual who could be reasonably identified), regardless of whether the information is true, or whether the information is recorded in a material form, as defined in section 4 of the PIPP Act.
For example, personal information can be information that identifies you and could include:
- a record which may include your name, address and other details about you
- audio recordings of telephone calls
For other examples of personal information, refer to the section, Personal information we collect and hold.
What is health information?
“Health information” is sensitive information under the HRIP Act. There are additional restrictions on how health service providers can handle health information, compared with other types of personal information.
Personal information we collect and hold
The personal information collected and maintained by the Small Business Commission could include:
- your name
- date of birth
- gender
- address
- email address
- contact details, and
- information specific to your dealing or enquiry with us.
How we collect personal information
We collect and handle your personal information when fulfilling one of our functions or delivering a service.
We may need to collect your personal information to
- assist you with your enquiry or dispute, and
- provide further information related to your enquiry or dispute.
We can collect personal information:
- directly from you
- from someone you authorise to act on your behalf, or
- in certain circumstances, from another party who you may be in dispute with.
We may ask you to provide us with information over the telephone, through our website, by completing a form or survey, or meeting with us face-to-face. We will give you a Privacy Collection Notice at that time to explain how we will use the personal information we are asking for. The notice may be written or verbal.
You might also provide your personal information to us without us directly asking for it - for example, by engaging with us on social media.
How we use personal information
Your personal information will normally be used or disclosed for the primary purpose that it was collected for or a directly related secondary purpose. This may also involve another government agency. If we disclose your personal information to another agency its use and disclosure will also be bound by privacy law.
Your personal information may be used or disclosed to help prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to life or health, or where we are otherwise authorised or required to do so by law.
Most of the personal information we collect will be used or disclosed to assist in responding to your enquiry or to help resolve your dispute through a mediation process. We may also use your information to advocate on systemic issues impacting small businesses. For example, this may include:
- using your contact details to send you additional information about your enquiry
- responding to your enquiry or complaint or otherwise engaging with you, including for the purpose of managing our interactions with you
- promoting our programs or services which may be of interest to you (unless you have opted out of such communications)
- making process improvements,
- complying with our legal and regulatory obligations, or
- other purposes, with your consent, unless you withdraw your consent.
Protecting personal information
We take reasonable security measures to protect personal information from loss, unauthorised access, use, modification, disclosure, or other misuse. For example, we use: Your right to information