We are Voices of Malvern (“VoM”). We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting the personal information of people who interact with us, including community members, supporters, volunteers, donors, event attendees and visitors to our website.
We are a community organisation focused on encouraging and supporting independent community representation for Malvern in the Victorian Parliament. We collect personal information to communicate with our community, understand local priorities, organise volunteers and events, support community engagement, and comply with any applicable legal or electoral obligations.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, store and protect your personal information.
1. Scope of this policy
This policy applies to personal information we collect online and offline, including through our website, email lists, surveys, forms, events, social media, volunteer activities, fundraising activities and direct communications with us.
Our website may contain links to third-party websites or platforms. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties. You should review their privacy policies before providing personal information to them.
2. What personal information we may collect
The personal information we collect may include:
- your name;
- email address;
- phone number;
- residential or postal address;
- postcode or electorate information;
- age range or demographic information, where you choose to provide it;
- your views on local, state or community issues;
- information about your interest in volunteering, attending events, donating or supporting VoM;
- records of your communications with us;
- donation or payment information, where applicable;
- information you provide through surveys, petitions, contact forms or volunteer forms; and
- technical information about your use of our website, such as browser type, device information, pages visited and cookies.
We only collect personal information where it is reasonably necessary for our activities or where you choose to provide it to us.
3. Sensitive information
Some information you provide to us may be sensitive information, including information about your political opinions, community views, affiliations, health, accessibility needs, cultural background or other personal circumstances.
We will only collect sensitive information where you provide it voluntarily, where it is reasonably necessary for our activities, where you have consented, or where we are otherwise permitted or required by law to do so.
We will not publish your individual survey responses, political views or sensitive information without your consent, unless required by law. Where we share community feedback publicly, we will generally do so in an aggregated or de-identified way.
4. How we collect personal information
We may collect personal information when you:
- sign up to receive updates;
- complete a survey, petition or feedback form;
- register for or attend an event;
- volunteer with us;
- make a donation or offer in-kind support;
- contact us by email, phone, social media or through our website;
- interact with our social media pages or advertising;
- participate in community consultation; or
- otherwise provide information to us, our volunteers or authorised representatives.
We may also collect information from publicly available sources, from social media platforms where your privacy settings allow it, or from third-party service providers where you have authorised that collection.
5. Why we collect, hold and use personal information
We may collect, hold and use personal information to:
- communicate with you about VoM, community issues, events, consultations and opportunities to get involved;
- understand the concerns, priorities and values of people in Malvern and surrounding communities;
- organise volunteers, events, community meetings and campaign activities;
- respond to enquiries, requests, complaints or feedback;
- process donations, issue receipts and keep financial records;
- comply with applicable Victorian electoral, fundraising, tax, accounting or other legal obligations;
- maintain internal records and improve our website, communications and community engagement;
- protect the security of our website, systems, volunteers and community members; and
- support independent community representation in the Victorian Parliament.
You do not have to provide personal information to us. However, if you choose not to, we may not be able to provide you with updates, respond to your enquiry, process your donation, register you for an event or involve you in volunteer activities.
6. Communications and unsubscribing
If you sign up to receive updates from us, we may contact you by email, phone, text message, social media or post.
You can unsubscribe from email communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us. You can also ask us to stop contacting you by phone, text message or post.
7. Donations and electoral disclosures
If you donate to us, or to a candidate or campaign supported by us, we may collect information needed to process the donation, issue a receipt, maintain financial records, and comply with applicable electoral funding and disclosure laws.
Where required by Victorian electoral law, information about donations may need to be disclosed to the Victorian Electoral Commission or another lawful authority. This may include donor details, donation amounts and related records.
We do not support hidden influence in politics. We aim to handle donations and donor information transparently, lawfully and consistently with our commitment to integrity.
8. When we may disclose personal information
We may disclose personal information to:
- Our committee members, volunteers, staff, contractors or authorised representatives who need the information for VoM activities;
- candidates, campaign teams or community organisations supported by VoM, where relevant to the purpose for which the information was collected;
- service providers who help us operate our website, email lists, databases, event registrations, payment systems, accounting, compliance, communications or data storage;
- professional advisers, such as accountants, auditors or lawyers;
- electoral authorities, regulators, courts, tribunals, law enforcement bodies or government agencies, where required or authorised by law;
- third parties where you have consented to the disclosure; or
- another organisation if reasonably necessary to investigate or respond to a privacy, security, fraud, safety or legal issue.
We do not sell personal information.
9. Third-party platforms and overseas storage
We may use third-party platforms and service providers for website hosting, email distribution, database management, surveys, event registration, payments, analytics, social media and online advertising.
Some of these providers may store or process information outside Australia. Where we use these services, we take reasonable steps to select reputable providers and limit access to personal information to what is necessary for them to provide their services.
10. Cookies, analytics and online advertising
Our website may use cookies, pixels, web beacons or similar technologies to help the website function, understand how visitors use the site, improve our communications, and measure the effectiveness of online content or advertising.
These tools may collect information such as your IP address, browser type, device information, pages viewed, links clicked and the website that referred you to us.
You can usually disable cookies through your browser settings. Some parts of our website may not function properly if cookies are disabled.
11. Security
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
These steps may include password protection, access controls, secure databases, limited access for volunteers and service providers, and internal procedures for handling personal information.
However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. You provide information to us online at your own risk.
12. Retention and deletion
We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy, unless we are required or permitted by law to keep it for longer.
When personal information is no longer needed, we will take reasonable steps to delete it, de-identify it or securely archive it, subject to legal, electoral, accounting or record-keeping requirements.
13. Accessing or correcting your information
You may ask us to provide access to personal information we hold about you. You may also ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.
We will respond to access or correction requests within a reasonable time. In some circumstances, we may refuse access or correction where permitted by law, but we will explain our reasons where it is reasonable to do so.
14. Privacy complaints
If you have a question, concern or complaint about how we handle personal information, please contact us using the details below.
We will take privacy concerns seriously, investigate complaints where appropriate, and respond within a reasonable time.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may be able to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner or another relevant authority.
15. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time by publishing an updated version on our website. The updated policy will apply from the date it is posted.
16. Contact us
For privacy enquiries, access or correction requests, complaints, or to unsubscribe from VoM communications, please contact:
Voices of Malvern
Email: [email protected]
Last updated: 6 July 2026