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Privacy Policy

 

To access, check or amend any personal information held by AIRAH, please contact us via email at

If you have any queries about the way in which AIRAH is handling your personal information, please contact us.  In the event that we are unable to resolve any queries, you are entitled to arrange for an independent person (such as the Privacy Commissioner) to investigate your complaint.


About this Policy

The Australian Institute of  Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) respects privacy and in collecting personal information will comply with the requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) as amended by the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Privacy Act).

This Privacy Policy sets out the information handling practices for AIRAH, including our websites.  

This Policy deals with the collection, use and handling of personal information. This means information in document or electronic formats that can be used to identify or reasonably identify an individual.

About AIRAH

AIRAH is the peak industry body representing and supporting the interests of the individuals and organisations that operate within the heating ventilation air conditioning and refrigeration industry (HVAC&R). 

Overview

AIRAH delivers a range of products and services to its members and the wider industry for which personal information is collected, handled and used.

These products and services include:

  • Managing member and non-member participation
  • Conducting professional development and training courses
  • Providing events including conferences and briefings on current issues
  • Providing information to the industry through AIRAH’s websites
  • Advocating and making submissions to government and others parties representing the interest of the membership base and the industry
  • Undertaking research and analytic activities related to various topics, including member satisfaction and the development of improved products and services for members
  • Developing relationships with sponsors and other partners to financially support the aims and objectives of AIRAH.

Collection of personal information

Account
In order to access and make use of AIRAH Services and to purchase products you must create an Account using an email address and password. Basic information is required when creating an Account. You are responsible for providing accurate, current and complete information during the registration process and to update such information to keep it accurate, current and complete. It is your responsibility to keep your Account details confidential. You are liable for all activity on your Account.

The Account is personal to you. You must not disclose your Account details to any third party, nor allow a third party to make use of your Account, or log into your Account on multiple computers/platforms simultaneously and you will take sole responsibility for any activities or actions under your Account, whether or not those activities or actions have been authorised by you. To ensure your privacy is protected you must immediately notify us of any unauthorised use of your Account.

Membership
AIRAH collects and holds information from members or prospective members through membership related applications. This information includes name and contact details, date of birth, gender and relevant qualifications and work and employment activities. This information enables AIRAH to uniquely identify members and to assess what products and services may be most suitable and of interest to members and to process membership upgrades. 

Information on prospective members collected through website forms, registrations and participation in events and professional development activities enable contact about becoming a member.
For ongoing membership management, members are able to login, verify and update this information. This is one of the steps that we take to keep this information accurate, up-to-date and complete.

Education/Professional development
AIRAH collects and holds enrolment information from members and non-members. These records are kept for verification of participation. Ongoing information about participation in education and professional development is kept in a secure environment only accessible to AIRAH staff.

Events
AIRAH collects and holds information about members and non-members provided through registration to attend events, briefings and conferences. This includes, if applicable:

Personal information such as:

  • Dietary or mobility requirements
  • Travel bookings
  • Image (video or photographs) or sound recordings

AIRAH does keep a record of the events and workshops a member or non-member has attended. 


 

Indirect collection

Members
AIRAH may collect information indirectly about members, but only in circumstances where a member would reasonably expect it, or where the member has consented, for example: industry sector, areas of interest.

Non-members
In order to expand our membership AIRAH collects information indirectly about prospective members through methods that include word of mouth referral, publicly available sources and through our records of attendance at AIRAH events and activities.

Research
Market research is undertaken (potentially through third parties) about members and non-members. AIRAH only collects and holds the information gained from the research in aggregate form and does not connect it with any records held about individual members or non-members.


Use of personal information

AIRAH uses personal information collected and held through membership application, education and event registration or attendance to:

  • Administer member and non-member requirements relating to the respective program
  • Assist in improving services to members and non-members
  • Track and record professional development attendance
  • Analyse attendees interests to better meet their needs
  • Enable furthering of the objectives of AIRAH

 

AIRAH will not use your personal information for any purpose that you would not reasonably expect unless it is consistent with the Privacy Act. 

 

Sound and image recordings of events

AIRAH uses sound and image recordings of our events to enable us to improve our events, and for promotional purposes.

Participants can contact AIRAH to express preferences or advise of any sensitivities relating to the use of your image or intellectual property on +61 3 8623 3000.

Marketing communications

AIRAH may use your personal information for the purposes of direct marketing to members and non-members. Such marketing may include, but is not limited to, the products and services that AIRAH provide for both personal and professional development. At times these products and services may include special offers from third parties.

AIRAH complies with obligations under the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth) and the Spam Act 2003 (Cth).

AIRAH provides the opportunity to opt-out of receiving marketing material in communications provided from AIRAH to you, such as forms, letters or emails, or you can contact us using the details below or log-in to our website.

Unless you have opted out, marketing communications to members and non-members will continue until you advise us you no longer wish to receive such information.

Disclosure (sharing) of personal information

Types of disclosure   

We may disclose your personal information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise permitted under a Privacy Act. For example, we will typically:

  • Confirm membership, prior membership, enrolments or accreditation by disclosing personal information to the public (including professional, government and statutory bodies);
  • Disclose personal information to third parties that include employers of students and members, local and international professional bodies, external payment providers, law enforcement bodies, government and statutory bodies and regulators; 
  • Disclose your personal information to another entity within the AIRAH corporate group, in order to facilitate the provision of products and services to you (for example, disclosing your contact information to an AIRAH overseas group member if you are going overseas), in order to manage, coordinate and facilitate our global operations or because that AIRAH corporate group member is responsible for the provision of backend services to AIRAH (for example technical or marketing services); 
  • Disclose personal information to AIRAH committees, sub-committees, panels, local leadership teams, special interest groups, discussion groups, working groups, tribunals and councils, which may or may not be comprised of members of AIRAH;
  • Disclose personal information about students to tertiary and academic institutions which those students attend or have attended and to the student's employer or mentor;
  • Disclose student personal information to fellow students in order to facilitate team learning activities for the purposes of an AIRAH program or educational course;
  • Disclose student personal information to members of AIRAH appointed to the roles of mentors, facilitators, leaders and assessors in delivery of an AIRAH program or educational course; 
  • Disclose personal information to vendors, suppliers, business partners and other third parties associated with AIRAH to carry out the operation of our business;
  • Disclose the details of a mediation and/or dispute being facilitated by or on behalf of AIRAH, including all information related to the mediation or dispute, to each of the parties involved, the mediator and any other relevant parties;
  • Disclose the personal information of employment and contractor applicants to recruiters and recruiting personnel for assessing suitability for employment or contract work;
  • Disclose personal information to third parties to mitigate a serious data breach.

Overseas disclosure
We may from time-to-time disclose your Personal Information to an entity located in another country where we are permitted to do so under a Privacy Act.
Unless we reasonably believe the overseas recipient is subject to a law or binding scheme substantially like the Australian Privacy Principles, we will take reasonable steps where practicable in the circumstances to ensure that the overseas recipient does not breach the relevant Australian Privacy Principles in relation to your Personal Information. 
However, this may not always be achievable and, by acquiring our products or services or providing us with your Personal Information, you expressly consent to the collection, processing, use, disclosure, transfer and storage of your Personal Information outside of Australia where we are not able to ensure the recipient’s compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles. We are required to inform you in relation to this consent that if an overseas recipient handles your Personal Information in breach of the Australian Privacy Principles, the entity will not be accountable under a Privacy Act and you will not be able to seek redress under a Privacy Act.  If you do not wish to provide this consent, you should not acquire the relevant products and services from us.

Mobile applications
As individuals access the AIRAH online or mobile applications via their mobile device, AIRAH collects username details in order to authenticate access to member-only content. AIRAH does not review or use this information for any purpose beyond authenticating access to our membership database. We also do not collect or track information about the pages individual members view. 

Digital media
AIRAH participates in digital media platforms such as LinkedIn groups, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Flickr. 

Digital media services also handle your personal information for their own purposes. These sites have their own privacy policies and it is recommended that members and non-members engaging in social media through AIRAH links to digital media platforms are familiar with such policies.

Email
Emails received will be recorded automatically by the e-mail messaging system for the purpose of replying to your e-mail. For normal communication with members AIRAH will use the e-mail address provided in your membership application/renewal or for non-members the website access form, unless you ask us to use a different e-mail address. 

Emails or other electronic messages sent to you will record information about your interactions with the email including when and where you open the message and click on particular links.

This assists AIRAH to better understand what information is of interest to you and to improve the content and services to you.

Website analytics
This section applies to the AIRAH websites including but not limited to: airah.org.au; Fairair.com.au; mycoolingtower.com.au; Calculatingcool.com.au; airahindustrydirectory.com.au; hvac&rsearch.com.au; hvac&rnews.org.au. AIRAH uses Google Analytics to collect a range of information about your interactions with our websites and AIRAH in general. Google Analytics is also used to collect information from the browsers.

The information collected includes IP address, domain name, date and time of visit, the pages visited and time spent on each page, whether you have visited the site before and what site referred the visitor to the web page. We use this information to evaluate the effectiveness of our website and the level of interest in particular pages or campaigns.

Information about how Google handles personal information is available at http://www.google.com.au/intl/en/policies/privacy/

You can opt out of the collection of information via Google Analytics by downloading the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

The website may contain links to other sites. AIRAH is not responsible for the privacy practices or policies of those sites and we suggest that you review their privacy policies.

AIRAH implements a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of personal information when submitting a request or placing an order. These security measures include: password protected directories and databases to safeguard your information or SSL (Secure Sockets Layered) technology to ensure that information is fully encrypted and sent across the Internet securely.

AIRAH utilises a third party payment gateway that does not store your sensitive information.

Cookie/tracking technology
The AIRAH website may utilise cookie and tracking technology depending on the features offered. Cookie and tracking technology are useful for gathering information such as browser type and operating system, tracking the number of visitors to the site, and understanding how visitors use the site. Cookies can also help customise the site for visitors. Personal information cannot be collected via cookies and other tracking technology, however, if personally identifiable information has previously been provided, cookies may be tied to such information. Aggregate cookie and tracking information may be shared with third parties to achieve an aforementioned purpose.


Security of personal information

AIRAH holds the personal information it collects on electronic databases and in hard copy records. We take reasonable steps to protect the security of personal information against the loss, misuse, interference and/or unauthorised access, disclosure or alteration of information under our control. 

These security measures include:
  • Firewalls – to prevent the hacking of our database;
  • Clauses in employee agreements requiring confidentiality and training on the importance of the privacy legislation;
  • Appropriate security access to AIRAH premises, staff and systems;
  • The use of passwords for access to database information and the use of security levels within the database to ensure that staff only access the information required to perform their duties; and
  • Security bins for the disposal of written information.
Where appropriate, we use secure transmission facilities. However, no transmission of information over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure and we do not warrant the security of any information transmitted by or to us over the Internet.

Retention of information

Subject to the proper use and disclosure, all of the personal information about you is held on password protected databases and may also be stored in hard copy in secure storage premises in facilities that AIRAH occupies, or is operated by AIRAH’s service providers.

Only authorised AIRAH personnel may access your personal information and even then, only for the purposes set out in this Policy.

Once AIRAH no longer has a need for your personal information it will either be destroyed or de-identified.

Access to and the accuracy of personal information

Individuals have a right to ask for access to the personal information that is held by AIRAH. Unless there is a lawful reason not to, AIRAH will provide access to it and allow you to correct any wrong information. This can be done via our website with your personal login details or by contacting AIRAH National office in writing, by email or telephone.

Your identity will need to be verified prior to information being provided.  If access is not provided to your personal information or refusal to correct it occurs, you will be provided the reasons for this situation.  In this case your requested change can be added as a note alongside the information that has not been agreed to be corrected. AIRAH contact details are at the end of this Policy.

Social media policy and guidelines

Social media has become an extremely popular, widespread and powerful tool for individuals and organisations to share their messages, news and narratives. It has the potential to reach broad audiences and to deliver engaging content efficiently.

AIRAH encourages its staff and members to participate and be active on social media platforms, particularly as a tool to promote the Institute’s activities and the industry itself.

Social media has many advantages, including but not limited to:
  • Providing an opportunity to engage with stakeholders and the general public
  • Allowing us to develop more active relationships with target audiences
  • Gaining a better understanding of industry interests and initiatives
  • Increasing trust and encouraging speed and frequency with public engagement
  • Promoting and marketing activities to the broad community
  • Creating, building and furthering personal and professional networks

It’s important to remember, though, that the use of social media brings with it some degree of risk to an organisation and/or individual’s reputation and brand. The following guidelines are intended to help ensure AIRAH’s social media channels, as well as those of its representatives, are always used appropriately.

When posting, please keep in mind that:
  • Social media comments are immediately available to a wide audience
  • You should be smart and considerate about what you publish because material posted online can last forever and may be copied without limit
  • You may be legally responsible for the content you post
  • Material may be viewed out of context or used for an unintended purpose

AIRAH has official social media accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram. These are used to share information and resources with the public. Only authorised staff can respond on the Institute’s behalf on social media.

Members and staff can associate themselves with AIRAH when posting, but they must clearly brand any online posts as personal and their own. AIRAH should not be held liable for any repercussions this content may generate.

Sensitive information – including confidential plans, proprietary information and organisational activities – should not be shared with others. We also ask that you respect member privacy and personal information.

As members of the Australian community, individuals have the right to participate in public debate. Deciding to comment, respond or post certain material online is a matter of judgement and common sense. You are encouraged to act with caution, discretion, and to consider your actions before engaging in social media activity.

Before and while posting, individuals are advised to:
  • Act always with respect and courtesy, even when disagreeing with something or someone
  • Avoid personal attacks and offensive language, including instances where you are responding to harsh and potentially offensive attacks/criticism
  • Ensure the information being posted is informed and factually accurate
  • Understand that a like, share or comment on a post may be seen as an endorsement of the content or author

When individuals make social media comments, they should not be reasonably perceived to:
  • Make the comments on behalf of AIRAH
  • Be so harsh or extreme in their criticism or endorsement that the individual is no longer able to work professionally, efficiently or impartially
  • Damage the integrity or reputation of AIRAH
  • Seriously disrupt or offend
  • Come as a gratuitous personal attack
  • Compromise public and/or member confidence

It is not acceptable, at any time to:
  • Post comments or images that are obscene, offensive, harassing or discriminatory
  • Release confidential, personal or sensitive material without proper authority.

When an individual receives a question or request related to AIRAH via social media, they should endeavour to respond in a timely manner or refer the matter to someone in the organisation who can deal with it.

There are many forms of content and posts. This policy is not exhaustive, nor does it cover or anticipate every possible use of social media.

Failure to comply with AIRAH’s social media policy and guidelines can and may result in disciplinary action. These instances will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Requests for access and complaint resolution mechanism

In the event of any questions, concerns or complaints regarding the way in which personal information is handled, you should contact the AIRAH at:
AIRAH
James Harrison Centre
Level 3, 1 Elizabeth Street
Melbourne 3000
Ph: (03) 8623 3000
Email: [email protected] 

AIRAH takes your privacy very seriously. Where concerns are expressed that interference has occurred with your privacy, or you are seeking access to information about you that we hold, AIRAH will respond quickly to let you know who will be handling your matter and when you can expect a further response.

If you are dissatisfied with our response you may direct your concerns or complaints to:
Office of the Information Commissioner 
Ph: 1300 363 992
Email: [email protected]

Suggestions for improving this Policy

This Policy will be amended from time to time and the updated version will be posted on AIRAH website.

Suggestions for improving this Policy are welcome. Please contact us on (03) 8623 3000.


Date of last review: August 15, 2025