Parliament of Australia: Web Site Privacy Statement

Privacy and Accessibility Statement

Scope

This statement applies to all users who access the Parliament of Australia Web Site.

General

The Parliament of Australia Web Site makes some use of data that only indirectly identifies users. We take great care with practices that affect personal privacy. As a general rule, we do not collect or record data that directly identifies users.

Data Collection

Data that indirectly identifies users is gathered during interactions with the Parliament of Australia Web Site in the following circumstances:

• Computer Information
  It is necessary that your web browser provides your machine's network address, so the web server can address its replies back to the correct machine. In addition, the browser type and operating system information may be recorded.
• Navigation and Click-Stream Data
  Browsing any web site generates a trail of pages visited, the amount of data transferred and the time of access. This information is recorded against the network address supplied by your web browser.
• Electronic Mail
  It is a necessary part of electronic mail that a sender and receiver address is supplied. These are recorded as well as a message identifier, amount of data and the time. The address you supply as sender is only a pseudonym and may possibly bear no relation to your real name, so is not considered as directly identifying you.

Forms

If you use forms on the site to provide information, register interest, or purchase publications, the information you provide is not retained on the public web server and will not be used for purposes other than that for which it was provided.

We will only record your e-mail address if you send us a message. It will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided and will not be added to a mailing list unless that is the purpose of the message. We will not use your e-mail address for any other purpose, and will not disclose it without your consent.

Data Storage, Retention, Use and Disclosure

The data referred to above is generated by the systems you are accessing, and stored in system logs. These logs are preserved and archived for possible future use.

The data is used by Parliament of Australia Web Site software, and by our support staff, only for

• web site and systems administration, including monitoring as a security measure
• customisation of the web site to meet your needs
• evaluation, research and development.

The data collected will not be disclosed to a third party except where it is legally required, such as in the investigation of a criminal offence, and in compliance with a search warrant or subpoena.

Cookies

A cookie is a very small text file placed onto your computer when you visit a Web site. A cookie can be 'persistent' (meaning that it is written to a permanent file on your hard disk) or 'session-only' (in which case the cookie is deleted at the end of your browsing session).

Cookies are not generally used on the Parliament's site. The exception to this is the search facility, which has been built to use only temporary 'session ID' cookies. One cookie is created at the beginning of the user's search session and discarded at its conclusion. The cookie is not used to collect or store any information about the user, only to allocate a temporary identifier to the search session.

Without such a session ID, the user would lose the entire search context each time a new web page is visited during a search session e.g. by viewing a document retrieved by a search. If cookies are disabled, the search program could not provide more than a very basic functionality - far less than is expected by our users.

Our live broadcasts do not use cookies.

User Feedback *

We seek feedback from our users in order to improve the service offered by the site. Answering feedback questions is voluntary and does not in any way affect your access to the Parliament website.
Parliament records the information requested on the online forms in a database. The information will only be used for the purpose for which it was requested and will not be distributed further, or disclosed, without your consent.
* Note
Our agency recognises that there can be risks associated with the transmission of information over the internet.

Links to other sites

This site contains links to other sites. The Parliament is not responsible for the privacy practice or the content of such web sites.

Accountability

Parliamentary staff comply with information privacy principles.

Accessing files on the site

Accessibility

We are committed to making the Parliament of Australia Web Site fully accessible to the public, including people with disabilities or technical constraints (such as older browsers and low speed Internet connections). In order to achieve this we endeavour to keep the site at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Level A conformance rating for accessibility. Documents which are sometimes displayed on the site in PDF format alone are able to be obtained in more accessible formats by requesting such from the relevant contact on the particular page. Any problems locating suitable formats should be directed to the Parliamentary Web Manager

The Parliament of Australia Web Site is regularly tested for accessibility and all new website contracts include accessibility as a key performance measure.

Comments on the accessibility of the Parliament of Australia Web Site are welcome and can be sent by email to the Parliamentary Web Manager .

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Comments to: webmanager@aph.gov.au
Last reviewed 6 December, 2006 by the Web Manager
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