- Print this page
- Download as PDF
- Share this page
Context and purpose
This privacy statement details how the Food Authority collects, uses and stores your information, and the processes we use to protect your privacy.
It applies to all the publicly accessible content and information systems that form the website based at www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au as well as Food Authority online forms and tools.
When you use the foodauthority.nsw.gov.au website, we may collect your information and data about your website usage to:
- provide you with a service
- perform our functions as legislated under the Food Act 2003 (NSW)
- improve the website and your access to our services.
We take your privacy and the protection of your data seriously. We will update this statement to reflect changes in legislation, technology and our services when required.
Our legal requirements
As a NSW Government agency, we work to protect and secure your information in accordance with legal requirements under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) and Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW).
How we handle your information
Collecting your information
The Food Authority only collects and securely transfers your information to NSW Government agencies to provide you with a service, personalised information or to gather your feedback. The types of information collected varies depending on the service you are accessing but may include personal, health or other sensitive information.
The Food Authority is obliged to maintain the privacy of personal information and restrict its use, except as allowed by law or by the person to whom it relates.
Privacy collection notices
We provide detailed privacy collection notices for forms that collect personal information. These notices identify reasons for collection, intended recipients of the information, whether the collection is voluntary and any consequences of not providing the information, and your information rights and contact details for the agency’s Right to Information Coordinator. For more information, see Privacy collection notices.
Sharing your information
Details of how your information will be used and shared is in each privacy collection notice provided to you at the time of collection. Information will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided.
- We will not disclose personal details of complainants to businesses about which they may complain, without their express consent unless ordered by a court.
- We may disclose personal details associated with an enquiry, transaction, complaint or incident report to an agency with appropriate jurisdiction, where it believes the issue can be properly dealt with by that agency. Examples include (but are not limited to):
- local councils
- food safety authorities in other states and territories
- Australian Customs Service
- Australian Quarantine Inspection Service, and
- compliance staff working under contract to the Food Authority.
The Food Authority will not disclose your personal information to anybody else unless required or authorised by law, such as by court order.
Storing your information
Information collected is stored in an appropriately secure format and held by the Food Authority for archival purposes. When information is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected it is deleted.
Data is protected physically with restricted building access and secure equipment locations, and with cybersecurity measures including firewalls, encryption, limited role-based access, and multi-factor authentication.
Function and performance of foodauthority.nsw.gov.au
When you use the Food Authority website, we collect information to improve its performance and our services. This information does not include any personal information about you and is used to understand how people use our website and how we can improve.
Information automatically recorded
When you look at content on this site, the Food Authority's computer and network systems may record information that identifies, for each page you view, the:
- content accessed and downloaded and transactions completed, including search keywords and forms completed
- date and time of the access
- amount of time spent accessing pieces of content
- the website and page visited immediately before the Food Authority’s site, including any search terms used at third-party internet search engines
- IP (Internet Protocol) address of the device being used, which can sometimes be matched to broad geographic data
- address, hostname and top-level domain (TLd), for example .com or .au of your server and name of your internet access provider
- type and version of your browser and operating system used on your access device— that is the computer, laptop, mobile phone or similar
- bandwidth— that is, the internet connection speed
- whether your device supports JavaScript or other specific technologies, technology version numbers and whether the technologies are enabled
- number of screen colours, screen size and resolution displayed on the device.
Cookies
Cookies are pieces of computer code commonly used to collect and record information about the behaviour of individual website visitors and allow calculation of statistics about the website. To limit who can access information about visitors to its website, the Food Authority:
- may use first-party cookies - ones issued and retrieved by the Food Authority’s own systems. It has used these in the past in combination with analysis of web server log files
- allows first-party cookies by certain service providers. These include ones from Google Analytics, a reporting service provided by Google Inc. and its subsidiaries, which the Food Authority currently uses to monitor visitor behaviour on its website. Individual visitors are anonymous to Google. Note that the information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) may be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States of America or elsewhere. Google undertakes to use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google undertakes to not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. Website visitors who wish to opt out of this process may consider installing the 'Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on'. For more details see Google Analytics' privacy statement and Google's Privacy Centre
- uses other service providers for its website which have their own privacy policies and may sometimes use their own first-party cookies or similar tracking technologies, such as the Westpac Banking Corporation / qvalent.com for online payments. The Food Authority avoids using service providers which share such data with other parties unless required by law.
Visitors usually have the option to choose whether to accept certain cookies.
Links to external sites
Our website contains links to other sites. These links are identified with the ‘external sites’ icon (square with arrow) and may lead to:
- websites managed by different state or Commonwealth government agencies or non-government entities or organisations
- webforms collecting information so that the Food Authority can process your request
- email addresses (clicking on these links may automatically open a new email message in your default email program)
- phone numbers (clicking on these links may prompt you to choose an app to make a phone call).
The Food Authority has no control over external linked sites, and as a result, when you visit a linked website, you will be subject to the privacy statement or policy of that website and will no longer be subject to this statement, or our privacy collection notices.
Accessing your information
Except in the circumstances set out in the Act, you may request access to your personal information held by the department. Access can be arranged by contacting:
call | 1800 472 679 |
write | Governance and Information Requests Team NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development 105 Prince Street, Orange NSW 2800 gipa@regional.nsw.gov.au |
Privacy enquiries and complaints
If you have concerns or issues related to your privacy and the Food Authority website, or if you have questions about access and correction of personal information, please contact:
NSW Food Authority Helpline
PO Box 6682, Silverwater NSW 1811
Tel: 1300 552 406 (8.30am to 5.30pm AEST on NSW business days)
Fax: +61 (2) 9199 8253
email: food.contact@dpird.nsw.gov.au
Or by post:
Right to Information Coordinator
NSW Food Authority
PO Box 6682
Silverwater NSW 1811