Privacy and Referral Policy

Overview

Cremations Direct Pty Ltd (ABN 34 651 776 608) (Cherish Funerals) is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

In collecting and handling all your Personal Information (including sensitive information) we are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 including the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”) and Privacy Regulations.

Please note that we have a referral agreement between the related and associated parties of Cherish Funerals and any details that you provide to us will be subject to possible referral, in our sole discretion. We undertake to do so only if we deem it relevant to a query, or an apparent need for a relate or service which could be provided by a related or associated party. 

We may further refer your personal information to third parties in our discretion, as is set out in the section entitled “How we gather and use Personal Information”.

Acceptance of Privacy and Referral Policy

This Privacy and Referral Policy explains how we collect, use and manage your Personal Information and we ask that you please read this policy so you understand our practices regarding any Personal Information that you disclose to us.

What Is Personal Information

Personal Information is information or an opinion about you that identifies you or that could reasonably identify you. This information could include, but is not limited to, your name, date and place of birth, contact details, next of kin information.

The types of information we may collect

For us to provide services to you, it may be necessary to request and record Personal Information related to you, the deceased person and your family.

The kind of Personal Information we collect and hold depends on the type of services you ask us to provide to you and may include your name, mailing and email address, telephone number and contact preference.

We further hold a referral agreement with related and associated entities as described in Section 50 and Section 50AAA of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and we reserve the right to provide your Private Information to these organisations.

How we gather and use Personal Information

During the course of providing our services to you we will collect Personal Information from you by various means including verbally, by email or asking to you complete forms or documents necessary to enable us to provide you with the goods and services you have requested from us.

These forms and documents might include things like an agreement with us, insurance and/or bond documentation, Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2003(Qld) forms, and any other form or document reasonably associated with the services we provide.

Third Party Personal Information

Occasionally, we may ask you for Personal Information about other people, for example, your family. If you provide us with this information, we rely on you to tell those people that you are giving their Personal Information to us and to make them aware of this Privacy and Referral Policy.

How We Use Your Personal Information

We may collect, hold, use or disclose your Personal Information for a number of purposes including:

• providing services to you;
• providing information to third parties to assist in performing their agreed services (eg transfer services, cremation or burial, florists, photographers, legal advisors etc);
• publishing various notices including funeral, death and bereavement notices;
• completing documentation to register a death;
• personalising and sending any correspondence we may have with you (electronically or by post);
• internal record keeping and accounting;
• disclosing information required by law, regulation or court order and
• referral to related and associated entities.

We will not use your Personal Information for purposes other than described above unless we have your consent or there are specified law enforcement or public health and safety reasons (as permitted under the Act).

Whilst we will not directly disclose your Personal Information to overseas recipients without your consent, the entities to which we may disclose your Personal Information may do so. We are unable to say what countries, if any, those recipients are likely to be located in.

How we hold and protect Personal Information

Any Personal Information we collect in hard copy is stored in our secure business premises. Personal Information that we hold electronically is stored on our secure servers.

We are committed to ensuring your Personal Information is secure. We will take all reasonable steps to protect your Personal Information held by us securely against unauthorised access, use modification or disclosure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the Personal Information we collect.

All Personal Information we no longer require will be destroyed or permanently de-identified, however, information will be retained for as long as the law requires.

Despite our reasonable efforts, we cannot guarantee that the security of your Personal Information will not be breached, therefore, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all liability any responsibility for any damage you may suffer due to any loss, unauthorised access, misuse or alteration of any information we collect.

Should there be a suspected breach of data containing personal information, we will, consistent with our obligations under the Notifiable Data Breaches Scheme set out in the Privacy Act 1988, immediately conduct an assessment to determine whether the breach is likely to result in serious harm to any individual affected. If there is a likelihood of serious harm, we will notify, among others, affected individuals and include recommendations on what steps individuals can take in response to the breach.

Referral of information

Requirements for the referrer:

• there is a referral agreement between the parties;
• we have a referral register;
• our referral partner undertakes to contact the referred client within 10 business days of referral;
• our referral partner subscribed to the terms and conditions of this Privacy and Referral Policy in terms of the Referral Agreement, and
• we will disclose any fees or benefits to you that we obtain in respect of the referral. We undertake to do so, although our general policy is not to charge any fees, or derive any benefits, as we want to assist people with obtaining the appropriate services to meet their needs, without creating further financial barriers.

Requirements for the Referral Partner:

• must conduct business from a standard premises and referrals are to be incidental to their business;
• must provide the clients contact details within 5 business days of their consent to be contacted;
• they are able to assist a client in an area relevant to their needs; and
• is not permitted to charge the client a fee in relation to the referral.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy discloses our current privacy and referral practices. This Privacy and Referral Policy will be reviewed from time to time in line with legislative changes or any other reason, and, if appropriate, updated without notice. We will publish those changes on our website at www.cherishfunerals.com.au

Accessing and changing any Personal Information we hold about you

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that any Personal Information we collect, use or disclose is relevant, accurate, complete and up to date.

Please contact our Public Officer to request:

• access to any Personal Information we hold about you or
• your Personal Information to be corrected.

We can then take reasonable steps to correct this information.

Complaints

If you have any concerns, complaints or queries in relation to privacy or about the way we have collected or dealt with your Personal Information, we invite you to provide written details of your complaint to our Public Officer.

Our Public Officer will endeavour to consider your query and provide a prompt response.

If, after receiving our response, there are still concerns that the privacy complaint remains unresolved or if you believe we have breached the APPs you may also lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Contact Us

Should you have any complaints about privacy or questions about this Privacy and Referral Policy, please contact our Public Officer in writing by post or email at:

Post:

Attention: The Public Officer

Cremations Direct Pty Ltd trading as Cherish Funerals

4/27 Coronation Avenue

Nambour QLD 4560

Email:

[email protected]