Data Collection Notice

To complete a Dispute Notification Form, you will be asked to provide certain information (‘Dispute Data’) to the Treaty Authority (‘we’, ‘our’, ‘us’). Dispute Data includes both:
1. personal information (including sensitive information) within the meaning of the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) or other applicable privacy legislation (‘Personal Information’); and
2. information or knowledge about, from, or connected to First Peoples (‘First Peoples Data’).

This Collection Notice applies to any First Peoples, individuals or groups (‘you’, ‘your’) who provide Dispute Data to the Treaty Authority through a Dispute Notification Form. It explains:
• why we collect the Dispute Data;
• what happens if you do not provide some or all of the Dispute Data;
• who owns the Dispute Data;
• the people and organisations we will share your Dispute Data with;
• how you can access your Dispute Data;
• how you can request that your Dispute Data is deleted from our records; and
• how to contact us if you have any questions or concerns about how we handle your Dispute Data.

Privacy and Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance
The Treaty Authority is committed to protecting the privacy of Personal Information and complying with all applicable privacy laws (including the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic)) (‘Privacy Laws’).
The Treaty Authority also upholds and respects Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance to the extent possible having regard to applicable laws.

This Collection Notice should be read alongside our First Peoples Data Sovereignty and Governance
Framework and Privacy Policy.

Why is the Treaty Authority collecting the Dispute Data?
We collect Dispute Data, including Personal Information and First Peoples Data, for the purpose of:
• facilitating and overseeing Treaty negotiations;
• administering the Treaty Negotiation Framework;
• providing for the resolution of disputes in, incidental to, or in connection with, Treaty negotiations, in accordance with the Treaty Negotiation Framework; and
• carrying out research to support Treaty negotiations and the administration of the Treaty Negotiation Framework.

What happens if you do not provide the Dispute Data?
If you choose not to provide some or all of the Dispute Data requested in the Dispute Notification Form, we may be unable to accept your notification and deal with your dispute in accordance with the Treaty Negotiation Framework.

Ownership of Dispute Data
Ownership of Dispute Data provided to the Treaty Authority remains with the individual or group who provided the data.

Where a First Peoples participant provides data, the Treaty Authority will, where necessary to uphold First Peoples’ rights, engage first through the Traditional Owner group’s nominated person/s concerning questions about data management.

Who will access the Dispute Data?
The Treaty Authority will only release the Dispute Data to third parties (including the public) with your free, prior and informed consent.

The only exception to this is where the Treaty Authority is compelled by law to share your data. In such circumstances, we will use our best endeavours to notify you prior to the release of that data.
By submitting a Dispute Notification Form, you consent to the Treaty Authority sharing your Dispute Data in the following ways:
1. We may share some or all of your Dispute Data with a third party, where the Treaty Authority considers it justified in the circumstances. The Treaty Authority will take all reasonable steps to notify you and obtain your free, prior and informed consent before doing so.
2. We may share your Dispute Data with our contracted service providers that we use to perform services on our behalf (such as universities conducting research on the Treaty Authority’s behalf or third-party mediators contracted to mediate disputes). Any such providers will be required to agree to confidentiality and, where appropriate, relevant ethical obligations in respect of that information before they can access your Dispute Data.

Subject to the above and to our legal obligations, we will not provide your Dispute Data to the State of Victoria, other Negotiating Parties, other Government bodies, other organisations or anyone else without your free, prior and informed consent.

Sensitive information
We acknowledge that the Dispute Data you provide to us may include sensitive cultural knowledge or sensitive information that may need specific protection.

All Dispute Data is securely stored by the Treaty Authority in accordance with our Privacy Policy and the principles set out in our First Peoples Data Sovereignty and Governance Framework. You can ask the Treaty Authority to manage the sensitive cultural knowledge or sensitive information that you provide in particular ways.

If you have questions or concerns about how your sensitive cultural knowledge or sensitive information is
being managed by the Treaty Authority, we strongly encourage you to speak with your allocated Treaty Authority contact at any stage during the Treaty process.

How can you access your Dispute Data?
You are entitled to access any of your Dispute Data collected and held by us. If you wish to do so, please contact us at the details below.

Deleting the Dispute Data
You may request at any time that we retire (delete) your Dispute Data from the Treaty Authority’s records. We will comply with your request, subject only to any law compelling the Treaty Authority to retain that information.

You acknowledge that deletion of your Dispute Data may affect your or your group’s ability to participate in dispute resolution processes.

Only data required for the purposes of completing a Dispute Notification Form should be provided. The Treaty Authority may contact you if your data does not meet this purpose and provide options for how your data can be managed.

How to contact us or to make a complaint
Our Privacy Policy contains important information about how we handle Personal Information generally, including how you can contact us, seek access to or correct any Personal Information we hold about you, how you can make a privacy complaint and how we will deal with a privacy complaint.

You can also contact us in relation to our First Peoples Data Sovereignty and Governance Framework, which also contains important information about how the Treaty Authority works to uphold Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance principles.

If you have any questions about this Collection Notice, the Privacy Policy or First Peoples Data Sovereignty and Governance Framework, you can contact your allocated Treaty Authority contact (where relevant). You can also contact us at:
Treaty Authority
c/o Privacy Officer [for Privacy-related queries]
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 1300 133 033
Address: Level 7, 51 Langridge Street, Collingwood Vic 3066

Date
This Collection Notice was last updated on 30 August 2024.