Privacy Policy

Australian Business Growth Fund

 

1. Objective

We respect the privacy of individuals and we aim to be transparent about our privacy and information security practices.

This privacy policy (Policy) describes how the Australian Business Growth Fund Pty Ltd ABN 17 644 607 152 (we) will comply with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and manage the personal information we collect.

You should note that:

  • Our website may contain links and references to other websites operated by third parties (which are for convenience only, may not be current or maintained and do not constitute sponsorship or endorsement or approval of these websites);
  • We may use third party social networking services (for example, Twitter, YouTube or LinkedIn) to communicate; and
  • We may use third party service providers to manage contact lists or collect feedback.
  • This Policy does not apply to these third parties.  You should review the relevant third party’s privacy policy (which could differ substantially from our privacy policy) and assess whether it is acceptable to you before you provide them with your personal information.

 

2. Scope

This Policy applies to any individual who may provide personal information to us, for example: employees and officers of investee entities and prospective investee entities, employees and officers of our shareholders (including secondees), visitors to our offices, employees of our suppliers and service providers (including contractors and potential contractors), users of our website and potential employees.

An individual who provides us with personal information accepts that their personal information will be dealt with in accordance with this Policy.

If you are a legal entity or partnership, by dealing with us, you confirm to us that you have provided your employees, directors, officers or representatives with the information set out in this Policy and that they have agreed to us using, in accordance with this Policy, any personal information about them that you provide to us in connection with our business. By continuing to deal with us, you authorise us to use and transfer the personal information about you (or if you are a legal entity or partnership, your employees, directors, officers or representatives) in accordance with this Policy, as amended from time to time.

We expect all of our directors, officers, employees and representatives to comply with this Policy.

3. What is “personal information” and what do we do with it?
3.1 What we mean by “personal information”

“Personal information” is any information that can identify you or that can reasonably enable your identity to be determined. This information could include your name, postal or email address, date of birth or financial details.

Personal information includes “sensitive information”. Sensitive information is any information, or an opinion concerning your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices or criminal record.  It also includes health or genetic information, biometric information and biometric templates.

3.2 What personal information do we collect?

We may collect personal information about an individual from them or a third party through a number of different methods, including through online forms, email correspondence, written correspondence, data rooms (used in due diligence processes for potential investee entities) and telephone conversations.

The type of personal information we collect and hold about an individual will depend on the dealings they have (or their employer has) with us. The types of personal information which an individual we deal with may be required to provide to us include:

  • Contact details (for example, name, address, telephone number and email address), date of birth, gender and occupation;
  • Identification documents (for example, drivers licence or passport);
  • Special dietary needs (if we are likely to serve food to a person);
  • If the individual or a company of which they are an employee or officer is seeking to have, or has, a business relationship with us (including as an actual or potential investee entity), financial information about the individual  (including TFN, ABN (if any), bank account details) as well as information about their qualifications, experience, character, identity, financial probity, criminal history and sanctions status;and
  • If the individual applies for work with us, information about their education, employment history, qualifications, experience, character, background checks including eligibility to work, vocational suitability, identity, health, financial probity, criminal history and sanctions status.

 

In certain situations, as described above, the personal information we collect may (where appropriate and where it is permitted by law) include sensitive information (for example, to comply with anti-money laundering laws or our due diligence processes on potential investments we make we may collect information about an individual’s political connections and/or whether they have a criminal record or included in a sanctions list).

When someone uses our website, we may also indirectly collect certain information such as their internet protocol (IP) address, device identifiers, browser type, operating system, internet service provider, location, mobile network information, pages accessed and their time stamps. This information is used in an aggregated manner to analyse how people use our site, such that we can improve our service.

3.3    How do we collect personal information?

We will generally aim to collect personal information about an individual directly from that individual to the greatest extent possible.

From time to time we may obtain personal information about individuals from third parties (for example, an individual’s organisation or colleagues, recruiters, identity verification service providers, publicly or commercially available sources or third parties an individual has authorised us to contact) for the purpose of complying with legislative obligations, such as anti-money laundering laws or our due diligence or investment monitoring processes.

We also review and analyse the personal information we hold, sometimes in combination with other information, and may generate new personal information as a result.

We will only collect sensitive information where the affected individual has consented to the collection of the information and the information is reasonably necessary for one or more of our functions or activities or if the collection of sensitive information is authorised or required by a court/tribunal order or an Australian law, including the following Australian laws:

  • Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth);
  • Corporations Act 2001 (Cth); and
  • Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) and Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth).

 

3.4 What purposes do we collect, use and disclose personal information for?

We may collect, use and disclose personal information for reasons including:

  • To consider and process applications from potential investee entities;
  • To identify potential investments;
  • To manage our investment portfolio and work with investee entities;
  • To form and maintain business relationships;
  • To conduct investment and divestment transactions;
  • To arrange and undertake marketing, business development or networking;
  • To determine whether to interview or employ or engage a person, including a secondee or contractor;
  • To obtain professional advice or services in connection with our business;
  • Any matter for which we have an individual’s express consent;
  • To fulfil our legal obligations, such as taxation and anti-money laundering laws (for example, identity verification); and
  • For any purpose that is incidental or directly connected with any of the above, or otherwise in connection with our business activities.

 

We may not be able to commence or continue a business relationship with an entity or individual if we do not receive all the information we request or an individual does not agree to us using their personal information for the relevant purposes.

Individuals will always have the ability to opt out of receiving marketing information from us relating to our business activities we believe may be of interest to them.  This can be done by contacting us (see section 4.5).

3.5 Who do we disclose personal information to?

There are a range of people and organisations we may disclose personal information to and collect  personal information from. The particular party we may disclose an individual’s personal information to will depend on the dealings they have with us. Some examples of the categories of persons to whom we may disclose personal information include:

  • Our employees, board members, directors, officers or representatives;
  • Third party service providers, including our professional advisers (and their employees, directors, officers, sub-contractors or representatives);
  • Courts and regulatory bodies as required by law (e.g. Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission or a Court or tribunal); and
  • Any parties which are directly related to any of the above recipients.

 

We may also share personal information with a third party where we have obtained an individual’s consent (for example, a person they ask us to contact on their behalf).

We may require an individual’s consent to use and/or disclose their personal information if we need to use their information for a purpose that is not related to the purpose for which it was collected.

If we do not receive consent for collecting, using and/or disclosing personal information for such other purposes, this may affect our ability to do business with an individual or the entity that employs them or which they represent.

3.6 Is personal information disclosed to parties located overseas?

We will only disclose personal information to a recipient overseas in accordance with the Privacy Act. Circumstances in which we will do this include where:

  • The individual has asked us to or we have their consent to do so;
  • We have outsourced a business activity or function to an overseas service provider;
  • We reasonably believe that the overseas recipient is subject to a law or binding scheme that protects the information in a way that is substantially similar to the way the information is protected under the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles, and there are mechanisms the individual can access to take action to enforce that protection; or
  • The disclosure is required or authorised by or under an Australian law or a court/tribunal order.

 

Please note that the laws on processing personal information in other countries may be less stringent than in Australia. When we disclose personal information overseas, we will take reasonable measures to ensure that it is held, managed and accessed in accordance with the standards that apply in Australia, including the Australian Privacy Principles.

3.7 How do we protect personal information?

We have security policies and systems in place to protect personal information, which are reviewed, monitored and updated on a regular basis.   We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold from loss, interference, destruction, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure using both physical and electronic security measures.

The people within our organisation who handle personal information are only those who have the need to access it to enable them to perform their duties and are aware of their obligation to protect personal information from unauthorised access or misuse.

Even though we have taken significant steps to ensure that personal information is not intercepted, accessed, used, or disclosed by unauthorised persons, we cannot fully eliminate security risks associated with personal information. In particular, anyone who provides us with their personal information over the internet accepts that such information will be transmitted at their own risk as the security of such information cannot be guaranteed.

3.8 How long do we keep personal information for?

We will only retain personal information for as long as we consider, in our reasonable opinion, it to be necessary to comply with applicable law or for the relevant purpose (as set out in section 3.4 of this Policy for information about purposes).

When we no longer need personal information, we will seek to delete, destroy or de-identify it in accordance with our record keeping policy and any applicable laws.

4. What are your rights?
4.1 Are you required to provide personal information to us?

If it is lawful and practicable, we offer you the opportunity to deal with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym. For example, we can provide general information to you about our business activities without collecting any personal information.

However, if we are unable to collect and/or verify some or all of your personal information, we may not be able to enter into a business relationship with you.  In order for us to have a business relationship , it is normally impracticable for us to deal with you anonymously or by using a pseudonym.

4.2 Can you access the personal information we hold about you?

You may request access to any of the personal information we hold about you by contacting us as set out below in section 4.5.

A summary of personal information such as your name and contact details is available to you upon request. We will provide you with access to your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act. Under the Privacy Act we can deny access to some or all of your personal information in specified circumstances, and will provide reasons for any refusal in writing.  If you are not satisfied with any refusal to grant you access to your personal information, you may make a complaint (see section 4.6).

We may seek to verify your identity before we process any access requests to make sure that the personal information we hold about you is sufficiently protected.

Following any identify verification process we deem necessary, we will give you access to your personal information upon request unless there is a law that allows or requires us not to.

4.3 Can you correct any personal information we hold about you that is incorrect?

We endeavour to ensure that the personal information we hold about you is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading. Please let us know if you believe any of your personal information that we hold is incorrect by contacting us (see section 4.5 for contact details).

We may seek to verify your identity before we process any correction requests to make sure that the personal information we hold about you is sufficiently protected.

Upon request (and subject to any identity verification process we deem necessary), we will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information if we consider it is incorrect, unless there is a law that allows or requires us not to.

To ensure that the information we hold about you remains accurate, complete and current, we may ask you to check and correct your personal details from time to time. We may do this as part of our regular communications with you, when you make a telephone enquiry or through other means.

4.4 What about cookies?

We may from time to time use “cookies” on our website. Cookies are small files that a website uses to identify you when you come back to the site and which stores details about your use of the site. Cookies are not malicious programs that access or damage your computer. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies but you can choose to reject cookies by changing your browser settings. However, this may prevent you from taking full advantage of our website.

Our website may from time to time use cookies to analyse website traffic and help us provide a better website visitor experience. In addition, cookies may be used to serve relevant ads to website visitors through third party services such as Google AdWords. These ads may appear on our website or other websites you visit.

4.5 Who can you contact if you have questions about this Policy?

We have appointed a Privacy Officer. If you have any queries you can contact us by the following means:

Call: (03) 8373 1999

Email: compliance@abgf.com.au

Mail: The Privacy Officer Suite 2.01, Level 2, 18 Oliver Lane, Melbourne 3000

4.6 Can you complain about a breach of your privacy?

If you believe that we have not protected your personal information as set out in this privacy policy you may contact our Privacy Officer (whose contact details are shown above in section 4.5).

If you are making your complaint in writing, please mark the envelope or the email message “Notice of Privacy Complaint”. We will contact you to let you know who is looking in to the matter and when you can expect a further response.  We will try to resolve your complaint quickly and fairly.

If you are not satisfied with the manner in which we deal with your complaint you may refer it to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). You can contact the OAIC using any of the following methods:

Online: by visiting www.oaic.gov.au

Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au

Phone: 1300 363 992

Mail: GPO Box 5218 Sydney  NSW  2001