John is our founding Chair who is a powerful advocate in the corporate sector for refugees. His commitment to the work of UNHCR over the last decade is shaped by his experience as a diplomat with postings in Dhaka and Baghdad where he observed UNHCR's work on the ground. In 2015 John was awarded an Order of Australia for his services to law, business, the arts and refugees.
John is the Chief Executive Officer and Partner of Corrs Chambers Westgarth Lawyers, one of our key corporate partners which support UNHCR through donations, staff giving programs, sponsorship and pro bono legal support. John also holds positions on a number of high level boards and groups including as the First Vice Chairman of the Paris based International Chamber of Commerce and the Business Council of Australia’s Global Engagement Taskforce. John has a BA (Hons), LLB
John is a lawyer and has been a Director since 2000. John is a lawyer and a former Olympic rower who turned his passion for sport into a career in sports administration, including as head of High Performance of the Football Federation Australia and as CEO of the Australian Institute of Sport, he is also a member of the judiciary board for the Australian Rugby Union, and a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
John is a strong advocate for the transformative sports programs UNHCR provides for young refugees, having observed these programs in refugee camps in Thailand, and has helped galvanise support for refugees from the Australian sports community.
John has a BA, LLB (Hons), LLM, Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Michael has been a Board member since 2000 and is currently the CEO of First State Super, one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds. He is a director of ASFA, the peak body in the superannuation sector. Michael's determination to improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable people is matched by his admiration for UNHCR's work on the ground which he first saw in East Timor in 2002, and again in January 2016 when he and Chair John Denton went on mission to Turkey and Lebanon to see firsthand the situation of Syrian refugees.
Michael has been instrumental in galvanising support from the investment and financial sectors to UNHCR, and in particular to our annual World Refugee Day Breakfast.
Michael has a Dip of Superannuation Management, Advanced Dip of Financial Services (Superannuation), Dip of Public Administration, FASFA.
Rick is a qualified chartered accountant and a former partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (now PwC), in the UK and Australia from 1979 to 2011. He joined the Board of Australia for UNHCR in 2012. At PwC he was responsible for the firm's corporate responsibility agenda both in Australia and globally and he headed up the PwC Global Foundation. In this role Rick helped drive PwC’s 10th Anniversary corporate gift of $6m to UNHCR which is one of the largest corporate gifts to UNHCR, and which helped support the construction of schools and refugee camps in Chad.
Rick has a MA Law, Member Institute of Chartered Accountants, Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Paul joined the Board in 2004 and has a strong commitment to social justice. Paul is a former partner with KPMG, is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a registered Company Auditor.
With more than 30 years experience in auditing and accounting, regulatory compliance matters and risk advisory services, Paul has made a significant contribution to the governance of Australia for UNHCR, initially as a pro-bono auditor and now as Chair of our Finance Committee.
Paul has a BA (Acctg), Dip of Superannuation Management, CA, Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Kate joined the Board in 2015. She is the former Director of ABC radio, a role she undertook for 5 years. In 2010 she instigated ABC Radio’s annual large-scale fundraising initiatives, partnering with charities to raise millions of dollars for the displaced and vulnerable, including Australia for UNHCR’s Horn of Africa Famine Appeal in 2011 and Syria appeal in 2015.
In 2016, Kate travelled on mission to Uganda to see the impact of Australia funded projects in Nakivale and Kyaka II camps as well as Australia for UNHCR’s livelihood programs supporting urban refugee women in Kampala.
Kate has a BA (Comm), Vincent Fairfax Fellow, Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Zoe joined the Board in 2017 and is currently Chief Technology Officer at online retailer THE ICONIC, where she leads the company's tech engagement strategy. Zoe has held previous roles at several of Australia's most prominent organisations including News Corp and Yahoo!7.
Zoe arrived in Australia from Afghanistan as a refugee in the 1980s and has since taken an active interest in UNHCR’s humanitarian work. She has returned to Afghanistan on several occasions, observing UNHCR’s work on the ground and contributing to a video project for Australia for UNHCR.
Zoe holds a BA in Communications from Western Sydney University.
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Australia for UNHCR (ABN 35 092 843 322) respects the importance of privacy and security of your personal information. This privacy policy sets out the way we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information and underpins our commitment to protecting your right to privacy. This policy reflects Australia for UNHCR’s obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (including the National Privacy Principles) (the Privacy Act). Australia for UNHCR embraces the National Privacy Principles and is committed to safeguarding your personal data. As members of the following bodies, we adhere to additional codes of conduct and ethical fundraising practices:
We may revise this Privacy Policy or any part of it from time to time. You will find the most current version on our website or obtain a copy from our Donor Care Team; contact details are included at the bottom of this policy.
Collection of Personal Information
Australia for UNHCR follows the Australian Privacy Principles in handling personal information; we collect personal information about individuals including supporters, employees, contractors, volunteers, special representatives/delegates and job applicants. This information is collected directly from you, in person, by phone or email, on hard copy donation forms or via our website. We may also collect your personal information from publically available sources or third parties.
Use of Personal Data
The information we collect and hold generally includes contact details (name, address, email), personal details including date of birth, and credit card or bank accounts details.
We use the personal information you provide us with for the purpose for which it was provided to us, other related purposes or as permitted or required by law. Generally we collect and use your personal information for:
We also use your information in our marketing and fundraising activities, keeping you informed of our latest news, campaigns and appeals or about campaigns and appeals which may be of interest to you, and offer you the opportunity to subscribe to them. We may also offer you the opportunity to participate in surveys carried out by Australia for UNHCR or its agents.
Direct Marketing
We use your personal details to assist in the cost-effective development of our marketing and fundraising activities by sending you information by post, email or telephone. As we have a large number of supporters, at times we use external providers to assist with our telemarketing and mailing. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that our contracts with third parties include requirements for third parties to comply with the Use and Disclosure requirements of the Privacy Act.
We will endeavour to provide you with an opportunity to opt out of receiving such communications. By signing our pledge documents, you consent to having your personal information stored. If you do not opt out by ticking the box, we will send you our direct marketing materials. We make every effort to ensure that our opt-out notices are clear and easy to follow.
If you do not wish to receive future communications from Australia for UNHCR or have any questions about privacy please contact our Donor Care Team; contact details are included at the bottom of this policy.
Disclosure and Sharing of Personal Data
We occasionally invite other like-minded and trusted organisations in Australia to contact you with information that may be of interest. This allows Australia for UNHCR to increase its base of supporters and reach more people with our vital message.
Any personal contact information you provide to us may be disclosed, if appropriate, to third parties who provide services on our behalf. We may also disclose your personal information to our volunteers who assist with many of our tasks.
Strict confidentiality agreements are in place with our service providers and external agencies, and with staff and volunteers who handle your personal information. We will only disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it was initially collected, other directly related purposes or purposes to which you otherwise consent.
Other than as stated above, we will we not share your personal information. However, it is possible, though unlikely, that we might be forced to disclose personal information in response to legal processes or when we believe in good faith that the law requires it, for example, in response to a court order, subpoena or a law enforcement agency's request.
If you do not wish Australia for UNHCR to share your personal information with like-minded and trusted organisations in Australia, you may opt out by ticking the appropriate box on the donation or pledge form or contact our Donor Care team, with contact details at the bottom of this policy. If you have any questions about privacy please contact our Donor Care Team (see contact details at the bottom of this policy).
Access and Correction of Personal Data
Australia for UNHCR will correct its records containing Personal Information as soon as practically possible at the request of the individual concerned in accordance with the Privacy Act. We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information that we collect and hold is accurate, complete and up-to-date. However, we rely on you to advise us of any changes to your personal information to help us maintain accurate, complete and up-to-date information.
We will, on request, provide you with access to the personal information we hold about you unless otherwise required or permitted by law. We will notify you of the basis for any denial of access to your personal information.
Individuals wishing to lodge a request to access and/or correct their Personal Information should do so by contacting our Donor Care Team; contact details are included at the bottom of this document.
Quality of Personal Information
Australia for UNHCR will review, on a regular and ongoing basis, its collection and storage practices to ascertain how improvements to accuracy can be achieved. We may utilise the services of third parties in order to maintain accurate personal information. Where such disclosure is made, we take reasonable steps to require these organisations comply with the National Privacy Principles.
Storage and Security of Information
We strive to protect your personal information, that it is protected from misuse, loss, interference and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. For example, whenever we ask for your financial details online, we use security-encrypted response forms.
No data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, Australia for UNHCR cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us over the internet, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, we make our best effort to try and ensure its security both on our systems and while in transit between our systems and the companies who provide us with various services. If you do not wish to make your financial contribution online, please contact us to receive a hard copy form; contact details are included at the bottom of this policy.
Making a Privacy Complaint
If you wish to make a complaint about a breach of this privacy policy or the privacy principles of the Privacy Act 1988 you can contact us using the contact details at the bottom of this policy. You will need to provide us with sufficient details regarding your complaint as well as any supporting evidence and/or information.
We will refer your complaint to our Privacy Officer who will investigate the issue and determine the steps that we will undertake to resolve your complaint. We will contact you if we require any additional information from you and will notify you in writing of the outcome of the investigation. If you are not satisfied with our determination, you can contact us to discuss your concerns. If your complaint is about the way we handle your personal information, you may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by calling 1300 363 992, online at www.oaic.gov.au or writing to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001.
Online Activity and Privacy
Cookies
When you visit our website our server tracks non-personal statistical information about your experience on the site, such as pages viewed and donation details. The Australia for UNHCR website uses cookies and tracking technology to enhance your experience and deliver content relevant to your behaviour. This enables us to gather information such as the number of website visits and how you interact with our website. We use this information to help us understand more about how our site is used, so we can continually improve your experience.
We also use cookies for tracking the statistics of our website, which allows us to better understand your visit and improve the layout and functionality of our website. This analysis is conducted in such a way to ensure the anonymity of visitors while the information can help us customise the online experience for visitor to our site. No personally identifiable information is obtained. Information is gathered at an aggregate level and may be shared with third parties to help us analyse website usage and deliver marketing material.
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser. If you do not wish to receive any cookies you may set your browser to either prompt or refuse cookies.
Third party cookies
Australia for UNHCR sometimes embeds photos and video content from websites such as YouTube. Pages with this embedded content may present cookies from these websites. Similarly, when you use one of the share buttons on our website, a cookie may be set by the service you have chosen to share content through. We do not control the dissemination of these cookies; you should check the relevant third party website for more information about these.
In addition, if you linked to our websites from a third party website, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners or operators of that site. We recommend you check the policy of the third party site and contact its owner or operator if you have any concerns or questions.
Web browser cookies
If you don’t want to receive cookies, you can modify your browser so that it notifies you when cookies are sent to it or you can refuse cookies altogether. You can also delete cookies that have already been set.
If you wish to restrict or block web browser cookies which are set on your device you can do this through your browser settings; the Help function within your browser should tell you how. Alternatively, you may wish to visit www.aboutcookies.org which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of desktop browsers.
Social Media
Our website and mobile site may contain links to online forums. Think carefully before you post or publish any Personal Information in these forums as it will be publicly available.
Secure Online transactions
If you make a donation via our website, we process your credit/debit card details securely using an accredited internet payment security system. With the combination of SSL encryption on our website and a secure browser at your end, we take all reasonable measures to ensure that your credit/debit card and personal information are protected when you donate online. We also recommend that you take appropriate security precautions when accessing the internet via public Wi-Fi networks or shared computers.
Contact Us
You will find the most current version of our Privacy Policy on our website at privacy-policy.
If you have any questions about your privacy, wish to access or change your details, how to lodge a complaint regarding the handling of your information and how that complaint will be handled by Australia for UNHCR, please contact our
Donor Care Team: