This site is owned and operated by Hume City Council using software licensed from Social Pinpoint. For details on how Hume City Council collects and protects your personal information, refer to their Privacy Policy below. For details of how Social Pinpoint may access personal information, please refer to Social Pinpoint’s Privacy Policy.

The Hume City Council takes the privacy of the participants using this site very seriously.

Our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information is regulated by the Victorian Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014. You can find more information about your privacy rights at the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner.

This Privacy Statement applies to Participate Hume. For information about the broader collection and use of personal information by the Hume City Council, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

This privacy policy may be updated from time to time. We encourage you to check our website for our most current version.

How will we use and disclose your information?

We use the personal information about you to:

• administer the site and manage your account,
• identify when you sign into your account,
• send you newsletters and project information, but only when you have agreed to us sending you this information, or when the information is necessary to assist with the administration of the site,
• respond to queries that you have contacted us about,
• attribute content that you post on the site to you,
• analyse use of the site to inform ongoing improvements and enhancements,
• inform policy decisions by Hume City Council,
• to facilitate formal submission processes as part of the development of Hume City Council’s strategic planning activities,
• for any other purposes that we indicate to you when we request your personal information.

Content that you post on the site publicly will be able to be viewed by everyone who uses the site. Each post will contain your username, and any publicly available reports from consultations. This may include quotes from participants in forums, surveys and other consultation tools.

While the Hume City Council takes reasonable steps to protect the anonymity and individual confidentiality of respondents, we ask that you help us reduce the risk by not including information in your responses that could possibly identify you, or others.

Third Parties

From time to time, Hume City Council will engage third parties to provide assistance with community and stakeholder engagement, consultations, evaluations and research.

Where third parties are engaged for this purpose, Hume City Council may also disclose personal information to support these activities, and you consent to us disclosing your personal information.

All consultants are required to complete non-data disclosure agreements prior to receiving this information, and agree to the collection, use and disclosure of the raw feedback responses in accordance with this Privacy Collection Statement for using Participate Hume.

The Hume City Council will not disclose your information to any other external parties without your consent, unless required or authorised by law.

Updated August 2023

The following Terms and Conditions govern the use of Participate Hume (“the site”). The software platform is owned by Social Pinpoint Pty Ltd and operated by us, Hume City Council.

By accessing and using this site, you are choosing to accept and comply with the Terms presented throughout this agreement as well as the Privacy Policy and Moderation Policy. These Terms apply to all visitors and users of this site. Linked sites, affiliated services or third party content or software have their own Terms that you must comply with. If you disagree with any of the Terms presented in this agreement, you may discontinue using the site immediately.

If you are under 18 years old, please ensure that your parent or guardian understands and accepts these Terms and Conditions (including the Privacy Policy and Moderation Policy).

What are the conditions with a user’s account?

While using the site, you must not violate any applicable laws and regulations. It is our duty to protect the confidentiality of content you provide on our site in accordance with our Privacy Policy. When you create an account with us, you must always provide us with accurate information. Failure to provide accurate information violates the Terms, which may result in immediate termination of your account on our service. You are responsible for protecting your own password you use for this site and for any activities done under that password. Unauthorised use of your password or account must be immediately reported to us. In some cases, we or our agents may require access to your user accounts to respond to technical issues.

We are not responsible for the content on the site that has been provided by the users of the site. Any content posted by you is subject to the rules of our Moderation Policy. Your contribution to the site may be edited, removed or not published if we consider it inappropriate (refer to Moderation Policy). Contributors should also be aware that their posts may remain online indefinitely. Where practical, you may choose not to identify yourself, deal with us on an anonymous basis or use a pseudonym.

What do we require from our users?

You must understand and agree that, without limitation:

• all information, data, images and other materials are the sole responsibility of the person from whom the content originated;
• you are prohibited from advertising or offering to sell or buy any goods and services
• you cannot transmit Content that contains software viruses or programs designed to change or destroy the functionality of any computer software or hardware; or
• you cannot collect or store personal data about other users of the site
• you cannot impersonate any person or entity, including without limitation to a Hume City Council representative
• you cannot interrupt or interfere with the site or servers or networks connected to the site
• you cannot attempt to gain unauthorised access to the site or other use accounts

Can your account be suspended or terminated?

We may terminate or suspend access to your site and/or account immediately, without prior notice, including without limitation if you breach the Terms. We may immediately deactivate or delete your account and all the related files and information in your account. After your account has been terminated, the content you have posted may also remain indefinitely on the site.

If you want to terminate your own account, please send an email to participate@hume.vic.gov.au.

Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed in accordance with the laws of Victoria, Australia, without regards to its conflict of law provisions.

Indemnification

Hume City Council, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, licensors and other partners are not responsible for any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including legal fees, made by any third party due to or arising from a breach of this agreement and/or any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above.

What content do we own?

This website contains the copyrighted material, trademarks, patents, trade secrets and other proprietary information (“Intellectual Property”) of Hume City Council and its suppliers and licensors. Hume City Council owns and retains all proprietary rights in the intellectual property. All intellectual property in the content of this site including without limitation to text, software, source code, pages, documents and online graphics, photographs, sounds, audio, video and other interactive features are owned by or licensed to us.

Any original content that you submit or post on our site may be made available to the public and allows users to share your content (with the end user acknowledging your contribution) under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Australian License.

Except for Intellectual Property which is in the public domain or for which you have been given written permission, you may not copy, alter, transmit, sell, distribute any of the Intellectual Property on this site.

We are not responsible for your communications or dealings, including payment and delivery of goods or services, with a third party found via our website. Any loss or damage incurred from those communications or dealings are solely between the user and the third party.

Disclaimer and Warranties

Users must agree that you use of the site is at your own risk. We make no warranty that the site will meet your requirements or be uninterrupted or error-free. Any material that the user downloads through the site is done at their own risk and are responsible for any damages to their computer system or loss of data.

What happens if these Terms change?

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time without notice. The most recent version of the Terms can be seen on this page. By continuing to access or use our site after those revisions become effective, you agree and will comply to the revised terms. If you do not agree to the revised terms, please discontinue using our site.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at participate@hume.vic.gov.au.