Privacy

What information we collect and why

The Victorian Government values and is committed to protecting your privacy.

We handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) (PDP Act) and other applicable legislation.

This Privacy Statement applies to information collected through the www.vewh.vic.gov.au website. For information about our broader collection, use, and disclosure of personal information, please contact us.

We may update this privacy statement from time to time. Any changes to this privacy statement will be published on this website.

How do we collection information from this website?

There are 3 main ways that we may collect personal information from you:

Requests to provide information

In most circumstances, you will know if we are collecting personal information from you because you will be requested to provide it.  For instance, if you subscribe to our newsletter we will ask you to provide your email address. If you are requested to provide information a ‘Collection notice’ will be displayed with the request.

Automatic collection through the website

Some personal information is automatically collected as a result of your visit to our website. This information is collected using software techniques such as web server log file analysis, cookies and web beacons.

Automatic collection by third party software vendors

We use some third-party software that collects information about your interaction with our website. When you visit our website, your web browser automatically sends certain information to these software providers.

This statement covers each of these instances of personal information collection in more detail below.

What personal information do we collect?

Automatic collection through the website

We use first-party cookies and JavaScript code to collect information about visitors to this website. We use these to track how our visitors interact with this website, including where they came from, what they did on the site and whether they completed any transactions on the site. If you don't want to have cookies placed on your computer, you can disable them using your web browser. You will need to customise each web browser you use to turn off cookie tracking.

If you opt out of using cookies, you will still have access to all the information and resources provided by this website, though some features may not work as expected.

Automatic collection by third-party software vendors

This website uses several online tools to measure website use, which are provided by third party software vendors. We use these tools to help us make our site better. Much of the information collected this way relates to the computer that is used to interact with our website rather than the person using it.

We use software by third parties, including:

• Google Analytics
• Google Tag Manager
• Emma

For further information on how these third-party software vendors handle your personal information, please review their privacy policies. Personal information may be provided to third parties when accessing this website. Information that may be shared to third parties includes:

• network location and IP address
• the date and time of your visit to our website
• the types of web browser, for example Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari and operating system, for example, Windows 10, Mac OS X etc. you are using
• Flash version, JavaScript support, screen resolution and screen colour processing ability
• Referring site details (such as the URL that you came through to arrive at our website)
• Page visited and the time spent on each page
• Documents downloaded and search terms used
• The forms accessed on our website
• Personal identifiable information
• Unique device identifier
• Cookies and data about which page you visited
• Device information, hardware model, operating system information, app version, app usage, debugging information, browser information
• Geo-location information (if enabled by user)
• May assign a unique user identifier

All of the third-party software vendors we use on this website comply with the PDP Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation within the European Union.

Third-party software vendors may alter how they collect and handle personal information at any time.

Use and disclosure

Use of web analytics data

We use web analytics data for statistical purposes, such as analysing, measuring, and reporting on our website traffic and visits. This information helps us understand general user trends at an aggregate level, and improve our website, content, and user experience. The statistical information gathered does not identify you specifically.

We may also use this information for security audits to protect against threats from hackers or other security purposes.

We do not use this information to identify you or match it with any other personal information that we may collect from you, unless required to do so as part of an internal investigation or for a law enforcement-related purpose, in accordance with the PDP Act.

Your site visit data is collected under the authority of Information Privacy Principle 1.1 of the PDP Act for the purposes stated above.

Disclosure of web analytics data

Apart from the third-party tools described in this Privacy Statement, we do not disclose your site visit data to any other third parties without your consent, unless we are required or authorised to do so by law. In the event of an investigation into suspected unlawful or improper activity, a law enforcement or government agency may use its legal authority to inspect our web server’s records (e.g. in relation to hacking or abusive messages).

Can I opt-out of the collection of web analytics data?

You cannot opt-out of the automatic collection of information that is used for analytical purposes, however, you may choose to disable cookies or delete any individual cookie. If you choose to disable cookies, the website may not function fully and your ability to browse, read, and download information contained on our website may be impaired. However, you may still access our services by contacting our office via other methods such as telephone, email, or mail.

You can enable a “Do Not Track” setting on your browser to help protect your privacy. When Do Not Track is turned on, your browser will send a Do Not Track request to the sites you visit, and to the third parties whose content is hosted on those sites. However, many websites will still collect and use your browsing data regardless of the Do Not Track Request. This depends on individual sites’ privacy practices. Sending a Do Not Track request does not guarantee privacy protection.

Instructions on how to enable the Do Not Track setting:

• Google Chrome
• Internet Explorer 11
• Mozilla Firefox
• Safari

Social media

The VEWH uses social media channels (including Facebook and, LinkedIn) to communicate with the public about our work.

We also use Facebook and LinkedIn’s analytics to monitor social media engagement.

We have social media sharing links on this website. These are located on the left-hand side of a web page beside the text 'Share this page'. By clicking these links you are given the option to share the web page as a post on your social media account (X (formerly Twitter), Facebook or LinkedIn). These social media networks may collect your personal information for their own purposes.

VEWH staff managing the social media accounts adhere to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy of the relevant social media platform/website, as well as copyright, defamation, contempt of court, discrimination, harassment and other applicable laws, and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action Privacy Policy. Any personal information we collect via social media will be handled appropriately and in line with this privacy statement.

The VEWH will not publish or report on conversations or information deemed confidential, classified or dealing with matters that are internal in nature.

To protect your privacy and the privacy of others, please do not post any personal information (including phone numbers and email addresses) in your comment, tweet, or reply. Additionally, please do not share personal information about others via social media.

Links to non-vic.gov.au websites

This privacy statement does not apply to any external websites that are linked on the vic.gov.au website.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites. When you visit other websites, we recommend you read the privacy statements or policies of these websites before providing personal information.

Security of your personal information

Under the Privacy and Data Protection Act, we have a responsibility to protect your personal information. We take reasonable steps to make sure that your personal information is protected from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. Access to systems, applications, and the information that we collect is limited to authorised staff members only.

Further, any personal information that we collect and use for identifying user trends (for example, IP address) is aggregated and anonymised when generating reports.

Access and correction

You may request access to, or correction of, documents that contain your personal information which is in our possession. For information on how to make a request for access or correction, please contact us.

In some cases, requests for access or correction will be handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic).

Page last updated: 05/12/24