Privacy

This page is about how the VEC collects and uses personal information.

Collection notice

We collect personal information:

  • to fulfil our statutory functions under the Electoral Act 2002
  • for administrative purposes.

When collecting personal information, we will take reasonable steps to advise you:

  • what information we seek
  • why we seek that information
  • whether any law requires us to collect the information
  • any consequences of not providing the information.

We usually collect personal information directly from individuals. We sometimes collect personal information from third parties, but only if:

  • the person the information is about has consented to or would reasonably expect the VEC to collect their information this way
    or
  • the information is for functions or activities under the Electoral Act, or authorised by law.

The collection of personal information at the time of enrolment is covered by Commonwealth and Victorian law. For this reason, we jointly manage the roll with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). To maintain the roll, the VEC and AEC share information from voters and third-party sources. We may use and disclose this information in different ways due to differences in Victorian and Commonwealth laws.

Survey collection notice

We regularly conduct surveys. The information we collect during a survey includes your first name, email address and any survey responses.

All information collected is for research purposes only and is de-identified for reporting on.

Survey responses are securely stored in Microsoft's Customer Voice platform in the US. After completing a survey, your first name and email will be shared with Prezzee to email a gift voucher to thank you for your time and insights.

Use and disclosure

We handle all personal information we receive in line with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014. We only disclose this information to government agencies, private sector organisations or anyone else if one of the following applies:

  • the person the information is about has consented
  • the person the information is about would reasonably expect, or has been told that, information of that kind will be shared with those individuals, bodies or agencies
  • it will prevent or reduce a serious and imminent threat to somebody’s life or health
  • it is reasonably necessary for the enforcement of the criminal law, a financial penalty, or protection of public revenue
  • it is required or authorised by law for another reason.
  • Candidates, MPs and parties

    Under Section 33 of the Electoral Act we must regularly provide enrolment information to political parties, members and candidates.

    Information about whether you voted and how you voted is not made public. Section 123 of the Electoral Act requires us to provide the following information to registered political parties and independent Members of Parliament if they request it:

    • the names and addresses of electors who voted at a Parliamentary election (other than silent electors and itinerant electors)
    • whether the electors voted personally or by post (if applicable)
    • the location of the voting centre the electors voted at (if they voted at a voting centre in their enrolled electoral district).

    This information must only be used in connection with an election. Severe penalties apply for misuse of this information.

  • Local councils
    We provide enrolment information to councils under the Local Government Act 1989 and the City of Melbourne Act 2001 for council elections.
  • Juries Commissioner

    We provide enrolment information to the Juries Commissioner under the Juries Act 2000, so people can be called for jury service.

  • Other organisations

    Section 34 of the Electoral Act authorises us to provide enrolment information to certain people and organisations under strict conditions.

    These organisations are listed in our annual report.

    Learn more about the release of enrolment information.

    • Data quality and security

    We take all reasonable steps to make sure the information we hold is accurate, complete and up to date.

    We use a range of safeguards, access controls, secure communication methods, and back-up and disaster recovery systems to protect your information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.

    Information we hold is subject to the Public Records Act 1973 and must be disposed of under retention and disposal authorities.

    Access and correction

    You can correct or update your enrolment information by:

    Requests for personal information held by the VEC are managed in line with the Freedom of Information Act 1982. To access or correct VEC documents containing your information, email foi@vec.vic.gov.au.

    Website analytics

    This website uses tools from third-party applications to measure website usage. We use Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager and Monsido.

    We use Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to understand the number of visitors to our websites, how they arrived, which pages they visited, which search terms they used and how they interacted with on our sites.

    We use Monsido to measure the quality and performance of our website, including accessibility errors, broken links, pages not found and load times.

    Google and Monsido use first-party cookies to track and report on visitor interactions on our websites. You may disable cookies or delete any individual cookie. Learn more about cookies.

    We do not collect information that would identify individual website users and the data we collect is used to create aggregated statistical reports.

    How to make a privacy enquiry or complaint

    You can make a privacy enquiry to us in writing or over the phone.

    To make a complaint about us in relation to privacy, you can email privacy@vec.vic.gov.au. If you are unhappy with our response, contact the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner. They may try to resolve the matter or suggest it is heard at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

    Contact

    VEC privacy officer

    Telephone: 131 832

    Email: privacy@vec.vic.gov.au

    Address: Level 11, 530 Collins Street Melbourne Victoria 3000

    Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner

    Website: ovic.vic.gov.au

    Telephone: 1300 006 842

    Email: enquiries@ovic.vic.gov.au

    Address: PO Box 24274, Melbourne Victoria 3001