Your privacy
What information is collected about individuals injured in a notifiable incident, the purpose for which the information is collected, how the information is used and to whom, if anyone, the information is disclosed.
This page is to help you understand how the NSW privacy legislation protects personal and health information and how the NSW Resources Regulator meets its obligations in respect of this information.
Our privacy standards are set out in the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIP Act) and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIP Act).
Injured or ill people have the right to know what information mine operators of a mine are required to provide us when reporting a notifiable incident.
What personal and health information we collect
When reporting a notifiable incident, the mine operator is required to report personal and health information about seriously injured or ill individuals to the Resources Regulator so that we can follow up with an incident investigation if required. Details such as your name, date of birth and contact details will be supplied. We also collect information about your occupation, your hours worked and detailed information about the nature and mechanism of the individual’s injury or illness for safety compliance and monitoring purposes.
Disclosure of personal and health information
In certain circumstances, we may need to provide your information to organisations outside the Resources Regulator, for example, to the police and others if the information is needed for law enforcement purposes or it may be disclosed under section 271 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
We may also need to provide your personal and health information to other regulators, including SafeWork NSW, SafeWork Australia, NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) and NSW Fair Trading.
Information may also be disclosed to other external bodies. Requests to us for information are considered carefully and we only disclose personal and health information:
- for a purpose directly related to the reason we collected it, and where the Resources Regulator has no reason to believe the individual would object
- where the individual concerned has been put on notice that information is usually disclosed in this way, or
- if it is necessary to do so to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to someone’s life or health.
Storage of your information
We keep personal and health information on controlled systems, protected by security safeguards such as building and equipment security, which are used in conjunction with digital technology, such as data encryption and firewalls, to minimise against unauthorised use, access or disclosure.
We store historical data as it is needed for trend analysis and intelligence interrogations. These records are only accessed when there is a legitimate purpose for doing so.
Access and accuracy of your information
You can ask us to provide you with details of your personal and health information that we currently hold.
You may also apply to the Resources Regulator to update any incorrect personal and health information that we hold.
Applications should be made in writing by emailing ED.ResourcesRegulator@regional.nsw.gov.au