The Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) necessarily collects personal information from customers to perform key functions in accordance with the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (RTRA Act). Information about how the RTA protects customer privacy is detailed in our Privacy plan.

Website privacy and security statement

The RTA is committed to protecting the privacy of our website users. We understand and appreciate that visitors and users of this website are concerned about their privacy and the confidentiality and security of any information that may be provided to us.

Collection of personal information takes place in a number of ways for example:

• when a person completes and lodges an RTA approved form
• when a person calls the RTA Contact Centre and provides contact details or updates their contact details
• when a person registers to become a principal user of Web Services
• when a person submits an online enquiry from the Contact page
• when a person creates an RTA web account to enable the RTA to send them newsletters, emails and surveys, and to order forms online from the RTA.

The information may be disclosed to (a) another government body if required for the RTA to fulfil its functions under the RTRA Act; and (b) third party where authorised and/or required by law.  The RTA will only use and disclose personal information in the ways detailed in the Privacy plan.

RTA Web Services

RTA Web Services are hosted on a secure site and any information you submit is treated as private and confidential. Read the full terms and conditions via the RTA Web Services landing page.

Podcasts 

The RTA uses a third party hosting platform called Podbean for our podcasts. You may also access our podcasts directly through your favourite podcast app (i.e. Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts). Please note that the RTA does not control how any third party app or website will use the information that passes through their sites including in relation to any transfers of information outside Australia. You are advised to read the privacy statements of any third party platform, app or website you choose prior to access. To understand how Podbean deals with your personal information you should read their privacy policy. To read how the department deals with your information online, read our privacy statement.

Email correspondence

Your email address details will not be added to a mailing list (unless you so request), nor will we disclose these details to third parties, unless authorised and/or required by law. 

At times, the RTA may share your email address with a third party for the purposes of conducting a survey questionnaire seeking feedback on the RTA’s services. Taking part in the survey is entirely voluntary and you can decline to participate. At times, the RTA may use web-based survey programs and sometimes their servers may be overseas (i.e. cloud based computing) and in these situations, the RTA complies with the requirements of the Information Privacy Act 2009 and Section 527 of the RTRA Act when any personal information is transferred to a third party outside Australia. 

Email messages may be monitored by our information technology staff for system trouble-shooting and maintenance purposes.

Cookies

Cookies are text files that a website can transfer to your computer when you access information on that site. Cookies allow websites to recognise you as you browse their website.

When you visit the RTA website our web measurement tool uses cookies to record anonymous information for statistical purposes, including:

• the type of browser, computer platform and screen resolution you are using
• your traffic patterns throughout our site such as:
  • the date and time of your visit to the site
  • the pages you have accessed and documents downloaded
  • the page visited before accessing this site
• the internet address of the server accessing our site
• access to information collected

No attempt is or will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect activity logs.

Public records

Email correspondence and information provided via web forms will be treated as a public record and will be retained as required by the Public Records Act 2002 and other relevant regulations.

Use and disclosure

We will only use personal information collected via our website for the purposes for which it was given to us and for related, internal management purposes and to seek feedback from customers by conducting surveys to improve our services.

We do not share personal information about you with other government agencies, organisations or anyone else unless one of the following applies:

• you have consented
• you would expect us to, or we have told you we will
• it is required or authorised by law
• it will prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to somebody’s life or health
• the disclosure is reasonably necessary for law enforcement, or for the protection of public revenue.

Security

The RTA takes all reasonable precautions to protect the personal information it holds from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. For more detailed information on privacy please visit the Privacy plan.

Links to other sites

This website contains links to other websites. The RTA is not responsible for the content and privacy practices of other websites.