Privacy

This page forms Council's privacy collection notice.

Your privacy and personal information

Council of the City of Gold Coast (Council) is committed to protecting your privacy and managing your personal information in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) and the Queensland Privacy Principles.

We collect personal information to provide services, respond to enquiries and carry out our functions as a local government.

When we collect your personal information, we will provide you with a Privacy Collection Notice that explains:

what information we are collecting
why we are collecting it
how it will be used and disclosed
whether it will be shared with third parties or stored overseas.

Providing your personal information may be voluntary or required depending on the service. If you choose not to provide it, we may not be able to deliver the requested service..

Personal information

Personal information is any information or opinion about an individual where the individual’s identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained. A full definition is available in Council's Privacy Policy.

When handling your personal information, we comply with:

Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld)
Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld)
Queensland Privacy Principles.

We comply with these laws except where they are overridden by other legislation, such as the Local Government Act 2009 (Qld) and the Planning Act 2016 (Qld).

Your privacy rights

Under the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) you have the right to:

know why your personal information is being collected and how it will be used
access and correct your personal information
make a complaint if you believe your personal information has been mishandled
be informed if your information is being shared with another entity or stored overseas.

From 1 July 2025, we are required to comply with the Queensland Privacy Principles, which replace the Information Privacy Principles under the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld).

Correcting or amending your personal information

You can contact us to correct any errors or request to make amendments to personal information we hold, subject to providing evidence of identity.

To correct or amend your personal information, contact us.

Requesting access to your personal information

You can request access to your personal information or make an information access request via our How to access Council information page.

Complaints about information privacy

If you have concerns about how we have managed your personal information or suspect a privacy breach as occurred, you can submit an enquiry via our Complaints page.

Before making a complaint, you may wish to review information available from the Office of the Information Commissioner.

We will investigate the matter in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) and the Queensland Privacy Principles.

Why we need your personal information

We collect your personal information only were necessary to:

conduct local government business and deliver services
meet legal and regulatory obligations
protect the safety of individuals and the community
provide services or information where you have requested or consent to this.

Types of personal information we collect may include:

identity information (such as name and date of birth)
contact details (such as address, phone number and email)
information required to deliver services or assess eligibility
information generated when you interact with Council services
photographs, video or audio recordings (where applicable)
property, licensing or permit-related information
employment or recruitment-related information.

How we manage your personal information

Before or at the time we collect your personal information, we provide a Privacy Collection Notice that explains:

the purpose of collection
how your information will be used or disclosed
any third-party service providers involved
whether information may be stored or processed outside Australia.

These notices are provided on forms, webpages, applications or verbally, depending on how you interact with us.

We may collect your personal information:

directly from you (in person, by phone, in writing or online)
through our website or online services
from third parties, where authorised or permitted by law
from publicly available sources.

We use personal information to:

deliver services and respond to requests
manage applications, approvals and compliance activities
communicate with you
improve Council services and operations
meet legal, regulatory and reporting requirements.

Where we engage third party service providers, we take reasonable steps to ensure they comply with our privacy obligations.

Disclosure outside Australia

Some personal information may be stored or processed by cloud-based service providers located outside Australia.

Where this occurs, Council takes reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is handled in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) and the Queensland Privacy Principles.

Security of personal information

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

These measures include:

secure systems and access controls
staff access restrictions
policies governing the handling of information
encryption and cyber security protections.

Use of this website

We use cookies and similar technologies to improve your experience on our website and to understand how our website is used.

When you visit our website, we may collect information such as:

your device’s internet protocol (IP) address
browser type and version
pages visited and time spent on those pages
date and time of your visit
referring websites or links.

This information may be collected using analytics tools such as Google Analytics and through social media platforms, including Meta (Facebook and Instagram).

We use this information to:

improve website functionality and performance
understand user behaviour and preferences
enhance the content and services we provide
deliver relevant information and communications.

Some of these third-party providers may store or process information outside Australia.

Where this occurs, Council takes reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is handled in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) and the Queensland Privacy Principles.

You can manage your preferences or opt out of tracking by visiting:

the Google Analytics opt-out webpage
your Facebook and Instagram advertisement settings.

We do not use this information to identify individuals unless required or authorised by law (for example, in response to a law enforcement request).