Beginning Experience & Your Privacy:

In accordance with the Australian Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 your rights to privacy in regard to the information you supply to us is protected by law in addition to our ministry’s own concerns for your privacy. Be assured that what you discuss in the course of BE programmes is not repeated to others or recorded (for possible exceptions see below). We also ask that you respect the privacy of others in this regard. While Team members undertake training in the BE programme, they have no formal counselling training or experience. It is inappropriate for a participant to seek specific advice in regard to their current situation (eg. in regard to Family Court issues, housing or access problems). It is equally inappropriate for Team to give such advice. It is also inappropriate for a participant to raise such issues as their abuse (sexual, physical, emotional or psychological) of an ex-spouse (if the abuse is continuing) or of a child (at any time) within the context of a BE programme. Such issues are ‘outside’ the ministry of BE and may cause moral and ethical dilemmas for Team and other participants torn between their desire to help the abuser, the confidentiality of the BE programme, and their need to protect the person/people being abused. Some members of Team and some other participants (professionals such as health and child-care workers and teachers) may also be under legal obligations to report child abuse. Participants who have suffered as the victims of abuse and who wish to discuss this within the context of their feelings concerning the loss of their partner are encouraged to do so on the understanding that Team cannot react in a counselling role.

Why do we ask you to complete the questions on the Weekend Application Form?

1) Questions relating to your name, address and phone number are needed so that we can make contact with you concerning your application.

2) Questions regarding your gender, DOB, religious affiliation, occupation, children and marital status are used to help us plan small groups for the Weekend – we try to ensure a balance of backgrounds in each group.

3) Questions regarding medical and other special needs help us to better plan to meet your personal requirements on the Weekend.

4) The question relating to how you learned about BE helps us better plan our advertising.

5) Questions regarding your hopes for the Weekend, any professional counselling you may be receiving, and your past marriage/s are asked as your responses help us to determine your current readiness for the BE Weekend.

What happens if I do not complete all the questions?

If you do not complete all the questions it may make it more difficult for us to contact you concerning your application, or we may not be able to adequately plan for the Weekend, or we may not be able to adequately determine your current readiness for the BE Weekend. This may mean that your application could be rejected, or that we make contact with you to discuss such an issue.

What happens to the information I give?

Your responses will be used to help us to determine your current readiness for the BE Weekend. We shall make contact with you as soon as possible to further discuss your application. If accepted for the Weekend we shall also let you know details of the Weekend (eg. venue, times, what to bring), and your Application Form will be used to help us plan small groups and other matters related directly to the Weekend. The Form will only be viewed by members of the Local Team who are directly involved in planning and/or presenting the Weekend. At all times until it is destroyed your Form will be kept safe and secure by the Weekend Coordinator or his/her nominee. You have a right to request access to your personal information being held by us, and to correct any such information.

If you attend the Weekend your original Weekend Application Form will be destroyed within 90 days of the completion of the Weekend, except for the section related to your permission to make use of the information we collect (which shall be detached from the Form and kept on permanent file) and we shall also extract some information from your Form prior to destroying it (as explained in this document).

If you do not attend the Weekend your original Application Form will be destroyed within 90 days of the completion of the Weekend. In some cases we might ask your permission to keep your name and phone number/address on file in order to contact you to let you know about a Weekend to be held at a later date.

What information will you extract from my Application Form and how will this be used?

Information concerning your gender, D.O.B, religious affiliation and marital status is used to create a statistical report on Weekend participants. No other identifying details (for example your name) are recorded in this statistical report. Such statistical reports are kept by us for our future use, and passed on by us to the Asia-Pacific Regional Branch of the Beginning Experience International Ministry Centre (USA) Inc. and the Beginning Experience International Ministry Centre (USA) Inc. for their use in reporting and planning for the future needs of the Beginning Experience ministry.

Your name, address, phone number and the date of your BE Weekend details are kept on a ‘List of Participants’ by our Local Team. We use these details for BE purposes only (eg. to let you know about reunions, send you newsletters or let you know when a new Weekend is planned). We also pass on your name, address and the date of your BE Weekend to the Asia-Pacific Regional Branch of the Beginning Experience International Ministry Centre (USA) Inc. (which stores its files in Australia and/or New Zealand), and they in turn send a copy to the Beginning Experience International Ministry Centre (USA) Inc. in the USA. Your name, address and the date of your BE Weekend details held by these bodies will be kept safe and secure by them, and be used for BE purposes only (eg. to let you know about a BE Regional Conference or to send you a BE newsletter). You have a right to request access to your personal information being held by them, and to correct any such information. This can be arranged by contacting these bodies via our Local Team Secretary who will supply you with current contact details. Please phone our Team President on:   0419 928 110

(Note: the Asia-Pacific Regional Branch of the Beginning Experience International Ministry Centre (USA) Inc. and the Beginning Experience International Ministry Centre (USA) Inc. would only have on file: your name; your address; the date of your BE Weekend; and generic, non-individualised information such as the total number of males/females on that Weekend.)