Privacy
Scope
This statement applies to all users who access the Parliament of
Australia Web Site.
General
The Parliament of Australia Web Site makes some use of data that
only indirectly identifies users. We take great care with practices that affect
personal privacy. As a general rule, we do not collect or record data that
directly identifies users.
Data Collection
Data that indirectly identifies users is gathered during
interactions with the Parliament of Australia Web Site in the following
circumstances:
- Computer Information
It is
necessary that your web browser provides your machine's network address, so the
web server can address its replies back to the correct machine. In addition,
the browser type and operating system information may be recorded.
- Navigation and Click-Stream Data
Browsing any web site generates a trail of pages visited, the amount of
data transferred and the time of access. This information is recorded against
the network address supplied by your web browser.
- Electronic Mail
It is a
necessary part of electronic mail that a sender and receiver address is
supplied. These are recorded as well as a message identifier, amount of data
and the time. The address you supply as sender is only a pseudonym and may
possibly bear no relation to your real name, so is not considered as directly
identifying you.
Data Storage, Retention, Use and Disclosure
The data referred to above is generated by the systems you are
accessing, and stored in system logs. These logs are preserved and archived for
possible future use.
The data is used by Parliament of Australia Web Site software, and
by our support staff, only for
- web site and systems administration, including monitoring as a
security measure
- customisation of the web site to meet your needs
- evaluation, research and development.
The data collected will not be disclosed to a third party except
where it is legally required, such as in the investigation of a criminal
offence, and in compliance with a search warrant or subpoena.
Cookies
A cookie is a very small text file placed onto your computer when
you visit a Web site. A cookie can be 'persistent' (meaning that it is written
to a permanent file on your hard disk) or 'session-only' (in which case the
cookie is deleted at the end of your browsing session).
Cookies are not generally used on the Parliament's site. The
exception to this is the search facility, which has been built to use only
temporary 'session ID' cookies. One cookie is created at the beginning of the
user's search session and discarded at its conclusion. The cookie is not used
to collect or store any information about the user, only to allocate a
temporary identifier to the search session.
Without such a session ID, the user would lose the entire search
context each time a new web page is visited during a search session e.g. by
viewing a document retrieved by a search. If cookies are disabled, the search
program could not provide more than a very basic functionality - far less than
is expected by our users.
Our live broadcasts do not use cookies.
Links to other sites
This site contains links to other sites. The Parliament is not
responsible for the privacy practice or the content of such web sites.
Accountability
Parliamentary staff comply with information privacy principles.
Accessibility 
We are committed to making the Parliament of Australia Web Site
fully accessible to the public, including people with disabilities or technical
constraints (such as older browsers and low speed Internet connections). To
meet this commitment, we are implementing recommendations from Vision Australia
Foundation to achieve a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Level AA conformance
rating for accessibility. Most content now conforms to this rating with the
exception of the search facility (http://search.aph.gov.au ). It is hoped
that this content will also conform in the near future.
The Parliament of Australia Web Site is regularly tested for
accessibility and all new website contracts include accessibility as a key
performance measure.
Comments on the accessibility of the Parliament of Australia Web
Site are welcome and can be sent by email to the
Parliamentary Web Manager .
In particular, if you are having a problem accessing the site,
please let us know. Comments may also be submitted in writing to:
Parliamentary Web Manager Parliamentary Library Parliament
House Canberra ACT 2600 Australia

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