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Guidelines & Privacy

STEM Matters conducts its journalism in accordance with the guidelines of the Australian Press Council. Those guidelines are as follows:

THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES

ACCURACY AND CLARITY

  1. Ensure that factual material in news reports and elsewhere is accurate and not misleading, and is distinguishable from other material such as opinion.
  2. Provide a correction or other adequate remedial action if published material is significantly inaccurate or misleading.

FAIRNESS AND BALANCE

  1. Ensure that factual material is presented with reasonable fairness and balance and that writers’ expressions of opinion are not based on significantly inaccurate factual material or omission of key facts.
  2. Ensure that where material refers adversely to a person, a fair opportunity is given for subsequent publication of a reply if that is reasonably necessary to address a possible breach of General Principle 3.

PRIVACY AND AVOIDANCE OF HARM

  1. Avoid intruding on a person’s reasonable expectations of privacy, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
  2. Avoid causing or contributing materially to substantial offence, distress or prejudice, or a substantial risk to health or safety, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.

INTEGRITY AND TRANSPARENCY

  1. Avoid publishing material which has been gathered by deceptive or unfair means, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest.
  2. Ensure that conflicts of interests are avoided or adequately disclosed and that they do not influence published material.

PRIVACY POLICY

In this policy “we”, “us’ and “our” means Stem Matters Pty Limited, its subsidiaries and affiliated companies. This policy describes the way in which we collect and handle your personal information. We may update or revise this policy from time to time. If we elect to update or revise this policy, we will post the date on which that revision takes effect at the end of this policy. Please be aware that you have no obligation to provide any personal information requested by us. However, if you choose to withhold your personal information, we may not be able to provide you with the services or products that depend on the collection and use of that information.

  1. OUR PRIVACY COMMITMENT

We recognise the importance of and are committed to, managing any personal information that we collect in compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), which includes the Australian Privacy Principles, and other Australian privacy laws (together, “Privacy Laws”). We follow the principles of the Australian Press Council (“APC”) and we ensure any personal information we collect in the course of our journalistic activities is managed in accordance with the APC Statement of Privacy Principles including:

  1. COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

In gathering news, we seek personal information only in the public interest. In doing so, as journalists, we should not unduly intrude on the privacy of individuals and should show respect for the dignity and sensitivity of people encountered in the course of gathering news.

In accordance with Principle 7 above of the Australian Press Council’s Statement of Principles, news obtained by unfair or dishonest means should not be published unless there is an overriding public interest.

Generally, as journalists, we should identify ourselves as such. However, journalists and photographers may at times need to operate surreptitiously to expose crime, significantly antisocial conduct, public deception or some other matter in the public interest.

Public figures necessarily sacrifice their right to privacy, where public scrutiny is in the public interest. However, public figures do not forfeit their right to privacy altogether. Intrusion into their right to privacy must be related to their public duties or activities.

We also collect your personal information directly from you through your:

  • signing up to newsletters and other notifications from our brands;
  • entry into promotions or competitions;
  • answers to surveys;
  • signing up to join our online communities;
  • registration to attend events;
  • provision of express permission when accessing applications sitting on Stem Matters brand social media accounts;
  • application for an internship or employment with us;
  • communications with us such as letters, telephone calls, text messaging and emails regarding services and products;
  • download and use of our digital publications and mobile applications (“apps”).
  1. USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Personal information gathered by us, directly or via journalists and photographers, should only be used for the purpose for which it was intended. A person who supplies personal information should have a reasonable expectation that it will be used for the purpose for which it was collected.

Some personal information, such as addresses or other identifying details, may enable others to intrude on the privacy and safety of individuals who are the subject of news coverage, and their families. To the extent lawful and practicable, we will only disclose sufficient personal information to identify the persons being reported in the news, so that these risks can be reasonably avoided.

We will only provide your personal information to third parties where you have consented to such disclosure. We ensure that any organisation which we disclose your personal information to is subject to appropriate contractual obligations to safeguard and protect your personal information and comply with all Privacy Laws.

In certain circumstances, we may disclose your personal information where required or authorised to do so by law, including in emergency situations and to assist law enforcement agencies. We will always ensure that those to whom we disclose your personal information have the legal right to receive it.

  1. QUALITY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information it collects is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

  1. SECURITY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information it holds is protected from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

We store information both at an onsite secure server and at trusted third-party storage providers. We undertake regular training of relevant staff to ensure that they are aware of our privacy commitments and our obligations in the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. Our staff is also required to sign in and use a password when accessing our secure systems.

  1. ANONYMITY OF SOURCES

All persons who provide information to us are entitled to seek anonymity. The identity of confidential sources should not be revealed, and where it is lawful and practicable, a media organisation should ensure that any personal information which it maintains derived from such sources does not identify the source.

  1. CORRECTION, FAIRNESS AND BALANCE

In accordance with Principle 3 of the Council’s Statement of Principles, where individuals are a major focus of news reports or commentary, we will ensure fairness and balance in the original article. Failing that, we will provide a reasonable and swift opportunity for a balancing response in the appropriate section of the publication.

We will make amends for publishing any personal information that is found to be harmfully inaccurate, in accordance with Principle 2 of the Council’s Statement of Principles. The media organisation should also take steps to correct any of its records containing that personal information, so as to avoid a harmful inaccuracy being repeated.

  1. SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION

In accordance with Principle 8 of the Council’s Statement of Principles, we will not place any gratuitous emphasis on the categories of sensitive personal information listed in Principle 8, except where it is relevant and in the public interest to report and express opinions in these areas.

Members of the public caught up in newsworthy events should not be exploited. A victim or bereaved person has the right to refuse or terminate an interview or photographic session at any time.

Unless otherwise restricted by law or court order, open court hearings are matters of public record and can be reported by the press. Such reports need to be fair and balanced. They should not identify relatives or friends of people accused or convicted of a crime unless the reference to them is necessary for the full, fair and accurate reporting of the crime or subsequent legal proceedings.

  1. THE USE OF COOKIES AND WEB BEACONS ON OUR WEBSITES AND APPS

Information may be collected when you access our websites or apps, such as the time and specific page or app you visited. This information is collected through “cookies”. A “cookie” is a small piece of information, or file, that a website or app sends to your computer’s hard drive while you are viewing that website or app for record-keeping purposes. Most web browsers are automatically set to accept cookies. If you do not wish to receive any cookies you may set your browser to refuse cookies. However, this will mean you will not be able to take full advantage of our websites or apps.

We, and our service providers, use the information collected from cookies for a number of reasons:

  • for statistical purposes in order to track how many users we have and how often they visit our website or apps;
  • to provide statistical data, ratings and other information for industry and other public reporting;
  • to provide you with a more personalised, convenient and interactive experience on our websites or apps;
  • to track who has viewed an advertisement or clicked-through an advertisement; and
  • to provide you with a more targeted advertising experience both on and off our websites or apps, allowing us to impose restrictions where appropriate and monitor how effective an advertising campaign has been.

We sometimes use services, including Google Adsense, DoubleClick, Adobe, Nielsen and Facebook, in activities such as analytics and online behavioural advertising, to provide you with more relevant messages. You can find more information on these services and choose to opt-out from the services of your choice by using this website http://optout.networkadvertising.org. You will still see advertising after opting out, however, it won’t be tailored to your likely interests. Opt-outs only apply to online behavioural advertising and do not apply to other technologies such as email and social advertising.

  1. THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

When you click on advertisements or links on any of our websites or through our apps, you may be redirected to a third-party website. The linked websites are not under our control and we are not responsible for the conduct of companies linked to our websites or apps. By placing a link to a particular product, we are in no way endorsing that product. We recommend that, before disclosing your personal information to a website to which you were redirected from an advertisement, you read that website’s privacy policy and terms of use/service.

  1. HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT

 

If you wish to make a complaint about the way in which we handle your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer using the contact details set out below. We undertake to acknowledge and investigate any complaint promptly and will respond to written complaints within a reasonable time from the date of receipt. If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may refer the matter to the Australian Information (Privacy) Commissioner (see www.oaic.gov.au). If you are dissatisfied with our response in relation to the way in which we handle your personal information in the course of our journalistic activities, you may refer the matter to the Australian Press Council (see www.presscouncil.org.au).

  1. CONTACT DETAILS

If you have any questions or comments on our privacy policy, if you wish to update the personal information we hold on you or make a complaint, please write to The Privacy Officer, Stem Matters Pty Limited, PO Box 814, Strawberry Hills NSW 2026. Alternatively, you can send an email to our Privacy Officer at privacyofficer@stemmatters.com.au

Privacy Policy last updated on 6 August 2020