Phyllis Mitchell & Associates Pty Ltd (PM&A) is committed to respecting and protecting your privacy.

PM&A fully endorses and complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Privacy Act (1988) in relation to the handling of personal information. PM&A also complies with the Market and Social Research Privacy Code (2014) which sets out how the APP’s are to be applied in relation to the collection, retention, use and disclosure of personal information in market and social research. This code is administered by AMSRO (Australian Market and Social Research Organisation) and adjudicated by the Australian Privacy Commissioner.

PM&A only collects personal information that you choose to give us.  We will only use this information for the purposes for which you have given it to us which includes our clients who are conducting specific research. The information PM&A collects could include types of personal information and identifiable research information e.g. name, date of birth, occupation, opinions and feedback in relation to products, brands and the like.

Depending on the nature of the research we conduct, we may also collect sensitive information from you, for example, political opinion or health information. Sensitive information will only be collected with your prior consent and only if it is directly related to, or reasonably necessary for, the research being conducted.

From time to time, we may use your information to contact you to provide you with focus groups information we think might be of particular interest. We will always give you the opportunity to opt out of receiving such direct contact.

We will only use and disclose your personal information for the purpose of conducting our research. We will never use or disclose your personal information for the purpose of advertising, promotions or direct marketing activities.  If at one time you have declined to participate in our research, we may use your personal information to re-contact you for a research purpose if we have valid reasons to believe a genuine research concern warrants such re-contact. If you would like to opt out of participating in any of our research please send us an email to PM&A Office email or call us on  03 9460 8340.

We only share information as required during our normal course of business, where it

·      directly relates to answers given to the screener questions during the participant selection process

·      identifies you as an attendee of a market research activity

·      is required by law

The information we collect on clients and attendees of focus groups is held in a customised database system stored on a secure server on our premises.

We will never disclose any personal information we collect from you unless you have provided express prior consent. We will not disclose any personal information or personally identifiable research information to a third party for a purpose other than conducting our research unless we are required to do so by an Australian law or court/tribunal order.

We will also take reasonable steps to ensure our clients (and their employees and contractors) comply with the Privacy Act and this Privacy Policy and/or are subject to similar privacy laws and you have the ability to enforce those rights.

You have the right to request access to any personal information we hold about you. You can request this information by emailing us at Office email or by calling us on 61 3 9460 8340. Where we hold information that you are entitled to access, we will respond to your request in a reasonable time and endeavor to provide you with a suitable range of choices as to how access is provided.

If at any time you believe that personal information we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request amendment of it and we will either amend the information or make a record of your comment, as appropriate.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or believe that we have at any time failed to keep one of our commitments to you or to handle your personal information in the manner required by the Privacy Act or APP or Privacy Code then we ask that you contact us immediately by emailing us on above email addressor by calling us on 61 3 9460 8340.