Privacy Policy

Privacy policies can be complicated. We have tried to make ours as clear as possible and summarised how Innovative Solar handles your personal information in our Privacy Policy. Our Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, the control you have over your personal information and the procedures we have in place to protect your personal information.

References to ‘Innovative Solar’, ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ in this Privacy Policy refer to ‘Innovative Solar Pty Ltd’ (ABN: 51 603 924 287), by its successors assigns or any person acting on behalf of ‘Innovative Solar’. Innovative Solar understands the importance you place on privacy. Innovative Solar respects and commits to protect the privacy of our customers, shareholders, employees, contractors, agents, job applicants and indeed all who we deal with in our business. We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) regarding the manner in which we handle your personal information and how we respond to your requests to access and correct it. Due to changing business circumstances, we may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of the policy. Any actions that we have taken before the change will continue to be regulated by the privacy policy that existed before the changes were made.

How we collect your information

We primarily collect information about you through correspondence we engage in with you, for example, through application forms, telephone conversations and emails. Sometimes, we collect information about our customers from our sales agents and distributors who have direct contact with you on our behalf.

What personal information will Innovative Solar collect?

We only hold information about you if it is relevant to providing the goods or services that we provide. Such information generally includes your name, date of birth, contact details, type of business, financial circumstances, concession or discount entitlement, payment details, account number, records of correspondence and billing statements. If you are one of our suppliers, we may collect other information about you that we feel is necessary, such as the nature of the goods or services that you supply, quotes that you provide and your direct credit details. If you are a non-profit organisation we have agreed to assist, we may collect information about how you make use of the goods or services that we provide to you.

How we hold your information

Depending on the circumstances, we may hold your information in either hardcopy or electronic form, or both. Our client database is held in electronic format. Innovative Solar will take reasonable steps to ensure the security of personal information held by it from such risks as loss or unauthorized access, modification, destruction, use or disclosure.

How personal information is used?

We will use your personal information only for the main business purposes for which it was collected:

  • to provide you with our goods, services and promotions for associated offers which may be of interest and value to you;
  • to administer our customer relationship with you;
  • to deal with requests, enquiries or complaints and other customer care activities;
  • for internal purposes such as procedural assessments, risk management, product and service reviews, staff training, accounting and billing;
  • to carry out market and product analysis and marketing our products and services generally;
  • to carry out any activity in connection with a legal, governmental or regulatory requirement of us, or in connection with legal proceedings.

If you are one of our suppliers, we may use your information to facilitate our business relationship with you, for example, to assess goods or services that you supply or to review a commercial proposal that you have put to us.

How we disclose your information

Generally, we will only disclose your personal information for a purpose that is related to the product or service that we are providing to you. This may include disclosures to organisations that provide us with professional advice, such as solicitors, accountants and business advisors, and to contractors to whom we out-source certain functions, such as mailing houses, electronic network administrators and debt collection agencies. However, where possible, we take contractual measures, and in all other circumstances, take all reasonable measures, with our contractors to ensure that they comply with the privacy standards set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). If the information we are disclosing is of a highly sensitive nature, we require our contractors to complete their work in-house and do not permit them to disclose information to sub-contractors. We may also disclose information where it is expressly permitted under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), for example, where it is with your consent or where we are legally required to do so, such as under a court order or taxation laws.

How we secure your information

We hold all hardcopy and electronic records of personal information in a secure manner to ensure that they are protected from such risks as loss or unauthorised access, destruction, use, modification or disclosure. Our staff follows strict information handling procedures and we only permit those staff whose tasks require use of your information to access it. We delete your personal information once it is no longer needed or required to be kept by law by shredding hardcopy records and deleting electronic records.

Your right to lodge a complaint

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal information, you are entitled to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Information regarding how to lodge a complaint is available from the Commissioner’s website at http://www.oaic.gov.au or by ringing the Commissioner’s enquiries line on 1300 363 992. However, before investigating a complaint, the Commissioner is legally required to be satisfied that you have first expressed your concern to us to afford us an opportunity to resolve the complaint directly, unless it is inappropriate for you to do so. You may lodge a complaint with our Manager of Operations either by mail at Innovative Solar or email to info@innovativesolar.com.au. We will acknowledge your complaint as soon as practicable within seven (7) business working days. We will aim to investigate and resolve your complaint within thirty (30) days of receiving it. If we need more time, we will notify you about the reasons for the delay and ask for your agreement to extend this thirty (30) day period. You may contact our Privacy Officer to enquire about its stage of progress at any time. We will go to great lengths to ensure that your complaint is resolved to your satisfaction.

Your right of access

Under the Privacy Act, you have a right to seek access to your personal information, which we hold at any time by sending a written request to our Manager of Operations. You also have the right to ask us to correct information about you, which is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date. If your personal information is out-of-date or incorrect, you may inform us of this and we will correct it for you. In the unlikely event that we disagree about the accuracy of the information and are unable to change it, you may provide us with a statement indicating that you dispute its accuracy and we will associate the statement with your information in such a manner that it will be brought to the attention of each person who uses the information.

In your request, please state how you would like to obtain access. For example, you may like to inspect our records at our premises or you may prefer to obtain a photocopy or an electronic version of your information. You do not need to provide a reason for your request. Once our Manager of Operations has verified your identity, the access will be provided to you in an appropriate manner within 14 days. We may charge a small fee for providing access if it requires a significant amount of time to locate your information or to collate or present it in an appropriate form. If your account is held in conjunction with another individual, we will provide each person named on the account with access to information held about each account holder. Our Manager of Operations will follow up your request to ensure that the level of access with which you have been provided is to your satisfaction.

In rare circumstances, and only where it is permitted under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), we may not be able to provide you with access to your information; for example, where it will have an unreasonable impact upon the privacy of others, where it relates to legal proceedings between us through which the information would not otherwise be available, where it would be prejudicial to negotiations we are holding with you, where we are required by law to withhold the information or where it would reveal information relating to our commercially sensitive decision making processes. If we are unable to provide you with access, we will state why this is so and consider whether the use of an intermediary would be appropriate to provide you with an explanation of your personal information.

Promotional information

We would like to send you promotional information about goods and services that we believe may be of interest to you, however, we understand that you may not wish to receive such material. If so, please inform our Manager of Operations of this in writing by mail or email at Innovative Solar and we will ensure that your name is removed from our mailing list.

Transfer of your information overseas

We can only transfer your personal information overseas if the transfer is to you, or to one of your authorised representatives, or it is with your express consent. We will not send your information outside of Australia in any other circumstances.

What is Innovative Solar’s Credit Reporting Policy and Statement?

This Credit Reporting Policy applies specifically to credit related personal and business information which is credit information, credit eligibility information or credit reporting body derived information about an individual or business (“Credit Related Information”) and sets out how Innovative Solar, by its successors assigns or any person acting on behalf of: Innovative Solar, and with the authority of Innovative Solar manages that information. Innovative Solar is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Act”) and the Credit Reporting  Privacy Code (“Code”) to the extent applicable in relation to that Credit Related Information. This Credit Reporting Policy applies in addition to our Privacy Policy, which applies to other personal information.

Acceptance of this Credit Reporting Policy

By completing a Trade Credit Agreement or entering into contracts with us or otherwise providing us with your Credit Related Information, you agree to the terms of this Credit Reporting Policy. Depending on the matter in which you communicate with Innovative Solar, further privacy information may apply in addition to the matters discussed in this Credit Reporting Policy. From time to time Innovative Solar may update this Credit Reporting Policy. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of the policy. We encourage you to check our website regularly for any updates to our Credit Reporting Policy.

Type of Credit Related Information we collect and hold

Innovative Solar collects and holds various kinds of credit related information including:

  • identification information (including an individual’s name, age, address);
  • basic information about your credit account (for example when it was open);
  • statements that information requests have been made by credit providers, mortgage insurers or trade insurers;
  • credit proceedings information;
  • various publicly available information like bankruptcy and credit-related court judgements;
  • default information;
  • personal insolvency information;
  • details about information requests we make about you to Credit Reporting Bodies (CRBs);
  • opinions of other credit providers;
  • individuals’ credit application history;
  • any other information relevant to the purposes for which we collect Credit  Related Information.

How do we collect and hold your Credit Related Information

Innovative Solar will collect your Credit Related Information primarily from you or from someone representing or assisting you. However, where it is unreasonable or impracticable to collect it directly from you, we will collect information about you from third parties. Third parties we may collect your Credit Related Information from include our agents, Credit Reporting Bodies such as Equifax (previously Veda), Dun & Bradstreet and any other person we consider necessary to carry out our functions. We store and safeguard your credit information and credit eligibility information in the ways described in this Privacy Policy.

Why do we collect, hold, use and disclose your Credit Related Information?

Innovative Solar collects, uses, holds and discloses Credit Related Information as reasonably necessary for our business purposes and as permitted by law. These purposes are vary and may include the following:

  • processing credit-related applications;
  • assisting you to avoid defaults;
  • participating in the credit reporting system and providing information to Credit Reporting Bodies (CRBs) as allowed by Part IIIA of the Privacy Act and the Credit Reporting Privacy Code;
  • undertaking debt recovery and enforcement activities;
  • dealing with complaints or regulatory matters relating to credit or credit reporting;
  • dispute resolution and complying with legal and regulatory requirements including the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth), the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth), the Income Tax Assessment Acts1936 and 1997 (Cth) and other taxation laws. If Credit Related Information is not collected by us, it may prevent us from engaging in certain activities with you and your business including entering into deferred payment arrangements, trade credit agreements, or our other business related activities where we consider obtaining that information is necessary.

How do we use and disclose your Credit Related Information? Disclosure of Credit Related Information to Credit Reported Bodies (CRBs)

Innovative Solar may disclose Credit Related Information to CRBs where the Privacy Act and the Credit Reporting Privacy Code permit us to do so. For example, we may disclose Credit Related Information when seeking credit reports from CRBs, or if you or your business fails to meet payment obligations in relation to commercial credit provided by us, we may be entitled to disclose Credit Related Information to a CRB. In addition, a CRB may include the information in reports provided to other credit providers to assist them to assess your credit worthiness. We are likely to disclose Credit Related Information we collect to the following credit reporting bodies:

We may also use and disclose your credit information for other purposes and in other circumstances as described in our Privacy Policy, when permitted to do so by the Privacy Act.

Some of your rights in relation to Credit Reporting Bodies

A CRB may use your Credit Related Information to assist a credit provider to market to you by pre-screening you for direct marketing by the credit provider. If you do not want a CRB to use your Credit Related Information pre-screening purpose, you have the right under the Privacy Act to contact them and request that they exclude you. If you reasonably believe you have been or are likely to be a victim of fraud, you may contact a credit  reporting  body  to  request  that  they  do  not  use  or disclose  your  Credit  Related  Information.  The credit reporting body will explain to you in detail the effects of this.

How can you access or correct your Credit Related Information? 

Under the Privacy Act, you have a right to seek access to information, which we hold about you. If you wish to access or correct errors in any of your credit information or credit eligibility information that we hold, please send a written request to our Manager of Operations to info@innovativesolar.com.au. Innovative Solar will try to grant you access to the Credit Related Information within thirty (30) days of a request but in some circumstances, it may take longer. There is no charge associated with making an access request but we may apply an administration charge for providing access to your credit eligibility information, depending on the request.

Under the Privacy Act, we may refuse to give access to the Credit Related Information where, for example, giving access would disclose commercially sensitive information or information relating to existing or anticipated legal proceedings. If we refuse to provide you with access to Credit Related Information held about you by us, then we will provide written reasons for the refusal and advise you of available avenues of redress.

If you believe that any Credit Related Information held by us about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, please request its correction free of charge by contacting our Manager of Operations in writing info@innovativesolar.com.au. We will acknowledge your request in writing as soon as practicable within seven (7) business working days. Innovative Solar will try to resolve correction requests within thirty (it and seek your written agreement to a longer period. If your request for correction is successful, we will provide written notice of the correction to  you, and where practicable  and  not  prohibited  by  law,  to certain other people to whom we provided the pre-correction information (other than  identification information) to such as relevant credit reporting bodies and to any other third party as required under the Privacy Act. If we refuse your request for correction, we will provide written reasons for the refusal and advise you of available avenues of redress. You have the right under the Privacy Act and under the Credit Reporting Privacy Code to obtain your Credit Related Information from a CRB free of charge if the access request relates to a decision to correct information about you. That right may be exercised by contacting the relevant CRB.

How can you complain about a breach of the Act?

If you believe an act or practice of Innovative Solar has engaged in a breach of the Privacy Act or the Credit Reporting Privacy Code, you may lodge a complaint free of charge with our Manager of Operations either by mail at Innovative Solar or email to info@innovativesolar.com.au. We will acknowledge your complaint as soon as practicable within seven (7) business working days. Innovative Solar will  try  to  resolve  the complaint  within  thirty  (30)  days of  receiving the complaint. If we need more time to resolve your request, we will notify you as to the delay, the reasons for it and seek your written agreement to a longer period. Depending on the nature of the complaint, it may be necessary for us to consult with third parties, including credit reporting bodies or other credit providers, in order to investigate and resolve your complaint.

If you are unhappy with our resolution of your complaint or with the way Innovative Solar has handled your complaint, you may refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Information regarding how to lodge a complaint is available from the Commissioner’s website at http://www.oaic.gov.au or by ringing the Commissioner’s enquiries line on 1300 363 992.

How do you contact us?

If you wish to gain access to your personal information, have a complaint about a breach of your privacy, or you have any query on how your personal information is collected or used, please email your request, complaint or query to our Manager of Operations at Innovative Solar to info@innovativesolar.com.au.