Privacy policy
How we look after your information
Last updated: 16 October 2026
Kenyans in New England Welfare Association Inc (KENEWA) respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, who can see it, and how to see, correct or delete it. We follow the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 and, for health information, the Health Privacy Principles in the NSW Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.
- Who we are
- Kenyans in New England Welfare Association Inc, incorporated in NSW (registration INC2601004), ABN 17 238 522 745
- Postal address
- 6A Edinburg Avenue, West Tamworth NSW 2340
- Privacy contact
- The Secretary: info@kenewa.org
What we collect, and why
We only ask for what we need. Fields marked "optional" can be left empty.
| When | What we collect | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You contact us or use the Stay in touch form | Name, email or mobile, town, your message | To reply to you |
| You create a members account | Name, email, mobile, a password (stored scrambled; we can't see it) | To give you a secure account |
| You register as a member | Date of birth, address, next of kin; for welfare members, parents' names (or a guardian you nominate). Optional: occupation, home county in Kenya | Date of birth: to confirm you're 18 or over (constitution clause 9.2). Address: our register of members (Associations Incorporation Act 2009). We keep the register in the members area and can print a current copy for inspection. Members may inspect it, but you can ask us to show only your name (constitution clauses 12.4 and 12.7), and no member may use it to contact you for anything other than KENEWA business (clause 12.8). Next of kin: who to contact in an emergency. Parents: they are part of the family the welfare fund covers. Occupation: to match mentors |
| You register your family | Names, relationship and date of birth of your spouse, dependants and siblings | To know who the welfare fund covers. Please tell them you've shared their details |
| You add a profile photo (optional) | A small photo of you. Members aged 18 and over only; never photos of family members or children | So the committee can recognise you. Only you and the committee can see it, it isn't printed on your membership card, and you can remove it at any time |
| You pay, and the Treasurer records the payment | Amount, date, method and reference | To record payments, give you receipts and keep financial records |
| You ask for support | What's happening, and any documents you attach (see Sensitive information) | To consider and give support |
| You RSVP, vote, join a chama or use mentoring or the business directory | Your answers, votes (kept secret: results only show totals), contributions, the details you choose to list | To run those services |
| You sign up for the monthly newsletter | Your email address, first name if you give it, and when you signed up, confirmed or unsubscribed | To send the newsletter, and to prove you asked for it (Spam Act 2003) |
| You turn on phone notifications in the members area | A technical address for your phone's browser (it contains no name or number) and the type of device, such as "Android, Chrome" | To send notifications to that device. Turning them off deletes it |
| You share photos | Name, email, the photos and your permission answers | To publish photos only with permission |
You can contact us or ask general questions without giving your name. To become a member or receive welfare support, we need to know who you are.
Sensitive information
When you ask for welfare support you may tell us about health, illness, a death in the family or money troubles, and attach documents such as a hospital letter or death certificate. This is sensitive information. We only collect it with your consent, which you give by ticking the box on the support form, and we use it only to consider and provide support. Only the committee members handling your request can see it. We never use it for anything else, and never share it without your permission unless the law requires it or someone's life or safety is at serious risk.
Child safety records
Volunteers who work with children give us their NSW Working With Children Check number so we can verify it with the Office of the Children's Guardian. We keep the number, its expiry date and the date we checked it, and nothing else from the check. If someone raises a concern about a child's safety, we record only what is needed to respond and keep the record separate from other files, shared only with the people who need to know or as the law requires. We also keep parent and guardian consents for children's activities and photos. See Child safety.
Who can see it
- You can see your own records in the members area.
- Committee members can see what they need for their role. Support requests are seen only by the committee members handling them.
- Other members never see your details. The business directory and mentoring show only what you choose to list.
We do not sell, rent or trade your information, and we don't use it for advertising. We share it outside KENEWA only with your agreement, with the services below that run our systems, or when the law requires it.
Services that handle information for us
These companies run parts of our website and members area. Some store information outside Australia, mainly in the United States. We choose services with strong security and give them only what they need.
| Service | What it does | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | The members database, sign-in and private document store | The region chosen for KENEWA's project (see the Supabase dashboard) |
| Netlify | Hosts this website and receives the contact, Stay in touch and photo forms | United States and worldwide servers |
| Resend | Sends emails such as registration confirmations and the monthly newsletter | United States |
| Your phone's notification service (Google for Android and Chrome, Apple for iPhone, Mozilla for Firefox) | Delivers phone notifications you turned on. The message is encrypted on the way, and the service can't read it | United States and worldwide servers |
| Stripe | Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay payments. We never see or store your card number | Australia, United States and other countries |
| Google Drive | Members' documents such as minutes may be shared through it | United States and other countries |
| Sentry | Tells us when something on the website breaks, so we can fix it. An error report holds the page, the browser and phone type, and the line of code that failed. Email addresses and phone numbers are removed first, and it never includes your name, form answers or documents | United States (or the European Union, if KENEWA's Sentry account is set up there) |
| Cloudflare Web Analytics | Counts visits to the public pages (never the members area, the committee area or sign-in) so we know which pages people read. No cookies, no names, and it doesn't follow you to other websites. You can switch it off on the Cookies page | Worldwide servers |
| jsDelivr | Delivers two code libraries the website uses (Bootstrap, and Supabase's sign-in library). Your browser's address reaches it, nothing else | Worldwide servers |
| Unsplash | Some stock photos load from Unsplash's servers. Your browser's address reaches it, nothing else | Worldwide servers |
Links to Facebook, WhatsApp and other websites take you to those services, whose own privacy policies apply.
How we keep it safe
- The members database only lets each member see their own records, and only authorised committee members see others'.
- Documents attached to support requests are kept in a private store that only you and the committee can open.
- We take regular backup copies so information isn't lost. Backups stay in KENEWA's private storage, never on personal devices, and old copies are deleted.
- The Treasurer or Secretary may download the members register as a spreadsheet only with another committee member's approval. Every download is recorded, and copies are deleted when no longer needed.
- Paper records are kept securely.
If a data breach is likely to cause someone serious harm, we will tell the people affected as soon as we can, tell them what to do, and report it to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
How long we keep it
- Membership details: while you are a member. After that we keep only what our records and the law require, then delete it.
- Payment records: 7 years, as financial records must be kept.
- Support requests and documents: deleted once they're no longer needed for the request or our records.
- Form messages (contact, Stay in touch, photos): deleted within 12 months, unless you become a member.
Photos
We may take photos at events to share on this website and our social media. Let an organiser know if you or your children do not want to be photographed.
We only publish a photo when the person who took it and the people clearly shown in it have agreed, and a parent or guardian has agreed for any child. We never name children. Members who share photos with us confirm this permission first. If you'd like a photo taken down, ask us and we'll remove it as soon as we can, usually within two days, without needing a reason.
Emails, the newsletter and phone notifications
We send members emails and notifications about their membership, meetings, events and news.
- Monthly newsletter: only if you sign up and confirm your email address. Every newsletter has an Unsubscribe link that works straight away, and members can also turn it off in the members area (Notifications). We never sell, swap or share the list.
- Phone notifications: only if you turn them on in the members area, for that phone or computer. Turn them off there, or in your phone's settings, at any time.
- Calendar: the Events calendar you can subscribe to is the same for everyone. Subscribing doesn't tell us who you are.
Messages you need as a member, such as notice of a general meeting or a payment receipt, are still sent.
Website visits and cookies
This website doesn't use advertising, tracking or analytics cookies, and doesn't follow you to other websites. It stores a few small things on your device so it works, such as your sign-in and your text size choice. See the Cookies policy for the full list. Our website host keeps standard server records (such as your internet address) for security, for a short time.
Your choices and rights
- See or correct your information: most of it is in the members area under My details and My family. For anything else, ask the Secretary.
- Delete your account and information: ask the Secretary. We delete everything except what our financial records and the law require us to keep.
- Stop emails: use the link in the email or ask the Secretary.
We reply to requests within 30 days and there's no charge.
Questions and complaints
Email info@kenewa.org and ask for the Secretary. We will reply within 30 days. If you are not happy with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992, or, about health information, the NSW Information and Privacy Commission on 1800 472 679.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. The date at the top shows when it last changed, and we'll tell members about important changes.