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The National Red Imported Fire Ant Eradication Program is a prevention and control program to eradicate fire ants. The program is nationally funded by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments and delivered by Biosecurity Queensland, housed within the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (the Department). The program is authorised under s235 of the Biosecurity Act 2014 (Qld).
The program is committed to protecting the personal information which is required to effectively manage the program.
The program manages personal information in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) [IP Act] which contains 11 Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) to govern the way we collect, store, manage, use and disclose personal information.
Personal information
Personal information is information or an opinion, including information or an opinion forming part of a database, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion.
Collection and use of personal information
The program will only collect personal information that is relevant and necessary for eradication functions and activities.
In particular, to administer the program, we may need to collect your personal information to:
The type of personal information the program collects may include:
Please note that if the program is unable to collect the information required, it may not be able to adequately manage the eradication Programs including being able to respond to your enquiry, complete your booking for managing reported ants, provide you with eradication information or assess your satisfaction with our service. Therefore, please ensure you provide your details where requested.
Storage of your personal information
The program uses a securely hosted Dynamic 365 database, electronic records management system (eDocs) and physical files to store departmental information. In addition, information, including your personal information, will be stored on our CaSES CRM which is used to manage the Program.
CaSES stores all contact management, complaints management, history of interactions, event management, training management, social media interactions, electronic communications with the public and reports of suspect ants and nest locations.
CaSES is managed by our contracted service providers who are bound to comply with the IPPs in the Information Privacy Act 2009 in the same way the Program must comply.
Access to CaSES information is on a ‘need to know’ basis.
All information stored in the CaSES is subject to the retention and disposal rules contained in the Public Records Act 2002.
Disclosure of personal information
From July 2024, local, statement and federal government agencies are required to treat fire ants on the land they own or manage in the fire ant suppression area. The information you provide will be forwarded to the relevant agency who may contact you to undertake fire ant suppression activities. The program does not routinely disclose any personal information to third parties unless it is necessary to perform our program functions and activities. The program may need to disclose your personal information to:
The program will take reasonable steps to ensure that any third party to whom we disclose your personal information is bound by similar privacy obligations concerning that information.
Generally, any information that the program needs to publish will be de-identified prior to publication. The exception to this is where property details are required to be published in order to prevent transmission of fire ants.
Online privacy
When you visit the program’s website, the web server makes a record of your visit and logs information for statistical purposes only. This information includes, the user's server address, the user's top level domain name (.com, .gov, .au, etc), the date and time you visited the site, the pages accessed and documents downloaded, the previous site visited, and the type of browser you use.
No attempt will be made to identify users, or their browsing activities, unless the program is lawfully required to do so for investigation or law enforcement purposes.
Links to other sites
This website contains links to other websites. The program is not responsible for the content, security and privacy practices of these websites and you are advised to read the privacy statements of any website prior to access.
Cookies
A cookie is a message given to a web browser by a web server. The browser stores the message in a text file called cookie.txt. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.
The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customised web pages for them. When you enter a website which is using cookies, you may be asked to fill out a form providing such information as your name and interests. This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your web browser which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same website, your browser will send the cookie to the web server. The server can use this information to present you with custom web pages.
This website uses cookies to store information only. If you have configured your browser to reject all cookies you will still be able to generally browse through the site.
Online forms
Where on-line forms are available on this site and you choose to send us the form electronically the specific reason for collecting the personal information requested will be explained on the form. The personal information that you provide will not be disclosed to others without your consent, except as set out in this Privacy Statement.
Publishing personal information on a website
No personal information will be published on the site.
Transmission of personal information
This site uses encryption for secure transmission of personal information over the Internet. You should recognise that there can be risks with transmitting information across the Internet.
Access and amendment of your personal information
You are able to update and correct your own information on the online portal and you may apply to access all your personal information that the program holds or controls. You can also request the program’s office staff to amend your personal information if it is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date or misleading.
Informal requests for access to or amendment of your personal information may be made by contacting us at:
National Fire Ant Eradication Program
PO Box 426
Browns Plains QLD 4118
Phone: 132 ANT (13 22 68)
Formal requests for access and amendment of departmental records must be made via a Right to Information application on the prescribed statutory forms, copies of which are available at www.rti.qld.gov.au. Prior to lodging an access or amendment application for information held by this department, please contact RTI Services for advice:
Telephone: (07) 3330 6111
Email: rtiservices@des.qld.gov.au
Privacy Complaints
Individuals who are concerned that their privacy has not been dealt with in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 can submit a complaint in writing to the Department. The complaint should outline the basis for the complaint in as much detail as possible and include an address to which notices and correspondence may be sent during the complaint process. Privacy Complaints should be sent to:
Privacy Contact Officer
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
Level 32, 400 George Street, Brisbane
GPO Box 2454
Brisbane QLD 4001
The Department will endeavour to respond to your concerns within 45 business days from the date your complaint is received. However, in some circumstances, a longer period may be required in order to finalise your complaint. If so, you will be contacted with a view to arranging an extension of time.
If the complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily, or the Department has not responded, you may make a privacy complaint to the Office of the Information Commissioner. The privacy complaint will then be mediated if deemed appropriate, or may be referred to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. A privacy complaint may not be made to the Information Commissioner until at least 45 days after the complaint has been made to the Department. The postal address of the Information Commissioner is:
Office of the Information Commissioner
PO Box 10143
Adelaide Street
Brisbane QLD 4001
More information
If you would like to know more about information privacy, email us at privacy@daf.qld.gov.au or go to the Office of the Information Commissioner’s website at www.oic.qld.gov.au