The personal information we collect and hold depends on the type of interaction you have with us.
We may collect the following types of personal information:

•  information relating to your identity e.g., your name, phone number, address and email address, company name and position, passport details, drivers licence, visa details, date of birth, airline frequent flyer details;
• information about your personal circumstances e.g., age, gender, personal relationships and occupation;
• financial information e.g., bank account details, fee structures, rates and charges, payment details, income payments, performance history, levies paid and insurance information;
• information about your professional history including projects you have been involved with, prior dealings with us, events you have attended or travel you have undertaken;
• employment related records as more fully described below;
• information about you and any affiliations and associations, memberships, interests (including any shareholdings and directorships);
• our image, videos or audio collected at events or via CCTV surveillance systems which may be installed at our premises;
• your device ID, device type, geo-location information, IP address, browsing information and any personal information that you may provide to us directly or indirectly via our websites, Wi-Fi services or mobile applications; and
• any other personal information that may be required in order to facilitate your dealings with us.

In some instances, we may also collect and hold certain sensitive information, to provide services or assistance to you, such as information about any special attention you may require, dietary requirements, allergies and/or your membership of a professional or trade association.
If you are an employee or contractor we will also hold employment records about you (e.g., salary information, health information, superannuation details, TFN, criminal records, work history, referee comments, next of kin, qualifications and areas of expertise), CCTV footage from some areas of our office.

We collect personal information through a number of means which may include but is not limited to:

• if you choose to provide your details directly to us;
• indirectly, anytime you communicate or interact with us, whether this is by phone, email, face to face meeting, SMS, online or social media interaction;
• when you use our websites, applications, portals, feedback forms, conflict of interest forms, contact forms or our Wi-Fi services;
• through the use of automated technologies such as Google Analytics, cookies, server logs and other similar technologies;
• through our voting process or when you submit a membership application;
• when you participate in our surveys, competitions, loyalty programs or promotions;
• when you visit our premises through our CCTV systems; and
• through our recruitment and onboarding process when you apply for or accept a position with us or are appointed to a panel; and
• when you submit a tender through a tender platform or use our delivery partner portal.

We may also collect your personal information from third parties, such as:

• from government entities (including the Department of Agriculture, agencies and departments), other research and development corporations and law enforcement authorities;
• marketing agencies, third-party event organisers, data collection and research organisations, delivery partners performing projects, share registry providers and through media monitoring and search engines; and
• other individuals (e.g., employment references or other Hort Innovation members).

You are not required to provide personal information to us. If you wish to deal with us anonymously or you decide not to provide us with the personal information described above, we may not be able to provide or tailor our services or information to you, either to the same standard or at all (e.g., certain functions of our website may not function properly if you disable cookies).

We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information for the purposes for which it was provided to us. Such purposes may include:

• responding to your enquiries and providing you with our services;
• managing your membership and allocating voting rights with Hort Innovation;
• processing forms or questionnaires you have completed either in hard copy, online, through third-party providers or on our websites;
• to disseminate and commercialise, and facilitate the dissemination, adoption and commercialisation of, the results of R&D activities;
• processing payments;
• considering applications for awards, such as scholarship awards, competitions and project funding;
• o evaluate or respond to a job application that you have submitted and to manage your employment relationship;
• creating and managing our internal credit rating system for each service provider;
• verifying email and IP addresses;
• providing you with information about developments in the industry, events and projects that we are involved in (if you opt-in to receive such information);
• organising and coordinating our forums and events (including meeting dietary requirements, arranging flights and confirming speakers);
• to personalise the way online content is presented to you;
• to carry out obligations arising from contracts entered into with you and to manage our contractual relationship;
• to evaluate or respond to a submission or tender, article or correspondence that you have made or sent;
• reporting, evaluation and monitoring and other internal business purposes;
• forecasting future needs of our services and general quality assurance and training purposes;
• injury management, accidents, incident investigations and workplace health and safety; and
• any other purposes identified at the time of collecting your information.

We will only use or disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it was initially collected

We and/or our third-party service providers may send you direct marketing communications and information about developments in the industry, events and projects that we are involved in, and products and services that we consider may be of interest to you.

These communications may be sent in various forms, including mail, SMS, email or telephone in accordance with applicable laws, such as the Privacy Act and Spam Act 2003 (Cth).

At any time, you may opt-out of receiving communications from us by contacting us (see the contact details below) or by using any opt-out facilities provided in the communications, and we will then ensure that your name is removed from the relevant mailing list.

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. Similar technologies include local storage, pixels, web beacons and tracking links. These technologies help us to improve the way our websites operate, remember your choices, and improve performance. 

Please see our Cookies Policy for more information about how we use Cookies.  You can change or withdraw your cookie choices at any time through the cookie settings link on our website.

We handle personal information collected by cookies in the same way that we handle all other personal information as described in this Policy.

We do not sell your personal information. However, we may disclose your personal information where reasonably necessary to carry out our functions and activities, including research and development, marketing, project delivery, stakeholder engagement, member services, event management and administration.

This may include disclosure to:

• service providers and advisers who assist us to operate our business, including providers of technology platforms, cloud services, project management tools, event management systems, research and analytics services, communications services, recruitment services and professional advisory services;
• government agencies, industry bodies, research partners, delivery partners and other organisations involved in projects, funding arrangements or industry initiatives;
• third parties seeking project partners, subcontractors, specialists or co-funding participants, where this is connected with the purpose for which the information was collected;
• other persons or entities where you have consented to the disclosure, or where disclosure is otherwise authorised or required by law.

We may also disclose your personal information where we reasonably believe the disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to the life, health or safety of any person, or as otherwise permitted under the Privacy Act.

Some of our service providers, technology platforms and other third parties may be located overseas or may store personal information outside Australia. These recipients may be located in a range of countries, including but not limited to the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, India and other jurisdictions in which our service providers operate.

Where we disclose personal information overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure that recipients handle personal information in accordance with Australian privacy requirements or are subject to comparable privacy obligations, as required by the Privacy Act.

We take reasonable steps (including any measures required by law) to ensure your personal information is protected from loss, misuse, interference and from unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

Where we no longer require your personal information for business or legal reasons, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it.

Data protection and security measures are never completely secure and, despite the measures we have put in place, we cannot guarantee the security of your information. You must take care to protect your personal information (e.g., by protecting any usernames and passwords). You should also notify us as soon as possible if you become aware of any security breaches. We have a procedure to respond to data breaches, and we will notify any affected individuals, as required under the Privacy Act.

Our website may contain links to the websites of other entities. If you click on such links, you will be transferred to the website of these entities. Unless stated otherwise, Hort Innovation has no control over, and is not responsible for, the privacy practices of these entities. We encourage you to read the Privacy Policy and other terms that apply to those entities.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information that we collect and hold is accurate, complete and up to date. However, we rely on you to advise us of any changes to your personal information to help us maintain accurate, complete and up-to-date information.

We will, on request, provide you with access to the personal information we hold about you. There may be instances where we cannot grant access to the personal information we hold, e.g., if a legal exception applies or where granting access would interfere with the privacy of others or result in a breach of confidentiality. We will notify you of the basis for any denial of access to your personal information.

To request access to your personal information or to update or correct your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer via the contact details provided below.

If you have any questions or concerns about this Policy or its implementation, or wish to make a complaint, please contact our Privacy Officer at:

Att: The Privacy Officer
Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited
Level 15, 141 Walker Street
North Sydney NSW 2060
Email: privacy@horticulture.com.au

Our Privacy Officer will investigate the issue and determine the steps that we will undertake to resolve your complaint. We will contact you if we require any additional information from you and will notify you in writing of the outcome of the investigation.

If you are not satisfied with our determination, you can contact us to discuss your concerns or contact the Office of the Australian Privacy Commissioner. Information about how to contact the OAIC can be found on the OAIC website www.oaic.gov.au.

This Policy may be amended from time to time. The date of the most recent revision will appear at the bottom of this Policy. We encourage you to revisit this Policy periodically to ensure that you have the most current version.

Last Updated: November 2026