Free, nationwide support for people affected by crime and traumatic events.
We are here for you, 24/7.
Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support is committed to being a kaitiaki (guardian) of your personal information. If you have any questions, concerns, or requests related to your personal information or this privacy statement, please contact our Privacy Officer at privacy@victimsupport.org.nz.
In line with internal procedures, changing providers, best practice, or changing legal requirements, Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support reserves the right to make changes to this privacy notice and other aspects of its website at any time. Please check this page regularly for any changes.
Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support will usually collect personal information from you directly for the purposes of enabling us to provide support. We may also gather personal information from the New Zealand Police or other agencies (such as specialist sexual violence providers who may work with you to apply for the Victim Assistance Scheme). Mostly, you will be aware that another agency has referred you to and sent us your details.
Usually, Police will ask you for consent to share your information with Victim Support and, where this is the case, you will be aware that we have indirectly collected information about you. However, on occasion, personal information may be received by Victim Support (from Police or other agencies) without you being aware that information is being sent to Victim Support.
One of New Zealand Police’s purposes for collecting information is to provide it to Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support to enable support. For other agencies, they may have provided it to Victim Support for other reasons (such as for safety purposes as enabled under the Privacy Act 2020).
In our early contacts with you regarding support – which may be via letter or email - we will indicate from where or whom we received your referral.
Sometimes, the personal information received will relate to witnesses, support persons or an alleged perpetrator/offender as part of the incident that occurred. This information is only used to provide support to our clients. Usually, we will not have contact details for these other people, and it may not be practicable for Victim Support to notify these other people that we hold their personal information.
We will keep the information we gather in the course of the work we do to support our clients confidential and secure in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act 2020. Personal information is only used or disclosed in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 (and/or the Family Violence Act 2018).
Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support uses this information to complete case notes based on our work with you and document a record of support provided. These notes are entered into our database and will only be accessed by Victim Support staff working on your case. Only relevant information that is necessary to outline your support plan is recorded. If you are eligible for financial assistance through the Victim Assistance Scheme, this will include proof of your bank account details.
Where we contact you via email or letter after an incident, we will tell you where we received your personal information from. This is so we comply with our obligations under Information Privacy Principle 3A of the Privacy Act 2020. If we contact you via another medium (e.g. phone call), it may not always be practicable to confirm where we received your information from (if this was from a source other than you directly or via another agency on your behalf).
We are required to collect and retain information about referrals we have received and the work that we do. If you are not comfortable with your details being in our system, let your Support Worker or our National Contact Service know straight away. There may be ways we can continue to support you – however this may mean we can only direct you to resources or refer you to another provider (if you are comfortable with this).
The Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support National Contact Service (NCS) is committed to providing all those who use our services, a professional and best possible customer service experience. This means we record all calls to the NCS.
Reasons for the recording of calls to Contact Service
If you have provided your personal information to receive support from Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support, this information will be kept private and separate from our fundraising database. From time to time, we may give you the option to opt in to receive fundraising or marketing material.
Any donation information provided to us is held with the utmost care and will not be used other than as described in this privacy statement. We recognise that your supporter relationship with us is voluntary, and as such, your privacy will be held in the strictest confidence.
We adhere to the following guidelines:
We will ensure that all personal information we hold is kept securely so that it is safeguarded against loss, unauthorised access, or misuse.
The Family Violence Act 2018 imposes a duty on Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support to consider disclosing your information to other parties where:
Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support will consider disclosing your information where it is relevant to these matters and decide to do so based on the information at hand. The Family Violence Act 2018 makes it clear that ensuring a victim is protected from family violence usually takes precedence over any other duty to keep information confidential.
We only release information about you to others as allowed by the Privacy Act 2020 and/or the Family Violence Act 2018 or other relevant legislation that enables use or disclosure outside it.
Circumstances where we may disclose your information include (but are not limited to), when:
Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support provides services following episodes of family violence in the Canterbury Police District under a Ministry of Social Development (MSD) contract through the Integrated Safety Response (family harm response in Canterbury). Information about people who receive services following a referral from the Integrated Safety Response is shared with MSD for reporting purposes. We have been advised by MSD that this information is used by MSD in a way where those people will not be identified.
Under the Privacy Act 2020, you are entitled to request access to and/or correction of personal information that Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support holds about you.
Only the person whom the information is about can ask for access and correction of that information (either directly or through a representative). As part of this process, Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support must be satisfied as to your identity, and we will require proof of identify to process any request. We cannot provide you with information about anyone else, unless you can provide documentation showing you have been authorised to act on their behalf.
Please click here to request personal information. Providing specific details of the information and/or corrections you require will make it simpler and quicker for us to assist you with your request.
The Privacy Act 2020 sets out that we are required to respond to requests for personal information within 20 working days. There maybe circumstances where we require an extension and will apply the Privacy Act 2020 in those cases. If you do not receive confirmation of receipt within three working days after submitting the request personal information form, please call us on 0800 842 846.
We will retain your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes outlined in this statement or as required by law. Details relating to incidents that occurred over 7 years ago are generally deleted from our case management system.
Ministry of Justice research
During your interactions with us we will ask you if you agree to be contacted by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in respect of research or evaluations that MoJ may undertake regarding Victim Support’s service. If you agree to be contacted, this agreement is recorded in our case management system so that MoJ can invite you to participate in their research or evaluations. If you let Victim Support know that you decline to be contacted by MoJ regarding MoJ research or evaluations, your details will not be passed onto MoJ. There is no obligation to agree to being contacted by MoJ. If MoJ contact you because you have agreed they can, there is also no obligation to participate in any research or evaluations.
Victim Support research
Separately, Victim Support may undertake research or evaluations relating to its service or issues that affect victims. If such a project takes place, you may be contacted with the invitation to participate. You can choose if you wish to participate or not, and there is no obligation to do so.
If you never want to be contacted by MoJ or Victim Support in relation to evaluations or surveys, you can email feedback@victimsupport.org.nz to let us know, and this will be noted in the case management system.
When publishing findings from research and evaluations, Victim Support complies with the Privacy Act 2020 and does not publish personally identifiable information.
If you are not satisfied with our response to any of your concerns, you have the right to lodge a formal complaint with Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support here, email privacy@victimsupport.org.nz or contact the Privacy Commissioner:
Office of the Privacy Commissioner
PO Box 10094
The Terrace
Wellington 6143
Phone: 0800 803 909
Fax: 04 474 7590
We strive to only send email to those who want to receive it. If you would not like to receive future emails from us, please use the 'unsubscribe' link located at the bottom of our email.
Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support may at any time make changes to this website to improve the content or correct inaccuracies.
Information on the Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support website does not constitute professional advice and is not a substitute for consulting with qualified professionals to meet your individual needs.
There are links on this website that take you to external websites. Any links to third party websites are provided solely for your convenience. The operation and content of such third-party websites are beyond our control. Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support does not endorse, or accept any responsibility for any information, materials, or malware that may be contained on such websites, or any products or services advertised on or sold through any such websites.
Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support will not be liable under any circumstances for any damages whatsoever, direct or indirect, resulting from use of any third-party website linked to this website, whether or not we are advised of the possibility of such damages.
