Privacy Policy
Last updated: 18 October 2026
The Flinders Medical Students’ Society (FMSS, we, us) is the student society for Flinders University medical students. We respect your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect through this website, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and how you can access or correct it. We handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
1. What we collect
Depending on how you use the website, we collect:
- Account and membership details: your name, date of birth, Flinders student ID and FAN, Flinders email address, personal email address, mobile number (if you give it), year level, and the date you joined or signed in.
- Purchase details: what you buy (memberships, tickets, products), the order total, billing details, and the name of each ticket attendee. Card details are entered with our payment provider and are not stored by FMSS.
- Event information: answers you give when buying a ticket, such as dietary requirements, allergies or access needs. Some of this can be sensitive information (for example health information). We only collect it with your consent and only to run the event safely.
- Website and technical data: your IP address, browser and device type, pages visited, and cookies that keep you signed in and keep your cart working.
- Messages: anything you send us by email or through a form.
We collect this information directly from you. For members who joined before this website was set up, some details were transferred from our previous membership records.
2. Why we collect it and how we use it
- to create and run your account and membership, and to check you are eligible (for example, that you are a Flinders medical student);
- to sell and deliver tickets and products, process payments and issue refunds;
- to organise events, including catering for dietary and access needs and keeping attendees safe;
- to email you about your membership, events, peer teaching and society news (you can unsubscribe at any time using the link in every email);
- to report membership and financial information to the Flinders University Student Association (FUSA) as needed for FMSS’s affiliation and funding;
- to keep our records, meet our legal and financial obligations, and keep the website secure and working.
We only use your information for the purposes above, for related purposes you would reasonably expect, or where you have consented or the law requires or authorises it. We do not sell your information, and we do not give our member list to sponsors or other organisations. If you separately opt in to hear from a sponsor or partner, we will tell you what will be shared before anything is shared.
3. Who we share it with
- FUSA: membership and financial information needed for affiliation and reporting.
- Our service providers, who handle information on our behalf to run this website and our communications: for example, our website host (currently WordPress.com), our payment processor, and our email delivery provider, or similar services we may use from time to time. They may only use the information to provide their service to us.
- Event organisers and venues, where needed: for example, the name of attendees and relevant dietary or allergy information so a caterer or venue can look after you.
- Authorities and advisers, where the law requires, or to our professional advisers (such as an accountant or auditor).
4. Overseas storage
Some of our service providers store or process information on servers outside Australia, including in the United States. We take reasonable steps to make sure these providers handle your information in a way consistent with the APPs, but by using this website you understand that information may be stored overseas.
5. Cookies
This website uses cookies that are needed for signing in, remembering your cart, completing checkout and keeping the site secure. It may also use basic analytics to understand how the site is used. You can block cookies in your browser settings, but parts of the site (such as signing in and buying tickets) may not work.
6. How we protect your information
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access. Access to member and order information is limited to FMSS committee members who need it for their role, passwords are stored only in a scrambled (hashed) form that cannot be read back, and the website uses a secure (HTTPS) connection. If a data breach is likely to cause serious harm, we will notify the people affected and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.
7. How long we keep it
Free membership lasts until the end of your degree, or until two years after you last sign in, whichever comes first. We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes above or the law requires. Financial and order records are kept for as long as Australian law requires. When information is no longer needed, we delete or de-identify it.
8. Your rights: access, correction and deletion
You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, by emailing info@fmss.org.au. We may need to confirm who you are first. We will respond within a reasonable time, normally within 30 days. If we cannot give you access or delete something (for example, financial records we must keep by law), we will explain why. You can also update most of your details yourself by signing in and editing your account.
9. Emails and unsubscribing
Our emails comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). Each marketing email shows who sent it and has an unsubscribe link. We will still send you essential messages about your account, orders and tickets.
10. Complaints
If you think we have breached the APPs or mishandled your information, please email info@fmss.org.au with the details. We will investigate and reply in writing. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is always on this page, with the date it was last updated at the top.
12. Contact
Flinders Medical Students’ Society
Email: info@fmss.org.au