Privacy statement

YHA Australia conforms to the requirements of the Australian National Privacy Principles and is strongly committed to protecting your privacy.

The purpose of this statement is to tell you what kind of information we may gather about you, how we use that information, whether we disclose it to anyone and the choices you have regarding our use of, and your ability to correct, this information.

1. What information do we collect from you?

  • Personal information is collected by YHA to provide products or services to you.
  • Information is collected from you to make it easier for you to use our services like accommodation, membership and travel.
  • If you apply for YHA Australia membership, subscribe to Backpacker Essentials or Travel Essentials communications, buy travel products, stay at a YHA hostel, book hostel accommodation or Travel Deals online, or enquire about our "Overseas travel deals", we collect certain personal information about you. This information can include names, contact details, including email address, date of birth, credit card information, destination(s), time of travel, details regarding your health and special requirements if voluntarily requested by you.

2. What purpose is that information put to?

  • Personal information will exclusively be used for:
    • the purpose for which it was collected or for a directly related purpose.
    • the improvement of services to you.
    • purposes permitted, required or authorised by or under law.
  • Occasionally YHA may mail or email information about YHA and its related products to its members. Should any recipient wish not to receive such information they can request not to do so by contacting the nearest YHA Travel Centre. In order not to receive email information this can be done by following the instructions, in the email, on how to unsubscribe.

3. Can the information you provide be disclosed?

  • Personal information will not be disclosed to any third party not involved in fulfilling your booking or providing a service unless:
    • the person concerned has consented to the disclosure.
    • the disclosure is permitted, required or authorised by or under law.

4. Is my information recorded accurately?

  • Reasonable steps will be taken to ensure that personal information is relevant, accurate, and up to date.

5. Is my information secure?

  • Safeguards will be maintained to protect personal information against unauthorised access, alteration, destruction, use or disclosure and against accidental loss.
  • Access to personal information is restricted to authorised YHA personnel only.
  • All information collected online is kept in encrypted format and will only be forwarded to the fulfiller of your order, that is YHA Travel Centres, YHA hostels or, if you book a "Travel Deal", the operator of the "Travel Deal". The operator can be a third-party supplier. Information to the third-party supplier is restricted to name(s), destination(s), time of travel and special requirements as voluntarily requested by you.

6. How can you ask for correction of information we have collected about you?

  • On request YHA will provide an individual with access to information held about them in a form or manner suitable to the individual's reasonable needs. This information will be provided within a reasonable amount of time. Proof of ID is required before any information will be disclosed.
  • If you book hostel accommodation or a "Travel Deal" online you will be provided with a confirmation number. You can enter the confirmation number in the field "your Bookings" located on the homepage of http://www.yha.com.au, and view all information. This excludes your payment/credit card details, which for security reasons are not included.
  • To correct records in relation to your YHA Australia membership you should contact the Membership Centre in your State of residence. Contact details can be found on the respective main State pages on http://www.yha.com.au.
  • Any corrections in relation to your hostel or travel bookings should be made to the location where the booking was originally made.
  • Any corrections in relation to your hostel or "Travel Deals" bookings, made online, should be forwarded to
    YHA Australia
    PO Box 314
    Camperdown NSW 1450
    yha@yha.org.au

7. Can we transfer your information out of Australia?

  • Personal information will only be transferred outside Australia:
    • where it is for the benefit of the individual and the individual has given consent for this to be done
    • to the individual concerned

8. Whom should you contact within our organisation if you have a complaint?

  • If you have a complaint about how YHA Australia administers your personal details you should contact in writing:
    National Executive Director
    YHA Australia
    PO Box 314
    Camperdown NSW 1450
    Australia yha@yha.org.au

YHA Australia's Privacy Policy covers all of the Australian State and Territory YHA Associations, YHA Australia and YHA's Backpacker Essentials website under the domain name of www.yha.com.au and www.backpackeressentials.com.au.

If you would like to learn more about privacy you can visit the Australian Federal Governments privacy website at www.privacy.gov.au.