Your privacy is our policy
At Ergon Energy we are committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information. As part of this commitment, we adhere to the requirements established by the 10 National Privacy Principles (NPP) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) that form the basis of our Privacy Policy (PDF 14kb) and Privacy Policy Guidelines (PDF 37kb).
As a member of the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) we also abide by a strict code of practice that demands we handle your details responsibly.
We provide essential information online
We provide clear, complete and up-to-date information about our business and the products and services we offer. This includes information about how to contact us. We maintain information online about how to make a complaint, obtain redress or pursue dispute resolution. We have put in place an effective mechanism and procedure to help our customers. We can be emailed at customerservice@ergon.com.au
Protection of customer details online
We have taken steps to ensure security of your internet transactions and credit card details and other personal information by developing and using a secure server and SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption methods. This safeguards your data against misuse, loss or unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure.
Cookies
This website uses "cookies" to provide a number of services to you. A cookie is a piece of data that a website sends to your browser and which may then be stored on your computer temporarily. Cookies generally allow the website you are browsing to interact more efficiently with your computer. The cookies we use are non-persistent, meaning that they allow you to operate efficiently with our web sites but once you have ended your session the cookies are no longer active.
Usually you can set your browser to notify you before you receive a cookie, so that you can decide whether to accept it, however sometimes, if you do not accept a cookie it may affect your use of our web site.
The cookies used by Ergon Energy are not used to track your specific or personal browsing habits. We use these cookies to collect statistical information, such as how many people visit our website and how these users interact with the site. Ergon Energy collects and uses this de-identified information to maintain and improve the operation of our website.
Information collection
We collect your information in order to establish and manage your account, provide services requested, provide customer self service on our website, or inform you of other related products and services in which you may be interested. We use only lawful, fair and non-intrusive means to collect your personal information. We take steps to destroy or de-identify personal information if it is no longer needed.
The information collected may include your full name, current and previous address, telephone or mobile phone numbers, email address, bank account or credit card details, date of birth, driver's licence number, pension number, passport number, whether there is a dog on the premise, and/or other relevant particulars.
We may also collect sensitive information about you such as health-related information to protect your health and safety (for example, if you notify us that life support equipment is used at your supply address).
Where it is reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect any necessary personal information directly from you. However, in certain cases, we will also confirm personal details with external agencies such as the Queensland Department of Communities and Centrelink, other government agencies, credit reporting agencies, authorised representatives, or from publicly available sources of information. On occasion, when you authorise us to do so, we may collect information from other parties such as real estate agents or landlords for confirmation of address, a forwarding address and also for billing and safety purposes.
If you choose not to provide certain personal information (for example, your date of birth), we may not be able to provide you with the services you require or the level of service on which we pride ourselves.
Occasionally you may need to provide personal information about other individuals to us (for example, about your authorised representatives). If so, we rely on you to inform those individuals that you are providing their personal information to us and to advise them that we can be contacted for further information (see contact details below).
From time to time we may also collect non-personal information from you. This helps us in our ongoing efforts to improve our website and the online experience for our customers. We also monitor customer usage of our website to collect statistical information only, such as how many people visit our website, the web pages visited, and how the users interact with the site. Ergon Energy collects and uses this de-identified information to maintain and improve the operation of its website.
Information use and disclosure
We may use or disclose your information:
- to verify your identity
- to undertake a credit history check
- for debt recovery purposes (this may include disclosure to external debt collectors and listing with credit reporting agencies)
- to our related body corporates
- to your distributor to enable connection of premises to supply
- for legal and safety compliance requirements
- for billing of electricity and related service accounts
- to improve customer relationships
- to inform you of related products and services
- where authorised or required by law
- to lessen or prevent a serious and imminent threat to an individual's life, health or safety, or a serious threat to public health or public safety
- in accordance with other use and disclosure exceptions in National Privacy Principle (NPP) 2 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
Occasionally Ergon Energy may also contract the services of a third party, for example, to provide services or distribute promotional material on our behalf. Ergon Energy contractors are contractually obliged to adhere to privacy requirements. If you do not wish us or our third party contractor to contact you to promote and market products or services please contact us.
We do not on sell Ergon Energy customer information to third parties for their marketing purposes.
Overdue accounts and customer credit information
We may provide your information to credit reporting and debt collection agencies if your electricity account remains overdue for more than 60 days. The information will allow the credit reporting agency to create or maintain a credit information file about you and the debt collection agency to take recovery action. The information disclosed may include:
- details of your identity
- amounts that are overdue by more than 60 days and for which you have been sent reminder notices to your last known address
- advice that your payments are no longer overdue in respect of any default that has been listed
- if relevant, information that shows that, in our opinion, you have committed a serious credit infringement (that is, acted fraudulently or shown an intention not to comply with their credit obligations)
- dishonoured cheques drawn by you for $100 or more which have been dishonoured more than once.
We respect customer preferences
We may use information we collect to keep you informed of changes to our website and about new products and services. You have a choice to opt-out of receiving future offers. If you do not wish to receive new information, just contact us and we will delete your details from all Ergon Energy marketing lists and future campaigns.
Help us to ensure we hold accurate information
We aim to ensure that your personal details are accurate, complete, and up-to-date when we use or collect them. We take all reasonable precautions to ensure that the personal information we collect, use and disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date.
However, the accuracy of that information depends to a large extent on the information you provide. That's why we recommend that you:
- let us know if there are any errors in your personal information
- keep us up-to-date with changes to your personal information such as your name or address. You may change your personal details by using the relevant facility on our website.
Access to and amendment of personal information
In accordance with NPP 6 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), an organisation must give an individual access to personal information it holds about that individual on request and take steps to correct information if it can be established that the information is not accurate, complete and up-to-date.
Ergon Energy has processes to allow you to make a request for access to your personal information and to request that your information be corrected if it is established that it is not accurate or up-to-date. A request to have information corrected under NPP 6 can be initially directed to Ergon Energy's Contact Centre or if there is any query regarding such a request, to the Customer Liaison and Response Manager. Ergon Energy will take reasonable steps to correct information if it can be established that the personal information is not accurate, complete or up-to-date.
You also have a right to apply for access to or amendment of your own personal information under the Information Privacy Act (Qld) 2009. You can download the required forms by clicking the links below:
How to contact us
If you have any questions in relation to privacy, please contact the Privacy Officer on (07) 3228 7508 between 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday. Please note that this number is not for general service enquiries. Alternatively you can write to privacy@ergon.com.au.
