Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy and Privacy Collection Statement

AusNet is committed to handling your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).  Information about how we handle personal information is provided in the: 

  • AusNet Privacy Policy; and
  • Privacy Collection Statement, which applies specifically to the Western Renewables Link (Project).  Details of the Privacy Collection Statement can be viewed below.

If you have questions about the way we handle your personal information, please contact us by calling the AusNet Customer Service Centre on 1300 360 795 (8am-5pm, Monday-Friday) or by writing to us at: 

AusNet
Attention: Privacy Officer - Western Renewables Link
Locked Bag 14051
Melbourne City Mail Centre VIC 8001
privacy@ausnetservices.com.au

Privacy Collection Statement

AusNet is committed to handling your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The purpose of this statement is to notify you of certain matters that we must tell you about before, at the time, or as soon as practicable after, we collect personal information about you. This statement applies specifically to the Western Renewables Link.

When you interact with the Project, for example by sending us an email, registering for Project updates or attending a community consultation event, you may disclose, or be asked to disclose, personal information about yourself. This may include your name, residential and/or postal address, telephone number(s) and email address.

We may collect and store the personal information you give us for the primary purpose of enabling us to deliver the Project. We may use or disclose your personal information for purposes relating to the Project, including:

  • Registering you to receive Project updates.
  • Sending you information that explains how the Project may affect your land holdings (including any rights or obligations you have as an affected landholder).
  • Inviting you to participate in community consultation events.
  • Registering your attendance at a meeting.
  • Scheduling a site visit.
  • Recording and/or responding to questions you ask us about the Project.
  • Designing, building and operating the Project, including communicating with you to discuss the design, construction and operation of the Project.
  • Investigating and/or resolving a complaint you make in relation to the Project, including liaising with complaint authorities in relation to a complaint you make in relation to the Project.
  • Where applicable, recording and/or responding if you participate in the planning and approvals process in relation to the Project, including if you make a submission in relation to the Environment Effects Statement for the Project and/or if you participate in the Planning Panels Victoria Inquiry and Advisory Committee hearing process in relation to the Project.
  • Liaising with government, regulatory, judicial or law enforcement authorities in relation to the Project and your land, including in relation to access to your land for Project activities on your land and the land tenure required for the Project on your land.

We may also use or disclose your personal information for a secondary purpose that is permitted under the Privacy Act.

Sometimes we hold public events like a community consultation or meeting. From time to time, we may decide to record the event. This may be an audio-only recording or an audio visual recording. If we intend to record a community consultation or meeting, we will give you explicit, prior notice of this.

You are not required to disclose your personal information to us. You also have the right to deal with us anonymously or using a pseudonym. However, if we cannot collect your personal information or verify your identify, there may be circumstances where it is impracticable for us to fully involve you in the Project or respond to your communication.

In some cases, your personal information may have been provided to us by another individual in the community on the basis that you may be interested in or affected by the Project. We will take reasonable steps to notify you that we have collected personal information about you and provide you with the information contained in this Privacy Collection Statement.

Your use of the Project website (www.westernrenewableslink.com.au) is governed by the Terms of Use which includes the Cookie Policy. The Terms of Use are available on the site's footer. Any personal information collected about you from the site is subject to the Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy (including this Privacy Collection Statement).

We may also collect documents or other information about you from publicly available records where the information is relevant to the Project. This may include details of your land holdings held by the Victorian Land Registry Services. We may conduct studies or surveys of your land holdings, including LiDAR and aerial imagery data or other surveys. Information about your land holdings, and the studies or surveys of your land, are not personal information and are therefore not subject to the Privacy Act.

From time to time, we may disclose your personal information to consultants, service providers, suppliers and delivery partners (Third Party Providers) we engage to help us deliver the Project. This may include experts in running community engagement processes, environmental consultants, land valuers and surveyors, engineering consultants or construction contractors. We may disclose your personal information to enable our Third Party Providers to:

  • Understand how the Project affects your land.
  • Contact you to arrange meetings, site inspections or access to your land for Project activities on your land.
  • Provide you with information about the Project.

We require Third Party Providers that we engage on this Project by contract to safeguard the privacy and security of personal information they hold, use, disclose, or process on our behalf. Every Third Party Provider we engage on this Project is required to manage any personal information we disclose to them in accordance with Australian privacy laws, or the equivalent laws in the jurisdiction in which they operate.

You should be aware that some of the persons or entities to whom we may disclose personal information, or to whom we make personal information available, are located overseas, including organisations located in:
• India;
• Malaysia;
• Singapore;
• Ireland;
• the Netherlands; and
• the United States.

The Privacy Act gives you the right to request access to your personal information. To request access, please use the Request for Access to Personal Information form available on the Project website (www.westernrenewableslink.com.au). All requests for access should be made using this form. If we hold personal information about you, we may charge you a fee to provide you with access. This is an administrative charge that contributes to the cost of searching for, collating and preparing the information relevant to your request. If a fee is payable, we will advise you of this and the quantum of the fee before we begin processing your request.

More information about how we handle personal information is available in our Privacy Policy, which is available at www.ausnetservices.com.au/privacy.

If you have questions regarding this Privacy Collection Statement or the way we handle your personal information, please contact us by calling the AusNet Customer Service Centre on 1300 360 795 (8am-5pm, Monday-Friday) or by writing to us at:

AusNet
Attention: Privacy Officer - Western Renewables Link
Locked Bag 14051
Melbourne City Mail Centre VIC 8001
privacy@ausnetservices.com.au

Last updated: 14 July 2025