The Examiner

Privacy Policy

General

You have come through to this page from a website which is published by a subsidiary or related body corporate of Rural Press Pty Ltd.

In this policy, ACM, us, we or our means Rural Press Pty Ltd (ACN 000 010 382) and its Related Bodies Corporate* (as that term is defined in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)), partnerships and joint venture entities.

ACM recognises that your privacy and the protection of your personal information is important to you.

We take our privacy obligations seriously and are committed to ensuring that we handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in it.

This policy sets out:

  • what is personal information;
  • what personal information we collect and hold;
  • how we collect personal information;
  • why we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information;
  • how we disclose personal information;
  • what happens if we are not able to collect personal information;
  • how to seek access to and correct your personal information;
  • how to contact us, including to make a complaint; and
  • whether we disclose personal information outside Australia.

We are bound by the Privacy Act. However, due to the nature of some of our business activities, from time to time, we will handle personal information relying on the media exemption in the Privacy Act where appropriate. We may also rely on related bodies corporate, employee records and other exemptions in the Privacy Act.

This policy incorporates the Tracking and Targeting Policy at Tracking and Targeting Policy.

We may, from time to time, review and update this policy, including taking account of new or amended laws, new technology and/or changes to our operations. All personal information held by us will be governed by the most recent updated policy published on this website, with any updates effective as of the date of publication. Your privacy matters to us, so whether you are new to ACM or are a long time user, please take the time to get to know our practices.

What is Personal Information

When used in this policy, the term “personal information” has the meaning given to it in the Privacy Act. In general terms, it is any information that can be used to personally identify you. This may include (but is not limited to) your name, age, gender, postcode and contact details (including phone numbers and email addresses) and possibly financial information, including your credit card, direct debit or PayPal account information. If the information we collect personally identifies you, or you are reasonably identifiable from it, the information will be considered personal information.

What Personal Information Do We Collect and Hold

We collect personal information including:

  • name;
  • mailing or street address, including postcode;
  • email address;
  • telephone number;
  • age or birth date;
  • gender;
  • details about your profession or occupation, including your job title or role in industry (for example, your role in farming and your farm type);
  • whether you are a homeowner and/or farm owner, and including your property type and farm type;
  • business details, including ABN;
  • information about your interests;
  • other personal details, such as whether you have school-aged children;
  • details of the products and services you have purchased from us or which you have enquired about, together with any additional information necessary to deliver those products and services and to respond to your enquiries;
  • any additional information relating to you that you provide to us directly through our websites or indirectly through use of our website or online presence through our representatives or otherwise;
  • information you provide to us through our events (including information provided in-person), at our service centres, through customer surveys or through visits by our representatives from time to time; and
  • other information as legitimate for our functions and activities.

How We Collect Personal Information

We will usually collect your personal information directly from you unless it is unreasonable or impractical to do so. We do this in ways including:

  • through your access and use of our website, apps or sending SMS/MMS to us;
  • through someone else who has provided us with your information (e.g. a gift subscription);
  • during conversations between you and our representatives;
  • when you subscribe to our newsletters;
  • when you participate in a survey or enter a competition;
  • when you participate in or attend an ACM event, including in-person; and
  • when you complete an application or purchase order.

We may also collect personal information from other sources including:

  • third party companies such as credit reporting agencies, law enforcement agencies and other government entities;
  • advertisers;
  • mailing lists;
  • recruitment agencies; and
  • contractors and business partners.

We may also collect information you publish on social and other media.

Why Do We Collect, Hold, Use and Disclose Personal Information

We may use and disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it has been collected, or for any other purposes to which you have consented. You may give us your consent expressly, or it may be implied by your conduct. Subject to the requirements of the APPs, if you would reasonably expect the information to be used or disclosed for another purpose, we may also use or disclose it for that purpose.

We collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the business purposes of ACM across its Related Bodies Corporate, including:

  • to provide products and services to you;
  • to provide you with news, information or advise you about our existing and new products and services;
  • to communicate with you, including but not limited to, by email, mail, SMS or telephone;
  • to manage and enhance our products and services;
  • to personalise and customise your experience;
  • to provide you with access to protected areas of our websites;
  • to conduct surveys, competitions or promotions on behalf ACM and selected third parties;
  • to verify your identity;
  • to provide as part of business data to third parties if you have authorised us to do so;
  • to conduct business processing functions for operation of our websites or our business;
  • for our administrative, marketing (including direct marketing of our products and services and those of other advertisers), promotional, planning, product/service development, quality control and research purposes, or those of our partners, contractors or external service providers;
  • for the operation of automated decision-making technology;
  • to provide your updated personal information to us, our contractors or external service providers;
  • to investigate any complaints about or made by you, or if we have reason to suspect that you are in breach of any of our terms and conditions or that you are or have been otherwise engaged in any unlawful activity; and/or
  • as required or permitted by any law (including the Privacy Act).

Your personal information will not be shared, sold, rented or disclosed other than as described in this privacy policy.

If, in relation to the collection of any personal information, we represent to you how (or for what purposes) the personal information will be collected, held, used or disclosed, and there is any inconsistency between that representation and the terms of this privacy policy, the representation at the point of collection will prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.

How Do We Disclose Your Personal Information

We may disclose your personal information to:

  • our employees, Related Bodies Corporate, partnerships, joint venture entities, contractors or external service providers for the operation of our websites or our business, fulfilling requests by you, and otherwise provide products and services to you, including without limitation, web hosting providers, IT systems administrators, mailing houses, newsagents, couriers, payment processors, photographic analysers, data entry service providers, electronic network administrators, debt collectors, and professional advisers such as accountants, solicitors, business advisors and consultants;
  • our existing or potential agents and/or business partners;
  • our sponsors, or promoters of any competition that we conduct or promote via our services;
  • specific third parties authorised by you to receive information held by us;
  • our targeted advertising service providers including LiveRamp, Google and Meta;
  • the police, any relevant authority or enforcement body, or your Internet Service Provider or network administrator, for example, if we have reason to suspect that you have committed a breach of any of our terms and conditions, or have otherwise been engaged in any unlawful activity, and we reasonably believe that disclosure is necessary; and
  • as required or permitted by any law (including the Privacy Act).

Direct Marketing

We may send you direct marketing communications and information about our products and services, and the products and services of our partners and other advertisers, that we consider may be of interest to you. These communications may be sent in various forms, including mail, SMS or email, in accordance with applicable marketing laws, such as the Spam Act 2004 (Cth). If you indicate a preference for a method of communication, we will endeavour to use that method whenever practical to do so.

In addition, at any time, you may opt-out of receiving marketing communications from us by contacting us (details below) or by using the opt-out facilities provided (e.g. an unsubscribe link), or by updating your personal details on our “MyAccount” webpage. We will then ensure that your name is removed from our mailing list for the purposes of direct marketing. We do not provide your personal information to other organisations for the purpose of direct marketing unless expressly authorised by you.

If you receive communications from us that you believe have been sent to you other than in accordance with this policy, or in breach of any law, please contact us using the details provided below.

We may use (but will not disclose) your personal information to facilitate targeted advertising via the LiveRamp Authenticated Traffic Solution (ATS) and through advertising services provided by Google and Meta.

You may opt out of LiveRamp ATS here at any time: https://optout.liveramp.com/

Please see our Tracking and Targeting Policy.

Sensitive Information

Generally, we do not collect sensitive information such as information about your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, criminal history, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, sexual orientation or health.

We will only collect sensitive information if you have given your consent for us to do so and the information is reasonably necessary for us to carry out our functions or activities, or as otherwise permitted under the Privacy Act. This includes information on political opinions collected through surveys (for example surveys conducted on political preferences during an election period) and criminal history collected through background checks as part of employment applications.

If we hold any sensitive information about you, that information will only be used and disclosed by us for the purpose that you provided it for.

Access to Your Personal Information

At any time, you may request access to personal information about you that we hold by contacting us using the details below. We will endeavour to process your request within a reasonable time. We will generally give you access to your personal information, and if we do not we will take reasonable steps to meet your needs (for example by letting you know generally the kind of information we hold about you). We will also give you the reasons why your request has been refused and advise you on avenues to make a complaint.

Correction of Your Personal Information

You should notify us if there are any changes to your personal information. You may ask us at any time to correct personal information we hold about you by contacting us using the details below.

Automated Decision-Making

ACM may use a range of computer programs, including machine learning and other artificial intelligence processes (AI), to automate or assist with decisions, including where your rights or interests may be significantly affected, and for this purpose we may use your personal information in the operation of those computer programs (Automated Decision-Making).

The kinds of personal information we may use for Automated Decision-Making include:

  • your name;
  • your date of birth;
  • your address including your postcode;
  • your gender;
  • the type of content you access;
  • the plans and prices of ACM products;
  • your preferences in respect of content, device, and format (video, email, web, app); and
  • your interactions with our websites.

The kinds of decisions made solely by Automated Decision-Making include decisions regarding:

  • content recommendations;
  • the advertising you are served;
  • the sequence or format of content;
  • your overall digital experience;
  • ACM plans and prices; and
  • next best offers.

Where applicable, we will include information in this policy about how Automated Decision-Making is a key factor in, and has a direct connection with, facilitating ACM’s decision making.

ACM’s staff endeavour to use best practice and may use third party AI tools to assist with our functions, activities or operational business purposes. We seek to be transparent about how AI is used.

What Happens if We Can’t Collect Your Personal Information

If you do not provide us with the personal information described in this policy, some or all of the following may happen:

  • we may not be able to provide you with the products or services you requested, either to the same standard, or at all (for example, if you do not register as a member of a website, you will not be able to access features or services that are reserved for members only);
  • we may not be able to provide you with information about products and services that you may want, including information about discounts, sales or special promotions; or
  • we may be unable to tailor the content of our websites to your preferences and your experience of our websites may not be as enjoyable or useful.

How You can Complain about a Breach of Privacy

If you believe your privacy has been breached by us, or have any questions or concerns about our privacy policy, please contact us using the contact information below and provide details of the incident so that we can investigate it.

We have a formal procedure for investigating and dealing with privacy breaches. Once the Privacy Officer receives a complaint, whether it is in writing or verbal means, the Privacy Officer will commence an investigation with the relevant business unit from which the alleged breach stemmed. The investigator will endeavour to determine the nature of the breach and how it occurred. We may contact you during the process to seek further clarification if necessary. If a breach is found, the Privacy Officer will escalate the matter to management so that the process can be rectified to prevent any further breaches from taking place. We will also contact you to inform you of the outcome of the investigation. We will endeavour to resolve all investigations within a reasonable time.

We will treat your requests or complaints confidentially. Our representatives will contact you within a reasonable time after receipt of your complaint to discuss your concerns and outline options regarding how they may be resolved. We will aim to ensure that your complaint is resolved in a timely and appropriate manner.

Please contact our Privacy Officer at:
Privacy Officer
Australian Community Media
Level 2, 17-19 Bridge Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Email: privacy@austcommunitymedia.com.au

Disclosure of Personal Information Outside Australia

We may disclose personal information to our Related Bodies Corporate, partnerships, joint venture entities and external service providers located overseas for some of the purposes listed above. We take reasonable steps to ensure that the overseas recipients of your personal information do not breach the privacy obligations relating to your personal information.

We may disclose your personal information to entities located outside of Australia, including the following:

  • our data hosting and Cloud-based IT service providers located in the U.S.;
  • other external service providers located in the Philippines and U.S.; and
  • other third parties operating in jurisdictions including China, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Denmark, the United Kingdom, France, Slovakia and the United States where you have authorised us to do so.

Storage and Security

We may hold your personal information in a number of different formats, including software programs (located both onsite and offsite, including in the cloud), databases, filing systems and in offsite backup storage. Personal information held by us may be stored in email accounts that are accessible through mobile devices.

We will take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information that we hold from misuse, loss or unauthorised access, including by means of firewalls, password access, secure servers and encryption of credit card transactions.

If you suspect any misuse or loss of, or unauthorised access to, your personal information, please let us know immediately.

Links

Our website may contain links to other websites operated by third parties. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of any third party website and we are not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of any third party website. Third party websites are responsible for informing you about their own privacy practices.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We may change this privacy policy from time to time. Any updated versions of this privacy policy will be published on this website, with any changes effective on the date of publication. This privacy policy was last updated in May 2026.

Tracking and Targeting

Tracking and Targeting Policy

*Related Bodies Corporate

ACM - COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS PTY LTD (ABN: 77 000 310 654)

ACM NEWS INVESTMENTS PTY LTD (ABN: 36 676 479 646)

ACM PRINT COMPANY PTY LTD (ABN: 36 096 607 402)

ACM - REGIONAL MEDIA (TASMANIA) PTY LTD (ABN: 75 009 590 998)

ACM - REGIONAL PRINTERS PTY LTD (ABN: 25 066 327 106)

AGRICULTURAL PUBLISHERS PTY. LIMITED (ABN: 55 000 560 430)

AGRI GROWTH INVESTMENTS PTY LTD (ABN: 36 676 480 818)

AGRI MARKETPLACES PTY LTD (ABN: 25 676 544 700)

CREATIVE HOUSE PUBLICATIONS PTY LTD (ABN: 62 128 786 005)

FARMBUY PTY LTD (ABN: 50 665 093 069)

ILLAWARRA NEWSPAPERS HOLDINGS PTY LTD (ABN: 95 000 075 025)

MOUNTAIN PRESS PTY LTD (ABN: 53 000 560 421)

NEWCASTLE NEWSPAPERS PTY LTD (ABN: 46 000 003 967)

NEWSAGENTS DIRECT DISTRIBUTION PTY LTD (ABN: 14 003 123 091)

PORT STEPHENS PUBLISHERS PTY LTD (ABN: 67 001 828 646)

QUEENSLAND COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS PTY. LTD. (ABN: 34 010 272 241)

REGIONAL PRINTERS PTY LIMITED (ABN: 30 096 309 796)

REGIONAL PUBLISHERS PTY LTD (ABN: 20 000 014 700)

REGIONAL PUBLISHERS (VICTORIA) PTY. LIMITED (ABN: 13 007 215 287)

REGIONAL PUBLISHERS (WESTERN VICTORIA) PTY. LIMITED (ABN: 40 006 247 016)

RURAL PRESS PRINTING PTY. LIMITED (ABN: 35 009 896 146)

RURAL PRESS PRINTING (VICTORIA) PTY LIMITED (ABN: 55 004 810 511)

RURAL PRESS QUEENSLAND PTY. LTD. (ABN: 93 009 662 284)

RURAL PRESS REGIONAL MEDIA (W.A.) PTY LIMITED (ABN: 14 008 668 022)

S.A. REGIONAL MEDIA PTY. LIMITED (ABN: 87 007 983 575)

STOCK JOURNAL PUBLISHERS PTY. LTD. (ABN: 45 007 871 105)

THE FEDERAL CAPITAL PRESS OF AUSTRALIA PTY. LIMITED (ABN: 62 008 394 063)

The Trustee for PORT STEPHENS PUBLISHERS TRUST (ABN: 97 021 987 488)

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN PRIMARY INDUSTRY PRESS PTY LTD (ABN: 94 009 399 044)