Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Ardent Quality Care is an Australian food safety, quality and regulatory consultancy. In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Ardent Quality Care, and “personal information” has the meaning given to it in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

We handle personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) set out in that Act.

2. Information we collect

We only collect personal information that is reasonably necessary for our work. In practice that means:

Information you give us directly

When you submit an enquiry through this website, we collect the details you enter: your first name, last name, email address, the subject of your enquiry, your indicative start timeframe, and the type of food business you operate.

When you contact us by email or telephone, we collect the contact details you use and whatever information you choose to include in your message.

During a consulting engagement we may collect further information, including names and roles of your staff, site details and audit records, as necessary to deliver the services you have engaged us for.

Information collected automatically

Our web server and our content delivery network keep standard access logs. These record your IP address, the date and time of the request, the page or file requested, the referring page and your browser’s user-agent string. These logs are used to operate the site securely and to diagnose faults.

3. Why we collect it and how we use it

We use personal information to respond to your enquiry, to prepare proposals and quotes, to deliver and administer our consulting services, to meet our own record-keeping and legal obligations, and to keep this website secure and working correctly.

We do not use your information for automated decision-making or profiling, and we do not sell, rent or trade personal information to anyone.

We will only use your information for a purpose other than the one it was collected for where you would reasonably expect it, where you have consented, or where we are required or authorised by law.

4. Direct marketing

We do not operate a marketing mailing list from this website. If that changes, we will only send marketing communications where you have opted in, every message will contain a clear unsubscribe option, and we will honour opt-out requests promptly.

5. Cookies and tracking

The public pages of this website set no cookies. We do not use analytics, advertising, remarketing or social media tracking on this site, and there are no third-party tracking scripts or pixels embedded in these pages.

A single session cookie is set on the private content-management area of this site, which is restricted to authorised staff. It exists only to keep an authenticated user signed in and is not used to track visitors.

6. Third parties and overseas disclosure

We disclose personal information only where it is necessary, and only to:

• Our hosting and content delivery providers, who process web traffic and access logs so that this site can be delivered securely.
• Professional advisers, insurers or regulators, where we are required or authorised by law to do so.

This website does not load fonts, scripts, analytics or media from any third-party service. Everything a page needs is served from this domain, so browsing the site does not cause your browser to contact another company’s servers.

Some of these providers store or process information outside Australia, including in the United States. By using this site you acknowledge that information handled by those providers may be processed overseas, and that overseas recipients may not be subject to the Australian Privacy Principles. We take reasonable steps to use reputable providers with their own published privacy commitments.

7. How we protect your information

This website is served exclusively over an encrypted HTTPS connection. Access to the content-management area requires a username and password and is limited to authorised staff. Business records are held in access-controlled systems.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. How long we keep it

We keep personal information only for as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected, or for as long as we are required to keep it by law. Enquiries that do not lead to an engagement are deleted once they are no longer relevant. Records relating to a completed engagement are retained for the period required by our professional, insurance and taxation obligations, and are then destroyed or de-identified.

9. Accessing and correcting your information

You may ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, and you may ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. Contact us using the details below.

We will respond within a reasonable period, ordinarily within 30 days. There is no fee for making a request. If we refuse a request we will tell you why in writing and explain how to complain about that decision.

10. Complaints

If you believe we have mishandled your personal information or breached the Australian Privacy Principles, please contact us first so we can try to put it right. Set out what happened and how you would like it resolved. We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and aim to respond substantively within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au or by telephone on 1300 363 992.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in the law. The current version is always published on this page, and the “last updated” date at the top shows when it last changed.

12. Contact us

For any question about this policy, or to make a privacy request or complaint:

Email: info@ardentqualitycare.com
Telephone: 0424 242 373
Office hours: Monday – Friday, 7am – 6pm AEST