NSW Not for Profit Sporting Club - Unfair Exclusion and Breach of Privacy?

[bel3001]

Can someone please advise our sporting club on this matter.

A overdue account owed by our club was forwarded on to a unauthorised third party.
There was no contact made to our club in reference to this account.
The third party is the sports governing body who contacted our club.
The account was paid in full immediately by our club.

The problem we now have is that the third party - governing body,is using this information to have our club excluded from the competition. We have two (2) weeks before the commencement of the competition and we have many sponsors that have donated money to use for uniforms, equipment, supplies etc which the club has done so.

The club is to front a meeting tonight and explain why we should still be allowed entry into the competition then all the other clubs and executives will have the right to vote for or against us.

We feel that this disclosure is a breach of the privacy act and would like advice on how to stop the third party from disclosing the information about this account at the meeting tonight.

We are a not for profit organisation that runs on the smell of an oily rag. We cannot afford any legal advice. And we believe that if the club is excluded in tonight's meeting this will cause undue embarrassment and financial duress to the club and it's sponsors.

Thank you for your help in this matter

 

[Sarah J]

Hi bel3001,

There are two types of private information:

• Personal information: information that identifies an individual (e.g. address, date of birth, bank details)
• Personal privacy: e.g what someone is doing in their personal home or business

The first is protected by legislation. However, most of this legislation governs how government agencies, companies and debt collectors handle personal information received through the course of business. In other words, it is limited protection.

The second is not recognised as a right in Australia (i.e. there is no right to personal privacy). However, you could claim compensation or an injunction through other legal avenues such as trespass or defamation: see The Law Handbook: "The right to privacy"

To determine whether a debt can be considered "personal information" and protected by legislation, you can contact the Australian Information Commissioner. See also: "Fact sheet 17: Australian Privacy Principles"

Another question is, is it a rule of the competition that a club with outstanding debt, or who pays their debts late, can be disqualified from the competition?