This Collection Notice provides information about how Country Fire Authority’s Finance & Procurement directorate (CFA, we or us) collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information regarding donors who make donations via CFA’s donations platform or third-party donation platforms (you or your). CFA is a Victorian Government organisation and our collection, use and disclosure of personal information follows the requirements of the Privacy & Data Protection Act 2014 (PDP Act) and the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs).
We may amend this Collection Notice as our organisation requires or the law changes. Any changes to this Collection Notice will be updated on this page.
Direct Donations
CFA has engaged MyCause to facilitate and manage the processing of donations on its behalf, including payment processing, donation platform administration, data hosting, technical support and financial reconciliation. In doing so, CFA may disclose limited personal information to these service providers where it is reasonably necessary for them to perform these functions.
These service providers may collect, store and process personal information in accordance with CFA’s instructions and applicable privacy laws. CFA takes reasonable steps to ensure that all third‑party service providers engaged for donation processing are subject to contractual obligations requiring them to implement appropriate security measures, maintain confidentiality, and handle personal information in a manner consistent with applicable privacy and data protection legislation.
What information does CFA collect about donors?
CFA's donation platform (MyCause) collects personal information from donors, including first and last name, email address, phone number, donor type (individual or organisation), donation type (nominated local brigade or CFA corporate/public fund), donation purpose, and donation amount.
We may also collect other optional personal information if donors choose to provide it in the comments free text box.
We may also de-identify and aggregate information regarding donor type, location, and nominated brigade or type of project to meet our data analysis and internal reporting needs or comply with our legislative reporting requirements.
Payment Handling
Donations made on CFA’s website using the MyCause donations widget are processed securely by PayPal BrainTree, a global payment processing solution. These funds are remitted to CFA’s bank account on a monthly basis. For any donations made to a specific brigade (via CFA & Brigades Donations Fund), these are distributed to the nominated brigade following the funds clearing in our bank account.
Where do we get your information?
CFA collects this information either:
- directly from you via CFA's donations platform (MyCause); or
- indirectly from third party service providers, such as donation platforms who may provide us with your donation details for fundraising purposes (for example, PayPal Giving Fund, GoFundMe, and Benevity).
Why do we collect and use your information?
We collect and use your personal information to:
- generate a receipt and acknowledgment for your received donation;
- analyse, manage and improve our fundraising activities;
- maintain our taxation record-keeping purposes;
- provide supporting documentation for audits associated with donations to CFA (Public Fund) or a local brigade via the CFA & Brigades Donations Fund; and
- facilitate contact with you, including to provide you with a copy of our Annual Report regarding financial contributions made to CFA within the respective financial year, or to advise what project or initiative your donation has contributed to.
The information we collect from you is also required for us to meet our specific legislative requirements, or to undertake our prescribed functions, in accordance with:
- the Country Fire Authority Act 1958 (Vic) and Country Fire Authority Regulations 2025 (Vic);
- Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) and Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth); and
- the Fundraising Act 1998 (Vic).
Who might CFA disclose your personal information to?
We may disclose your personal information to our internal stakeholders, including:
- CFA's leadership team to ensure appropriate recognition is given to major donors.
- CFA's ICT department, who are responsible for technical support and maintenance of the integrated platform;
- CFA's Communications & Stakeholder Relations department, who are responsible for issuing relevant communications; and
- CFA's Finance Shared Services department, who are responsible for receiving and recording donation transactions in CFA’s accounting system.
Where you have provided your consent for us to do so, we may also:
- disclose your name, donation amount and email address to your nominated brigade so that they may acknowledge and thank you personally for your donation; and
- send communications to you that we consider may be relevant or interesting to you.
We may also disclose your personal information to certain external third parties including:
- third party service providers acting on our behalf, such as third-party consultants engaged by CFA for technical support for the MyCause product responsible for storing your personal information;
- trustees of the CFA and Brigades Donations Fund (Trust), as well as the Trust’s auditor; and
- CFA’s auditor (Victorian Auditor-General’s Office), government agencies and public sector bodies.
Your personal information is securely stored in a MyCause electronic database located in Sydney, Australia. This information is backed up to Amazon Web Service (AWS) facilities located in the United States. MyCause processes Personal Information in Australia and only shares it, as permitted.
Your personal information will otherwise not be disclosed to any other third party without your consent, unless disclosure is required or authorised by law.
Direct Communication & Marketing
CFA will comply with the IPPs in connection with direct marketing to Individuals, obtain consents from Individuals for such marketing whenever reasonable, practical and feasible, and honour all requests to cease such marketing submitted properly through the processes provided by CFA for such requests.
CFA may communicate with donors who have opted in from time-to-time. Donors can opt out of this anytime by using contacting cfagivingcommunity@cfa.vic.gov.au.
CFA will communicate with donors following a campaign bushfire to acknowledge their support. Donors can opt out of this anytime by contacting us via any of the methods specified in the "Contact Us" section of this Collection Statement.
CFA will also endeavour to provide the Individual with the source from which CFA received the Individual’s Personal Information upon request, unless it is impractical or unreasonable to do so.
What happens if you do not provide your information?
Should you choose not to provide your personal information, we may not be able to account for your donation, provide you with a tax-deductible receipt, or comply with our legal obligations.
If you do not wish to provide your full name, you may provide us with a pseudo-name and email address. Although, we require some level of detail for the purpose of managing your payment and our received funds.
Contact us
You can access and correct your personal information or contact us generally for any inquiries or concerns regarding your privacy or CFA’s data protection practices, by emailing us at cfagivingcommunity@cfa.vic.gov.au.