Dubbo Presbyterian Church
Privacy policy
Last updated 17 October 2026
Dubbo Presbyterian Church (DPC), the PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA IN THE STATE OF NEW SOUTH WALES PARISH OF DUBBO, keeps records of the people connected with our church so we can care for them, keep children safe, run our services and ministries, and stay in touch. This policy explains what we collect, why, who can see it, where it is stored, and how to ask us about it. We handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
DPC is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Australia in the State of New South Wales. This policy sits alongside the Presbyterian Church of NSW Privacy Policy and Guidelines, which also apply to the information we collect, and which govern anything this policy does not cover. Our church website's privacy information page carries the short notice you will see on our forms and the wording our members use when they publish a list of people, such as a directory.
What this policy covers
This policy covers the church management system our staff and ministry leaders use (at home.dubbo.church), the emails and text messages sent from it, the online forms, sign-up links and event pages it publishes, the check-in system used for children's and youth programmes, and the DPC app for phones.
What we collect
Depending on how you are involved with DPC, we may hold:
- Your name, email address, phone number, postal address and date of birth.
- Your household and family relationships, and which of our congregations you attend.
- The groups, teams and rosters you belong to, and the roles you serve in.
- Attendance at services, groups and events, and check-in and check-out times for children.
- Significant dates in your church life, such as when you first visited, joined, were baptised or became a member.
- Pastoral notes written by staff and ministry leaders so that care can be followed up consistently.
- For children and young people: emergency contacts, allergies, medical and additional-needs information their parent or guardian gives us so we can look after them safely, and whether photos may be taken.
- For volunteers in roles that require it: Working With Children Check details and safe ministry training dates.
- Your communication preferences and consents, and any forms, RSVPs or sign-ups you complete.
- For event payments: your name, contact details and the amount paid (never your card number).
- Whether an email we sent you was opened and which links were clicked, so we can tell whether our communication is reaching people.
- For staff and leaders who sign in: their login details, and a record of what they viewed or changed.
We do not record individual giving in this system. Giving figures are held only as church-wide monthly totals.
How we collect it
- Directly from you, when you fill in a form, sign up, RSVP, update your details or check in.
- From a parent or guardian, for children and young people in their care.
- From staff and ministry leaders, in the course of caring for people and running ministries.
- From our previous church management system (ChurchSuite), while we finish moving across.
Why we use it
- To provide pastoral care and follow people up well.
- To keep children and young people safe, including managing check-in and emergency contact.
- To run services, rosters, groups, teams and events.
- To meet our safe ministry obligations for volunteers.
- To communicate with you about church life, in the ways you have agreed to.
- To understand attendance and involvement across the church, using overall counts and trends.
We never sell personal information, and we never use it for third-party marketing.
Who can see it
Access is limited by role. Staff and authorised ministry leaders see only the people and information they need for their ministry. Children's details, pastoral notes and safeguarding information are restricted further, to only the people who need them and who hold a current Working With Children Check and up-to-date safe ministry (Breaking the Silence) training.
Who we share it with
We use a small number of companies to run the system and deliver messages. They handle personal information only to provide their service to us, under their own privacy and security commitments. Under Australian Privacy Principle 8 we tell you where each of them handles our data:
| Who | What they do for us | Where our data is handled | Company based in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Hosts the database, sign-in for staff, and uploaded files (photos and documents). | Sydney, Australia. | United States |
| Fly.io | Runs the web application and the background worker that sends messages. | Sydney, Australia. | United States |
| Amazon Web Services | Delivers our emails (Simple Email Service) and stores images and documents used in the system. | Sydney, Australia. | United States |
| ClickSend | Sends our text messages. Receives the phone number and the message text. | Stored in Australia and deleted after 120 days. Its monitoring service (North America) and support staff in Sweden, the United States and the Philippines may see data while running the service. | Australia |
| BulkSMS | Sends our text messages. Receives the phone number and the message text. | Hosted in Ireland. Support staff in Cape Town, South Africa may see data while helping us. | South Africa |
| Stripe | Takes card payments for events. Card details go straight to Stripe; we only ever see the payer's name, contact details and amount. | Stripe operates globally, including Australia. | United States |
| ChurchSuite | Our previous church management system. It still holds a copy of records while we finish moving across, and some records are copied from it into this system. | United Kingdom. | United Kingdom |
| Anthropic | Powers an optional assistant that staff can ask questions of. It is built so it can never see names, contact details, dates of birth, notes, medical or safeguarding information — only counts, attendance patterns and internal record numbers. | United States. | United States |
| Optional sign-in for staff and app users using their Google account. No congregation records are shared with Google. | Global. | United States | |
| Apple | Optional “Sign in with Apple” for app users, and delivers the DPC app through the App Store. No congregation records are shared with Apple. | Global. | United States |
| Subsplash | Hosts our sermon podcast. When you play a talk, the app fetches it from Subsplash, which sees your phone’s internet address. No congregation records are shared. | United States. | United States |
Apart from these providers, we share personal information only when you ask us to, when the law requires it, or when it is necessary to protect someone's safety.
Where it is stored and how it is protected
- Our records are stored in Australia (Sydney), as set out in the table above.
- All connections to the system are encrypted.
- Every record is protected by access rules enforced in the database itself, not just in the screens staff use.
- Nightly backups are kept in Australia only and are deleted after 30 days; our database provider keeps its own backups for 7 days.
- Public links in our emails (RSVP, update your details, preferences) carry no password and show only what that one action needs.
If something goes wrong
We follow the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme as set out in the Presbyterian Church of NSW Privacy Policy and Guidelines. If personal information we hold is lost, or accessed or disclosed without authorisation, we assess it promptly, and where the breach is likely to result in serious harm we notify the people affected and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
How long we keep it
We keep your information while you are connected with DPC. When someone moves on, their record is archived rather than left active, and it is no longer used for communication. You can ask us to delete your record; we will do so unless we are required to keep part of it, for example safeguarding records or records the law requires us to retain. Group chat messages, including deleted ones, and reports about them are deleted after 12 months.
Emails and text messages
We only email or text you in the ways you have agreed to. Every email carries an unsubscribe link and a link to choose which lists you receive, and you can reply STOP to any text message or ask us to stop.
The DPC app
Anyone can use the app to read news, see events and listen to talks without signing in. If you sign in, with Apple or Google, the app connects you to your record in our church management system once our office has approved you.
On your phone. The app keeps your sign-in in your phone's secure storage (the iPhone Keychain) and nothing else about you. If you turn on Face ID or a passcode lock, your phone checks it; we never receive your face, fingerprint or passcode. The prayer points you tick are not sent to us. The app has no advertising, analytics or tracking.
Your details. Changes you make to your email, mobile or address in the app are reviewed by our office before your record changes. You can ask us to delete your account from the app, and your church record with it if you wish. The button below takes you to a short form that sends your request to our office, and explains what is removed and what we keep.
Group chat. Adult members of a growth group or team can message each other in the app. The minister responsible for that ministry area can also read the group's messages. If a group has anyone under 18, only people with a current Working With Children Check and Breaking the Silence training can see its chat. If you delete a message, it disappears for everyone, but we keep a hidden copy so a reported message can still be reviewed. Reports go to the area's minister, our church administrators and our safe ministry team. All messages, including deleted ones, and any reports about them are permanently removed after 12 months.
Leaders. Ministry leaders who use the app see only what they see on our website for their ministry, for example the contact details of people in their own team or group.
Kids church. Parents can sign their own children in from the app during a service. Children are signed out by their teachers.
Children and young people
Information about children is given to us by a parent or guardian and is used to keep children safe and to run our programmes. Only leaders responsible for a child's programme, and the staff who oversee it, can see that child's details. A child's record is linked to their family so that contact goes through their parent or guardian.
Access, correction and complaints
You can ask to see the information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, by emailing info@dubbo.church or speaking with a staff member. How to request deletion sets out the steps and what we keep. We may ask you to confirm who you are before we share a record. Many emails we send also include a link to update your own details. If you believe we have mishandled your information, please tell us at the same address and we will investigate and respond. If you are not satisfied with our response, the Presbyterian Church of NSW has a designated Privacy Officer you can contact on 1300 773 774, at PO Box 2196, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012, or by emailing general@pcnsw.org.au. You can also complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.
Changes to this policy
We update this page whenever we change a provider, where data is stored, or what we collect. The date at the top tells you when it last changed.
Dubbo Presbyterian Church · PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA IN THE STATE OF NEW SOUTH WALES PARISH OF DUBBO