Policies

PMRC Australia (“PMRC”) — which includes the activities of the Marriage Resource Centre, SmartLoving and Antioch and CathFamily — is committed to protecting your privacy when you use our services (“Services”) and when you supply us with the personal information (“Information”) we require. In this policy we explain how and why we collect your information, what we do with it and what controls you have over our use of it.

From time to time, we add or change functions, features or products to our Web Sites or add or change Services. This, and our commitment to protecting the privacy of your personal information, may result in periodic changes to this Privacy Policy. As a result, please remember to refer back to this Privacy Policy regularly to review any amendments. We try to help you with this by stating the date “Last updated” at the bottom of the policy.

Any questions regarding our Privacy Policy should be directed to the PMRC Head Office by phone (+614 3434 6280) or email([email protected]).

Your acceptance of these Privacy Statement terms

By using any of the sites within our web site network (“Web Sites”) or our Services, or sending us Information, you unconditionally agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy.

What data do we collect and how do we use it?

PMRC collects and processes information about you in order to:

  • identify you each time you visit a Web Site or wish to have a Service provided
  • process orders or applications submitted by you
  • improve our Services and Web Sites
  • customise your experience, for example, provide advertisements that we think are relevant to you and which support any specific requests for information you may make through keyword searches
  • carry out research on the demographics, interests and behaviour of users of our resources or services
  • send you information we think you may find useful, including information about new resources, products and services developed by us or by our affiliates.

You may be asked, either when you register with us, or at other times, for information about yourself, such as your name, email address, postal address and telephone number. You may also be asked to share other personal details with us. In addition, when you order certain goods or services from our Web Sites, we will need to know your credit card details.

You are under no obligation to provide this information, but if you don’t then we may not be able to provide you with the Services we offer (for example, register you on a seminar).

Non-personal information

We may automatically collect non-personal information about you such as the type of internet browsers you use or the site from which you linked to our Web Sites. This information is used to assist us in providing an effective service on our Web Sites and Apps. We may from time to time supply the owners or operators of third-party sites from which it is possible to link to our Web Sites with information relating to the number of users linking to our Web Sites from their sites. You cannot be identified from this information.

Use of Cookies

PMRC and its related web sites use cookies to improve our online service. You can block the use of cookies with blockers on your browser but it will disable some of our online features such as access to membership hubs.

With whom is the information shared?

PMRC will not share, sell or rent your personal information to third parties not directly involved in the provision of services or products from PMRC. For some services (such as training, leadership formation, conference networking etc), it is necessary to add you to a communication portal such as Microsoft Teams in order to participate in online webinars, chats and file sharing. In this instance, your contact details may be visible to other participants. This will be made clear to you at the time of registration, and you may opt out at any time by contacting us directly.

However, we may disclose your personal information to third party suppliers who provide services on our behalf. From time to time, we give backend access to our websites to third parties who provide us with web development services. These contractors are bound by international privacy law. PMRC may disclose personal information if required to do so by law or if it believes that such action is necessary to protect and defend the rights, property or personal safety of PMRC and its Web Sites, visitors to the Web Sites and customers of our Services.

Our Web Sites contain links to the sites of third parties. When you visit these sites, we suggest that you read their privacy policies. PMRC is not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of such sites.

Information about products and services

It is very important to us that we provide you with the highest level of service. In order to help us do this, from time-to-time PMRC may send you details of products and services from PMRC and our affiliates which we think may be of interest to you. If at any time you do not wish to receive these details, please contact us at [email protected] or use the links provided in all email communication to manage your preferences, unsubscribe from a newsletter service or opt out.

Security

PMRC places a great importance on the security of all information associated with our users. We have security measures in place to attempt to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of customer data under our control. For example, only authorised personnel have access to user information.

With regard to our Web Sites, we use Stripe or PayPal for secure online payments (you should read their security and privacy policies), and do not retain the credit card details of phone or mail orders once the transaction completed.

Your data is only accessible by authorised personnel who may be provided with your contact details in order to provide you with a requested service such as a product order or course enrolment.

While we cannot ensure or guarantee that loss, misuse or alteration of data will not occur, we use our best efforts to prevent this.

Where is the information stored?

Information which you submit via our Web Sites or our telephone services is stored on our own secure data storage devices and/or secure cloud servers. This is necessary in order to process the information and to send you any information you have requested.

Specific Services

Seminars, talks, events, online courses, print products and various digital products, as listed on our Web Sites.

Comments

Please contact us with any questions, concerns or comments you may have about our Privacy Policy (ph +614 3434 6280).

END OF PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated: 10 Feb 2022

PMRC (Australia) Incorporated CODE OF ETHICS

PMRC (Australia) Incorporated (PMRC) requires that all members, employees and volunteers conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the following ethics:

  1. PMRC resources and services will be available to all people, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, beliefs, or ability.
  2. PMRC resources and services will aim at promoting the highest possible degree of autonomy and self-determination in individuals, couples, families and communities.
  3. PMRC services will respect the intrinsic value, equality and human dignity of all persons and will be aware and sensitive to the potential power positions of workers and clients in the delivery of services. All individuals responsible for service provision are expected to be familiar with, and conform to, the specific ‘duty of care’ obligations associated with that service and adhere to the Guidelines for Preventing Abuse that meet the requirements of both relevant State legislation and also the National Response Protocol of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, (https://www.catholic.org.au/nationalresponseprotocol) or in the case of those operating from international sources, the equivalent protocols of local state and Catholic authorities.
  4. PMRC will work with individuals, groups and social agencies outside of the Catholic Church on issues, policies and programmes which are compatible with Christian values and which work towards the Purpose of PMRC.
  5. PMRC will not advocate or promote in any of its activities or any course of action which is in clear contradiction to any authoritative Catholic Church teaching on faith and morals.
  6. PMRC will not advocate or promote in any of its resources or services which is in contradiction to the form and purpose of Catholic Marriage.
  7. PMRC will seek to always be caring and just in its relationships with staff, volunteers, clients and people in other organisations, groups and all people in the wider community.
  8. PMRC will strive to ensure the health and safety of all staff, volunteers, clients and others in our places of operations.
  9. PMRC will hold itself accountable for its resources, services and fiscal operations.
  10. PMRC will establish policies and procedures which assure the privacy of the relationship established with staff, volunteers, clients and other relevant bodies, within the framework of relevant laws in which it operates.
  11. PMRC will subscribe to and advocate for, within its own policies and practices, the principle of subsidiarity with its concern to leave the highest degree of freedom to the individual which is consistent with the common good.
  12. In evaluating the effectiveness of its resources and services, PMRC will take into account standards drawn from professional and bureaucratic practice as well as the values of justice and love drawn from the Gospel.

By placing itself firmly within the mission of the Catholic Church, PMRC expects that all members, executives, volunteers, management, professional and support staff will identify themselves with the essential aspects of the Church’s mission; irrespective of their own faith traditions and beliefs.

All associated with the work and administration of PMRC will be expected to accept and conform to this Code of Ethics.

END OF STATEMENT

Last updated 10 Feb 2022

PMRC (Australia) Incorporated

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

PMRC (Australia) Incorporated (PMRC) is a not-for-profit, charitable institution with the primary purposes of developing and providing services that aim:

To improve the capacity of individuals, married couples and families to form healthy, stable married relationships and, by doing so:

  1. Increase the quality and stability of marriages.
  2. Reduce the incident of behaviour in pre-married individuals that are likely to reduce the successful formation of and stability of marriages in later years.
  3. Increase protective behaviours (i.e., behaviour that promotes resilience and functionality) for husbands, wives, families and individuals.
  4. Reduce the risk of harmful, abusive or other at-risk behaviours and outcomes, including divorce and emotional, sexual and physical abuse.

The attainment of these objectives is through:

  1. The development of resources and services that are both educative and personally formative in nature, focussed on topics that are directly and indirectly supportive to the formation and sustainability of functional marriages and family relationships consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church
  2. Promoting resources and services primarily for the Catholic community in a manner that makes them accessible to all persons irrespective of their faith traditions or beliefs
  3. Supporting the activities of other organisations with similar purposes

All activities carried out by the PMRC and all acts, decisions, and appointments shall be consistent with these objects and with Catholic teaching.

END OF STATEMENT

Last updated 10 Feb 2022

PMRC (Australia) Incorporated holds to the following values which underpins all that
it does:

  1. Men and women are equal but different; and these differences are complementary.
  2. The fundamental and central role of the family in society.
  3. The primacy of parents as the primary educators of their children.
  4. The right of an individual to live a full life without undue social control and unwarranted interference.
  5. The sanctity of Catholic marriage as a permanent life-long commitment between a man and a woman for the purpose of conceiving and raising children to be functioning contributors to society.
  6. The sanctity and dignity of human life from the moment of its conception until death.
  7. That being a part of a meaningful and fulfilling social network is essential for the sense of well-being and flourishing of the individual.

PMRC (Australia) Incorporated observes the following principles in formulating policies, establishing resources and services and detailing procedures in all its operations.

  1. All policies, programmes and procedures will be faithful to Gospel values and the moral teaching of the Catholic Church.
  2. All policies, programmes and procedures will reflect the recognition that the human dignity of each person is inviolable and brings with it natural rights and duties.

END OF STATEMENT

Last updated 10 Feb 2022

PMRC (AUSTRALIA) INCORPORATED

COMPLAINT MANAGEMENT 

Complaints are an important part of accepting feedback and creating a safe environment for participants, customers/users, employees and volunteers and as such are welcomed by the organisation. In accordance with AS ISO 10002-2006, a complaint under this Policy is defined as:

An expression of dissatisfaction made to an organization, related to its products, or the complaints handling process itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected.

In developing this policy, PMRC (Australia) has done so in a manner reflecting the distinct nature of its different activities. In doing so, it recognises that there are two distinct types of complaints:

  1. Complaints relating to the delivery of a service and products with regards to content, quality and delivery (“Product and Service Complaints”)
  2. Complaints relating to an issue of physical or emotional abuse, which operate within a broader process and are subject to statutory legal regulations (“Abuse Complaints”)

Complaint Contact Details for PMRC (Australia) Activities:

Complaints received by any personnel of the organisation must be referred to the Appropriate Person as follows:

SmartLoving Director of Formation:

Francine Pirola
http://smartloving.org/contact/
[email protected]

Antioch National Directors:

Ron & Mavis Pirola
https://thepmrc.org/contact-us/
[email protected]

All others (Conference, Symposium, CathFamily etc):

Francine & Byron Pirola
https://thepmrc.org/contact-us/
[email protected]

Confidential Staff Matters:

Compliance Contractors: Fidelis Advisory Services
[email protected]

  1. All complaints received by the organisation must be reviewed and assessed by the Appropriate Person and any required actions be recommended to the Executive or its delegated bodies as appropriate.
  2. Ideally, complaints will be lodged in written form, with full contact details (name, phone number, email address) of the complainant, and sufficient information regarding the issue concerned.
  3. If a complaint is received verbally, PMRC personnel must encourage the person to send the complaint in writing to the appropriate person. If a written complaint is not forthcoming, PMRC personnel should note the complaint in writing (briefly) and forward it to the Appropriate Person.
  4. If the complaint pertains to the person(s) to whom the complaint would normally be forwarded, please contact our compliance contractors for independent advice on how to proceed. Fidelis Advisory Services, [email protected]
  5. If your complaint cannot be resolved at first contact, we will endeavour to resolve your complaint within 14 days. If you are dissatisfied with the process or wish to enquire as to the status of your complaint, please contact our office on +614 3434 6280.
  6. Complaints received by PMRC (Australia) are kept on file for a period of 5 years. Information retained include details of the initial complaint, and a record of the actions/ responses of PMRC in response to the complaint.

ABUSE COMPLAINT MANAGEMENT POLICY 

  1. Complaints received in either a verbal or written form relating to an issue of physical or emotional abuse must be brought to the immediate attention of the PMRC Executive, who will then refer the matter to local law enforcement and the Director of Professional Standards in the relevant Diocese. The Director of Professional Standards will manage the process of responding to that complaint, in accordance with the guidelines referred to in the National Response Protocol. In cases where the complaint relates to an incident outside Australia, the equivalent protocol of the local Catholic bishops conference will be followed.
  2. Ideally, complaints will be lodged in written form, with full contact details (name, phone number, email address) of the complainant, and sufficient information regarding the issue concerned.
  3. If a complaint is received verbally, PMRC personnel will encourage the person to send the complaint in writing to either the PMRC Executive, and/or the Director of Professional Standards in the relevant Diocese. Where necessary, with the consent of the complainant, PMRC personnel will assist in documenting the details of the complaint, and have these details confirmed by signature of the complainant.
  4. Where anonymous complaints are received, PMRC (Australia) will ensure local law enforcement has been informed but will be unable to refer the complaint to the Director of Professional Standards in the relevant Diocese until the name of the person and/or the location of the incident is known.

Last Updated  26 Feb 2025