South Pacific School of Missions

SPSM — PRIVACY POLICY

Effective date: 16/10/26

Who we are

The South Pacific Australia School of Missions (SPSM) is an online Christian ministry training programme operated by Perth Church of Christ Limited (ABN 69 166 789 260) in collaboration with churches in the South Pacific and Australia region. Perth Church of Christ Limited is responsible for this policy and for the SPSM programme. In this policy, “SPSM”, “we”, “our” and “us” mean Perth Church of Christ Limited when operating SPSM.

This policy applies to our website at https://spsm.online, our Thinkific courses and associated SPSM online teaching, communications and events. It explains what personal information we handle, the purposes, possible recipients, overseas processing, retention and your privacy choices.

1. Information we collect

When you register and participate, we collect or generate the following information, depending on the activity:

• Identity and affiliation: your name, email address and the church you identify as being from, or other response you supply to that question.

• Learning records: enrolments, lesson viewing and progress, quiz responses and results, assignments and assessor feedback, completion and certificates.

• Payments: purchases, amounts paid or due, payment-plan status, receipts, transaction identifiers and limited billing information supplied through Thinkific Payments.

• Online session material: your display name, contributions, questions, image or voice if you appear or speak in a recorded Zoom session; the recording may include a participant list, chat or shared screen where these are captured.

• Communications and technical data: emails and requests you send, website session and login information, device/browser and IP information, and cookies or similar data processed by our service providers.

Your church affiliation and participation in a Christian training programme may reveal religious beliefs or affiliations and therefore may be sensitive information under applicable privacy law. We seek any specific consent required to collect or use such information. Please do not include identifiable pastoral, medical or other highly confidential information about yourself or anyone else in assignments or live class discussions unless SPSM has specifically requested it and appropriate arrangements have been made.

2. How and why we use information

We ordinarily collect details from you when you sign up, pay, submit coursework, attend classes or contact us. Thinkific, Thinkific Payments and Zoom also create operational and technical records when you use their services.

We use information to register students, process and manage fees or instalments, provide access to course materials and Zoom sessions, assess quizzes and assignments, issue completion certificates, answer enquiries, protect accounts and the course environment, maintain financial records and improve SPSM training.

We may contact current and former students about SPSM programmes and related SPSM training opportunities, subject to applicable marketing laws. Messages promoting future programmes will include an appropriate way to unsubscribe or opt out. Administrative messages about a purchased course may still be sent after an opt out.

Where your information reveals religious affiliation, we use it for SPSM programme administration and the additional purposes to which you have specifically consented, or where another lawful basis applies.

3. Access by SPSM directors and service providers

Individual Thinkific account, enrolment, progress, quiz and assignment records are ordinarily accessed by authorised SPSM directors, currently working from Australia, Fiji and New Zealand. Teaching staff may see information you voluntarily display or disclose in the live class they conduct, but they do not routinely receive full student records.

Our service providers include Thinkific (course hosting and administration), Thinkific Payments (payment processing) and Zoom (live meetings and recordings). They may access or process the information needed to deliver their services, in accordance with their applicable contractual terms and privacy notices. We may also disclose limited information where needed for lawful accounting, advice, fraud prevention, safeguarding or legal compliance.

We do not sell student lists or personal information.

4. Possible sharing with church leaders

SPSM may ask for your separate, express permission to share a limited student list with leaders of your nominated home church and authorised leaders of participating regional churches. The purpose is to help them know who is undertaking SPSM training, coordinate ministry development and follow up about training opportunities.

If you agree, the information normally eligible for sharing is your name, email address, nominated church, SPSM enrolment and whether you completed the programme. We do not ordinarily share individual assignment submissions, quiz answers, scores or detailed progress reports with outside church leaders. Any wider sharing requires a further appropriate notice and permission or another lawful basis.

Some recipients may be outside the country where you live, including in Australia, Fiji or New Zealand. Once information is lawfully given to a separate church or its leaders, that organisation may be independently responsible for its handling. We ask recipients to use information only for the explained purposes, keep it appropriately protected and not onward-share or use it for unrelated advertising without a valid basis.

Agreeing to the site Terms or reading this policy alone does not mean that you have given this separate permission. You may choose not to consent and still enrol. You can withdraw permission for future disclosures by emailing us; withdrawal may not reverse disclosures already lawfully made.

5. Live sessions, recordings and publication

SPSM holds live online sessions on Zoom and records some classes so the teaching can be reviewed by enrolled learners and used for SPSM training. Participants are told when a session is recorded. Recordings generally focus on the presenter, but your name, voice, video, chat contribution or other identifying material could be captured if you participate.

Where reasonably practicable, you can avoid appearing in a recording by keeping your camera off and microphone muted, and by contacting SPSM in advance about alternative ways of asking a question. We may edit, remove or restrict access to footage to respect a reasonable privacy or safeguarding request.

We may wish to place SPSM video clips or photographs online on publicly accessible channels, for example the SPSM website, online video platforms, newsletters or social media. We will not deliberately publish material in which you are identifiable for public promotion or general circulation without obtaining separate, specific media consent from you (or a legally effective parent/guardian authorisation where required), unless another lawful basis clearly permits the use.

If you give public-media permission, the material may be accessible internationally, copied or reshared by others, and remain online after your course finishes. You can withdraw consent for future use and request removal from SPSM-controlled channels. We will take reasonable steps to comply, but cannot guarantee recall of material already lawfully published, downloaded or reposted by third parties. Sensitive personal stories, confidential pastoral information and identifying details about third parties are not covered by ordinary media permission.

6. Children and young people

People under 18 may apply to enrol. We take particular care with information and recordings involving young people. Students who are under 16 may use Thinkific only with the permission and active involvement of a parent or legal guardian, in accordance with Thinkific’s applicable requirements; SPSM may request further evidence of authorisation or restrict participation until this is in place. Older minors may also need parent/guardian approval for enrolment, payment or other activities depending on applicable law and their circumstances.

For publicly accessible images or recordings of an identifiable person under 18, SPSM will seek appropriate parental or guardian permission as well as the young person’s involvement in the decision. Students or parents may ask us about privacy arrangements at the contact below.

7. Overseas access and providers

Authorised SPSM directors access programme information from Australia, Fiji and New Zealand. Third-party services such as Thinkific, Thinkific Payments and Zoom may process information in other countries, including the United States and other locations identified in their current service information.

Where applicable law requires safeguards before cross-border disclosure to another organisation or individual, we will take reasonable steps to provide those safeguards or use another lawful method of disclosure. International hosting and disclosures may involve privacy laws different from those in your home country. Contact us to ask about relevant recipients and protections.

8. Security, records and retention

We take reasonable organisational and technical steps to protect personal information. SPSM directors control access to student administration records, and we use established online service providers for course delivery and payments. No online system can promise absolute security.

We ordinarily leave completed students’ accounts, course progress and assignments in Thinkific after the course ends to preserve ongoing course access, training records and completion evidence. We currently do not apply a fixed automatic deletion date to these records. We also retain necessary financial and transactional records for legal and administrative purposes.

We may delete, de-identify or archive information when it is no longer needed or when reasonably requested, subject to valid retention needs, backup cycles, continuing access and legal obligations. You may request account closure or deletion, but some records may need to be kept. We will assess and, where required, report eligible data breaches.

9. Cookies and communications

Thinkific and associated providers use cookies and similar technologies for account login, site operation, security and performance. You can adjust browser settings, though disabling essential cookies may interfere with access. We do not state that SPSM operates advertising tracking or third-party analytics tools unless these are separately enabled and disclosed.

You may opt out of SPSM promotional emails through the unsubscribe instructions or by emailing us. Opting out does not affect essential service notices.

10. Your requests and complaints

You may request access to or correction of personal information SPSM holds about you, ask us to review a sharing or media consent, withdraw optional consent for the future, or request deletion or restriction where available under applicable law. We may need to verify your identity and may retain information where there is a lawful reason.

If you have a privacy concern, contact us first so we can investigate. You may also have rights to approach the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, the New Zealand Office of the Privacy Commissioner, or another regulator where applicable.

11. Changes and contact

We may update this policy when SPSM practices, services or legal obligations change. We will publish the revised version with its effective date and provide additional notice or seek fresh consent where required for a material new use.

Privacy and general SPSM enquiries: [email protected]

Operator: Perth Church of Christ Limited (ABN 69 166 789 260). Website: https://spsm.online