Privacy Policy

Last updated 10 July 2026.

Who we are

Australian Sauna Association Incorporated ("ASA", "we", "us") is a not-for-profit incorporated association based at 7 Quinns Ave, Leura NSW 2780. We handle personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

What we collect

We collect the information you give us when you join, sign in, contact us, subscribe to our newsletter, apply for a membership tier, submit a sauna to our directory, book tickets to an event, post or apply for a job, or take part in the member community. Depending on what you do, this can include your name, email address, phone number, business name and ABN, postal address, state, profile and committee details, event booking and attendee details (including a health and suitability acknowledgement at checkout), a CV or resume you upload to the Jobs Network, and content you create (forum posts, expert listings, private messages, support tickets, and applications). For paid memberships and event tickets, billing is handled by our payment processor (see below). We also collect basic technical information such as your IP address and device or browser type to keep the service secure and working.

How we use it

We use your information to run your membership, sign you in, operate the sauna directory, member community, events, and Jobs Network, manage event bookings and entry, respond to your enquiries, send the communications you have opted into, process payments, and keep the service secure and reliable. We do not use your information for automated decisions that have a legal effect on you.

We do not sell or share your data for others' marketing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing. To run the service we rely on a small number of trusted providers who process data only on our instructions and only as needed to deliver their part of the service:

• Payments: Stripe processes membership payments. We never see or store your full card number; Stripe handles card data under its own privacy policy and PCI-DSS obligations.
• Hosting and security: Cloudflare hosts the site and our database and provides security and abuse protection.
• Email: our email provider delivers transactional and newsletter emails you have asked for.
• Maps and address search: Google Maps Platform (including the Places API) powers our sauna map and the address autocomplete on our forms. When you search for an address or place, that query is sent to Google under its own privacy policy.
• Analytics: where enabled, we use Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity to understand general site usage and improve the service. These tools may set cookies or similar identifiers in your browser and process limited usage data under their own privacy policies. We do not use them to identify you by name.

We may also disclose information where the law requires it, or to protect the safety of our members and the public.

Your private messages and community content

Private messages between members are private. Our team does not read or monitor your messages. An administrator only accesses a conversation when you or the other member reports it to us for review (for example, for harassment or a safety concern), and only to the extent needed to act on that report. Content you post in public areas of the community (such as the forum or a public directory listing) is visible to others by design.

How long we keep it

We keep your information only as long as we need it:

• Account and membership records are kept while your account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards to meet our legal, accounting, and membership-history obligations.
• Support tickets that an administrator deletes are retained for 90 days and then permanently removed.
• Internal administrative records (such as an activity log of staff actions) are kept to keep the service accountable and secure.
• Newsletter subscriptions are kept until you unsubscribe.

When information is no longer needed, we delete it or de-identify it.

The sauna directory

Listings in our public sauna map are a community directory of businesses and public facilities. If you operate a sauna and want a listing changed or removed, contact us.

Security

We protect your information with measures appropriate to its sensitivity, including encrypted connections, hashed passwords, access controls, and limiting staff access to what is needed. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to guard against loss, misuse, and unauthorised access.

Cookies

We use cookies that are necessary to sign you in and keep your session secure, and, where enabled, analytics cookies to understand general usage. You can control cookies through your browser settings.

Your choices and rights

You can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time, update your details in your member profile, and request access to or correction of your personal information. You can also permanently delete your account and its associated data at any time from your member profile (the "Delete account" section), which removes your personal information and cancels any active membership. To make a privacy request, ask a question, or raise a concern, email joinus@saunaaustralia.org.au. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "last updated" date above shows when it last changed.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email joinus@saunaaustralia.org.au.