Boring but important stuff

Collection of personal identifiable information

This website can be accessed without providing any personally identifiable information. We do not provide any forms or other methods of data input to collect information from website vision.

The Local Publishing Group does not share your personal information with anyone. If you somehow manage to send us your personal information despite our lack of facilitation, we promise not to share it with anyone unless legally obligated to.

Collection of non-identifiable information

This website uses code and cookies to collect non-identifiable information about you. This information may include pages on this website you have visited, your physical location, and information about the type of device you are using to visit the website.

This information contains no personally identifiable data about yourself, and it collected and used for the purposes of analysing and improving the website experience.

We use third party software to collect and analyse non-identifiable data collected on our website. This data may be shared with other companies or individuals as required.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

The Local Publishing Group reserves the right to make amendments to this Privacy Policy at any time. If you have objections to the Privacy Policy, we recommend you should not access or use the Site.

Code of Ethics

The Local Publishing Group adheres to the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance Journalist Code of Ethics

Respect for truth and the public’s right to information are fundamental principles of journalism. Journalists search, disclose, record, question, entertain, comment and remember. They inform citizens and animate democracy. They scrutinise power, but also exercise it, and should be responsible and accountable.

MEAA members engaged in journalism commit themselves to:

·          Honesty

·          Fairness

·          Independence

·          Respect for the rights of others

Journalists will educate themselves about ethics and apply the following standards:

·          Report and interpret honestly, striving for accuracy, fairness and disclosure of all essential facts. Do not suppress relevant available facts, or give distorting emphasis. Do your utmost to give a fair opportunity for reply.

·          Do not place unnecessary emphasis on personal characteristics, including race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, sexual orientation, family relationships, religious belief, or physical or intellectual disability.

·          Aim to attribute information to its source. Where a source seeks anonymity, do not agree without first considering the source’s motives and any alternative attributable source. Where confidences are accepted, respect them in all circumstances.

·          Do not allow personal interest, or any belief, commitment, payment, gift or benefit, to undermine your accuracy, fairness or independence.

·          Disclose conflicts of interest that affect, or could be seen to affect, the accuracy, fairness or independence of your journalism. Do not improperly use a journalistic position for personal gain.

·          Do not allow advertising or other commercial considerations to undermine accuracy, fairness or independence.

·          Do your utmost to ensure disclosure of any direct or indirect payment made for interviews, pictures, information or stories.

·          Use fair, responsible and honest means to obtain material. Identify yourself and your employer before obtaining any interview for publication or broadcast. Never exploit a person’s vulnerability or ignorance of media practice.

·          Present pictures and sound which are true and accurate. Any manipulation likely to mislead should be disclosed.

·          Do not plagiarise.

·          Respect private grief and personal privacy. Journalists have the right to resist compulsion to intrude.

·          Do your utmost to achieve fair correction of errors.

Editorial Complaints Handling

The Local Publishing Group takes complaints about editorial content seriously.

If you wish to complain about editorial content please follow the steps below.

Please note this policy only applies to complaints about editorial content in our publications and the digital services that we control.

How to complain

Write or email with details of your complaint. The address for written complaints is The Local, 17 Barkly Street, Glenlyon, 3461. Our email is news@tlnews.com.au

Complaints will be accepted up to four months from the date the first publication of the item(s) that you are complaining about.

Complaints must include a link to the relevant webpage, if the complaint is about online material or the publication title, date, page and headline and any other documents that will help us assess your complaint.

What happens to your complaint?

We aim to acknowledge your complaint within five working days of receipt. In making a complaint, you agree to respond promptly to any request for further information. Our complaints process is free of charge, regardless of outcome. If we receive multiple complaints about the same issue we may make one response to all. We will respond to all complaints within 28 days of receiving all the necessary information to allow us to investigate.

If we accept that your complaint is valid, we will seek to remedy the breach as quickly as possible, in the next printed edition or immediate if it is an online complaint, with a correction or apology.

When handling your complaint we will treat you fairly, courteously and with respect. We may decline to consider any complaint that is abusive or gratuitously offensive.

If at any stage of your complaint we do not hear back from you within 14 days, we will consider your complaint satisfied and closed.

Appeal process

If you are unhappy with our final response to your complaint you may complain to Australian Press Council. www.presscouncil.org.au We will confirm in writing that you have exhausted our internal complaints procedure.