Last updated: 28 April 2026
Coastal Water Safety Australia Pty Ltd (ABN 94 696 775 256) ("CWSA", "we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting the privacy of every person who contacts us, books our services, attends an event we cover, or visits this website. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, who we share it with, and how you can access or correct it. We comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
1. Information we collect
The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with us. We may collect:
- Contact details — name, email address, phone number, postal address, business or organisation name.
- Booking and event details — event name, date, location, expected participant numbers, water safety requirements, emergency contacts.
- Operational records — incident reports, rescue logs, briefing notes and post-event reports (which may include names of participants involved in incidents, where this is required for safety, insurance or regulatory reporting).
- Imagery and footage — drone, photographic and video footage captured during operations. This may include identifiable individuals where they are visible from public beaches or event areas.
- Website usage data — pages visited, browser type, device, IP address (in aggregated and anonymised form via website analytics, where enabled).
- Form submissions — anything you tell us through our contact form on watersafety-australia.com.
We do not knowingly collect sensitive information (such as health information) unless it is directly relevant to the safe delivery of our services and you have provided it to us willingly (for example, telling us about a participant's medical condition before an event).
2. How we collect it
We collect personal information directly from you when you:
- Submit our website contact form;
- Email or call us about a booking or enquiry;
- Engage us to provide water safety services;
- Attend an event where we are operating.
We may also collect information from third parties — for example, the event organiser who has engaged us, a council or land manager, or other emergency services we coordinate with.
3. Why we collect and use it
We use personal information to:
- Respond to enquiries and provide quotes;
- Plan, deliver and report on water safety services;
- Coordinate with emergency services, councils, surf clubs and event organisers;
- Comply with our legal, insurance and regulatory obligations (including CASA drone operations records and incident reporting);
- Improve our services, training and website;
- Send you operational updates relating to a booking you have made with us;
- Where we have your consent, send you occasional marketing communications about our services.
4. Drone, video and photographic footage
Drone, video and still imagery is fundamental to our service. We operate drones in compliance with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) regulations and the Privacy Act. Footage is used to deliver shark surveillance, safety briefings, post-event review, training and marketing.
Where footage clearly identifies an individual and we wish to use it for marketing, we will seek consent or de-identify the individual. If you appear in footage we have captured and wish to request its removal or restriction, please contact us using the details below.
5. Disclosure of your information
We do not sell personal information. We may disclose personal information to:
- Event organisers, clubs, councils and venue managers who engage us;
- Other emergency services (Marine Rescue NSW, Surf Life Saving, NSW Police, Ambulance) where it is necessary to coordinate a safe response or report an incident;
- Our insurers, legal advisers and accountants;
- Service providers who help us run our business (for example: cloud email, website hosting, accounting software). These providers are contractually required to keep your information confidential.
- Government, regulators or courts where we are legally required to do so.
Some of our service providers (such as Google Workspace and Netlify) store data outside Australia. By providing us with your personal information, you consent to it being transferred and stored overseas where required to deliver these services. We take reasonable steps to ensure overseas providers handle your information in line with the APPs.
6. How we store and protect your information
We store personal information in secure cloud systems with access restricted to authorised personnel. We use commercially reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure. We retain personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law (typically a minimum of seven years for tax, insurance and incident records).
7. Cookies and analytics
This website may use cookies and privacy-friendly analytics to understand how visitors use the site. Where analytics are used, we configure them to anonymise IP addresses and we do not combine analytics data with your contact details. You can disable cookies in your browser settings without affecting your ability to use the site.
8. Direct marketing
If we send you marketing communications, we will give you a clear way to opt out (such as an unsubscribe link). We do not send marketing communications to you unless you have provided your details to us directly or we have a pre-existing business relationship.
9. Accessing or correcting your information
You have the right to ask what personal information we hold about you, to correct anything that is inaccurate, and to ask us to delete information we no longer need. To make a request, contact us using the details below. We will respond within 30 days. There is no fee for a routine request.
10. Complaints
If you believe we have breached the Privacy Act or the APPs, please contact us first using the details below. We will investigate and respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):
Website: oaic.gov.au
Phone: 1300 363 992
Post: GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The current version will always be at watersafety-australia.com/legal/privacy.html, and the "Last updated" date at the top of the page will reflect any changes.
12. Contact us
Privacy Officer — Coastal Water Safety Australia Pty Ltd
Email: nathan@watersafety-australia.com
Phone: +61 422 056 999
Post: Port Macquarie NSW 2444 Australia
ABN: 94 696 775 256