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How we treat your information and privacy

Your privacy is important to us

We value the privacy of information that we receive. We follow best practices to comply with the Privacy Act 2020.

Read more about the Privacy Act 2020(external link)

Our policy

Our Privacy Policy is a specific piece of our policy to dictate how privacy works in our day-to-day operations. 

Our Privacy Policy [PDF, 430 KB]

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Your privacy when using our forms

Who do we collect personal information about?

As we provide services to veterans and their families, we may sometimes collect information about the following people:

  • Veterans
  • Veteran’s current and previous spouses or partners
  • Veteran’s children or dependents
  • Veteran’s next of kin
  • Other individuals involved with a veteran.

We may also collect information about individuals who visit our offices or contact us.

When do we collect information about you?

We may collect information about you in a number of circumstances. For example, when you:

  • correspond with us, whether in person, by letter, by phone or by other means.
  • complete and submit digital or physical forms for the services we offer
  • utilise our services
  • subscribe to our newsletter
  • follow or post comments on our social media
  • visit one of our offices where CCTV is in operation.

What kinds of personal information do we collect?

As our services to Veterans and their families are broad, we may collect a variety of personal information about yourself and others as part of delivering services to Veterans. If accessing health services, this may include health records.

We may not gather all the information we require directly from you. Instead, we may collect certain information from NZDF, ACC, MSD and medical practitioners as relevant.

If you are unsure about why we are requesting certain information at any time, please don’t hesitate to email us at veteransprivacy@nzdf.mil.nz. Or you can contact us on this website.

Contact us

How do we use your information?

We use your information to: 

  • make decisions in relation to claims, entitlements and services we offer
  • provide information to you about our services
  • deliver services you have requested 
  • contact you in an emergency
  • determine which Government agency should provide and pay for the services you have requested
  • assist with your query
  • assist in reviews and appeals under the Veterans’ Support Act
  • deter criminal events, objectionable behaviours, and safety incidents occurring on our property
  • detect and collect evidence of criminal events, objectionable behaviours and safety incidents occurring on our property
  • consider and review how we operate 
  • improve our processes and services, through monitoring of the operation of the Act and policy/law reform development
  • prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute offences.

Who can access my information?

You are welcome to obtain a copy of the information we hold at any time. Please email us if you would like a copy.

veteransprivacy@nzdf.mil.nz

Our staff and people who deliver services for us on our behalf may have access to your information as required for the role they undertake.

In certain circumstances, we may also provide access to your information by other people, as follows:

  • Individuals or organisations you have authorised to act on your behalf, such as your spouse or RSA member
  • Individuals or organisations who have a current active power of attorney for your affairs.

We won’t share your information with your next of kin unless you explicitly authorise this or they have a power of attorney.

Who do you share my information with?

We may need to share your information with certain other organisations depending on the circumstances as follows:

  • When you wish to access medical services, we may share your health information with the GP or medical specialist.
  • When you access certain services, we may need to share information with our service providers or contractors to enable them to provide support to you, for example, the Veteran’s Independence Programme (VIP). 
  • To enable payment of the Veteran’s pension and to ensure consistency with other benefits when you receive services from us, we will share information with The Ministry of Social Development.
  • If you register or apply for a condition as a veteran, we will check your qualifying service with NZDF. After that point, no further information will be shared regarding you with NZDF.
  • If you make a claim under ACC, we may share information with ACC to allow assessment as to whether the claim should be covered by ACC or us. We also share information to enable us to work together to facilitate your recovery.
  • If we believe you are at risk of self-harm or a risk to others, we may share your information with Te Whatu Ora mental health-related services, your GP and New Zealand Police.
  • We do not directly share anonymised information relating to your website usage with any other party. However as detailed within Google’s privacy policy, Google may share this information publicly and with their partners.
  • If we believe a crime has been committed, we may share your information with New Zealand Police or any other relevant Government agency.

Do you have any questions or concerns about your information? 

You can contact us at any time if you have questions or concerns about what information we are collecting, how it’s being used, how it may be used, or if you wish to receive a copy of your information.

Contact us

How can you make a complaint?

If you would like to make a complaint, you can contact our Privacy Officer directly, by sending an email to: 

veteransprivacy@nzdf.mil.nz

You can also make a complaint to the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner. Information about how to lodge a complaint is available on their website.

Contact the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner(external link)

Changes to this privacy statement

We may update this privacy statement from time to time. Any such changes will be posted here. We recommend that you check back frequently to see any updates or changes.

Your privacy when using our website

We have taken reasonable measures to ensure the quality and accuracy of the information on this website.

Changes to this website

We may change or delete information on this website at any time without notice.

Other websites that we link to

Our website makes reference to other websites for convenience. We do not accept any liability for those websites' accuracy, content, or availability.

Referencing another website does not constitute an endorsement by us.

No need to disclose personal information

You can use the site without disclosing any personal information.

You may choose to disclose personal information to us when you contact us, give feedback, or sign up to receive a newsletter. This information will be treated in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Our Privacy Policy(external link)

Statistical information and cookies

We may collect statistical information about your visit to our website to help us improve it.

This information does not identify individuals and makes use of cookies. A cookie is a piece of code that creates a file on your computer to track the pages that you view on our website.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to collect and analyse details about the use of our website.

You may turn off cookies at any time. Most browsers have a feature that allows the user to refuse cookies, or issues a warning when cookies are being sent. Turning off cookies will not affect your ability to use this website.

The information Google Analytics collects includes:

  • the first 3 parts of the IP address of your device
  • the pages you accessed on this website and the links you clicked on
  • the date and time you visited this website
  • the referring site, if any, through which you clicked through to this website
  • the operating system, for example, Windows 11 or Mac OS X on your device
  • the type of web browser you used, for example, Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox
  • other incidental information, such as screen resolution and the language setting you used.

The data is collected and stored on the Google server and is viewable by authorised staff as detailed in their privacy policy. We may share this information with other government agencies.

You may choose to not have Google Analytics collect your information by disabling cookies in your browser, or by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out browser add-on.

Google Analytics Opt-out browser add-on(external link)

How Google uses data when you use their partners’ sites or apps(external link)

Hotjar

We use Hotjar's analysis tools, including heatmaps and polls, to better understand our website visitors and collect user feedback.

Hotjar uses cookies and other technologies to collect data on users’ behaviour and their devices, including:

  • device IP address
  • device screen size and type
  • browser information
  • geographic location (country only)
  • preferred language used to display our website.

You can choose to not have Hotjar collect your information by visiting Hotjar's opt-out page or enabling Do Not Track (DNT) in your browser.

Opt-out of Hotjar on this browser(external link)

Hotjar's privacy policy(external link)

Campaign Monitor

We use Campaign Monitor, a dedicated e-newsletter communication tool, to manage and distribute email newsletters. Campaign Monitor collects information to help us monitor the effectiveness of these newsletters, including:

  • the number and email addresses of subscribers that have, or have not, opened an email
  • which email client was used to open the email — for example, account Gmail, Outlook or Hotmail
  • the geographic location where an email was opened
  • the number of emails that bounced and weren’t successfully delivered
  • if a newsletter was shared by email, Facebook or Twitter
  • which links are clicked on in an email.

Security

We use Google reCAPTCHA to protect our website from automated attacks and spam. 

Google reCAPTCHA privacy policy(external link)

Google reCAPTCHA terms of service(external link)

Copyright

This website has Crown copyright protection.

You can re-use our content under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence. When re-using our content, it must not be changed or used in a derogatory manner. You also cannot use it to mislead people. If you do use our content, then you must show the source and copyright status of that content.

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence(external link)

Linking to our website

It’s not in our interest — or that of the public — to have uncontrolled versions of our information elsewhere on the internet. Where possible, we encourage other websites to link to our website.

When you link to our website you:

  • must not present the Veterans' Affairs website in a frame on your website
  • must not misrepresent your relationship to Veterans' Affairs
  • should only link to main pages, as we cannot guarantee the reliability of other links.

Exceptions

Third-party copyright

The permission to reproduce Crown copyright-protected material does not extend to any material on this site that is identified as being the copyright of a third party. Authorisation to reproduce such material must be obtained from the copyright holders concerned.

The copyright for the image related to non-military personnel on our 'Get support' page is held by Michael Shackleton.

Michael Shackleton, Operation Vietnam: A New Zealand Surgical First, University of Otago Press, 2004(external link)

Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981

The following content is protected by law:

  • the New Zealand Government logo
  • the New Zealand Coat of Arms
  • other logos
  • emblems, and
  • trademarks.

You must not use this content without permission and following relevant legislation.

Clients with acute mental health needs

Clients with immediate extreme mental health needs (expressing suicidal thoughts/at risk of harm to themselves or others) will be referred immediately by our staff to Te Whatu Ora's mental health-related services and their GP so that the GP may take appropriate action and support to enable them to get the support they need. Staff may also contact the NZ Police to reduce the threat or risk as their expertise is often necessary in such cases — for example, to locate individuals. The Police work to assist Mental Health Services and also regulate the licensing of firearms.

The Police will be contacted immediately in the case of a threat to others or if there is a threat to public safety. 

Disclosure in such circumstances does not have the client's authorisation for it to occur.

Staff must reasonably believe that there is a risk to the client or to others for disclosure to occur. We have a duty to make such disclosures to ensure the client’s wellbeing, which is taken very seriously. This is consistent with the law, including the Privacy Act 2020 (IPP 11 (1)(f)). 

Clients' personal information and law enforcement

We will only disclose clients’ personal information for law enforcement purposes to the NZ Police or another agency exercising law enforcement functions if the information is necessary for a criminal investigation, prosecution or intelligence. The Police or other agency must have a strong case for the information or a search warrant. Staff must have reasonable grounds to believe that disclosure is necessary for that law enforcement purpose. This is consistent with the law, including the Privacy Act 2020 (IPP 11 (1)(e).

Privacy Act 2020 Information Privacy Principles (IPP)(external link)