Privacy 
Policy

With our origins in the hospitality and tourism industries, Hostplus continues to evolve as the lifetime fund of choice for all Australians, with a view to improving the retirement outcomes for our members.

We are committed to acting in your best financial interests and to ensure we can provide you with the service and support you need, there is a certain amount of personal information we need to collect.

This policy briefly explains the main reasons why we collect your personal information, the ways we protect your privacy, and how we comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (APP).

Personal information is information or an opinion about you from which you can reasonably be identified.

In many cases, we have a legal obligation to collect your personal information. For example, we need to collect your details to confirm your identity when we create your Super or Pension account. Collecting and storing your information also helps us service you as a member and manage your account, including keeping you informed about your super, insurance and other opportunities available to you as a Fund member, and respond to any queries or requests you may have such as:

• changing your investments,
• managing your insurance arrangements,
• processing super contributions,
• transferring monies or paying benefits,
• issuing your members statements,
• keeping you up to date on other products and services available to you as a Hostplus member (which may include contacting you from time to time with marketing communications).
   

Hostplus must maintain certain member records for a period of at least 7 years post you ceasing to be a member of the Fund. After you have ceased to be a member, we may use this information to undertake research in accordance with ASIC guidance regarding member needs analysis.

Certain information like your Tax File Number (TFN) is required for taxation and superannuation purposes and is authorised to be collected under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993. Your TFN also allows us to look for other super accounts you may have lost track of, or super money that has been transferred to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). We must obtain consent from you prior to using your TFN to search for other superannuation accounts you may have to consolidate your super.

Where possible, we will collect information directly from you. Sometimes we collect personal information from a third party you would reasonably expect us to collect from, such as your employer. We may also collect information from other super funds, government agencies, and from alliance partners such as those used for market research to improve our products and services.

Personal information may be collected through the following channels: 

• Membership and insurance application forms.

• Over the phone via the Hostplus contact centre.

• As part of an insurance claim process or a request for access to your superannuation benefits.

• Member experience survey (including members recently exited the Fund).

• Via our Account Managers.

• Through our online portals and mobile app when you update your details (including Adviser Online).

• Industry Fund Services financial advisers.

• Address matching services provided by third party vendors.

• Our alliance partners.

We may need to disclose relevant personal information to third party organisations that help us provide services.  We limit the information provided to these organisations to what they need to perform their services for us or to provide products or services to you. These organisations are also bound by strict confidentiality arrangements.

Approved third parties including but not limited to:

• MUFG/Australian Administration Services Pty Ltd (AAS) - contracted by the Fund for the provision of member and employer services, including the administration of insurance cover. MUFG manage the database where your personal information is stored. AAS is a member of MUFG. Please refer to the MFUG website, www.mpms.mufg.com
• Third party vendors – engaged by either Hostplus, and or MUFG/AAS, for cloud-based platforms and related services, information technology, printing, mailing, and address verification vendors.
  A commercial organisation may also be used to independently verify your identification details prior to processing a benefit payment request or claim.
• Insurers, including but not limited to:
  • MetLife Insurance Limited (MetLife) - responsible for administering member insurance arrangements and processing claims.
  • MLC Limited (MLC) – are responsible for administering former Maritime Super insurance arrangements and processing any claims.
  • We also have disclosed information to AIA, ResolutionLife, Hannover, Windsor on behalf of certain underwriters at Lloyds, Zurich/One Path, WIP and N2N as appropriate.

• Actuary services: Willis Towers Watson – an actuary service engaged by the Fund to assess the reasonableness of the insurer’s pricing and conduct various reviews for Hostplus defined benefit product.
• Investment Managers - Hostplus has engaged outsourced service providers to assist in delivering Hostplus products and services, this includes external Investment Managers.  Member information may be utilised to assist Investment Managers fulfill their contractual obligations.
• Legal advisers – who provide legal advice on various matters.
• Medical practitioners and other relevant professionals – for assessing increased insurance applications and/or during the claims process for insurance benefits.
• Mail houses – that provide you with correspondence about your Hostplus account as well as keeping you up to date on other products and services available to you as a Hostplus member.
• Other superannuation funds – when your benefits are transferred or rolled over.
• Regulatory bodies – such as the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to the extent required by law.
• External bodies – such as Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC - Privacy), Australian Human Rights Commissioner (AHRC) and Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
• Your representatives – either your legal representatives after your death to enable the processing of a death claim, or your other nominated agent or representative (including professional adviser) as authorised by you.
• An interpreter if you use a translation service – in this circumstance, your consent is required.
• Your spouse or former spouse – to the extent required by law.
• Marketing and market research agencies – organisations which provide marketing, product service and communications services to Hostplus.
• Industry Fund Services Ltd – You may be contacted directly by one of Hostplus’ dedicated Industry Fund Services (IFS) financial planners about financial planning services that may help you. Additionally, an IFS financial planner may need to access your information to provide you with tailored personal advice. Financial advice provided by an IFS financial planner is currently provided under their own Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL 232514). For further information please visit our advice page.
• Industry Fund Credit Control (IFCC) a division of IFS – to assist with the collection of Superannuation Guarantee payments in the event that an Employer becomes insolvent, IFCC may share member information with liquidators who signed confidentiality agreement with IFS.
• OKTA Inc. – a supplier to MUFG who provide authentication and security services for the purpose of managing multi-factor authentication services for the Member Online portal.
• Citigroup Pty Ltd – as custodian and administrator for the Hostplus Self-Managed Invest product
• Our creative agencies – for marketing purposes and maintaining online tools.
• NCS Next and Ogilvy Melbourne – for development, identifying bugs and maintaining the Hostplus app.
• Auditors and Solicitors– for auditing the fund's compliance with processes and policies.
• Listed Companies or Responsible Entities – such as those of listed managed investment schemes available via the Choiceplus investment option, when required under legal notice.
• Advice Providers – such as Advisor Network Pty Ltd ABN 25 056 310 699 and Toowards ABN 23 074 054 998 for the purposes of providing limited financial product advice through the Hostplus online intra-fund advice tool.
• Brokers, Registry and Platform providers – to manage investments for the Self-Managed Invest product
• The KiwiSaver Scheme provider if you request to transfer your superannuation benefits to New Zealand.
• Advertising platforms to allow us to inform you of our products and services, or any other product or service we think you might be interested in.
• For the purposes of considering employment applications, we may disclose personal information from candidates to referees, recruiters and employment screening service providers.
• To provide information and references on financial advisers to other Australian Financial Services Licensees for the purpose of their employment.
• For Hostplus staff, probity, technology, payroll, employee engagement platforms, travel and accommodation providers may be engaged to conduct the activities of their role.
   

The Fund Administrator’s privacy policy details which countries your personal information is disclosed to as part of their administration activities. It’s available at linkgroup.com/docs/Link_Group_Privacy_Policy.pdf

Your personal information may also be stored in our service providers’ systems based in the United States of America and Germany.

Citigroup stores information on servers located in Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Hong Kong.

FNZ (Australia) Pty Limited store information on servers located in New Zealand.

Willis Towers Watson stores information on servers located in Australia, Netherlands and Ireland.

Metlife and MLC may store information on servers located in overseas locations. 

We may also need to disclose your personal information to overseas recipients in New Zealand and the United Kingdom if you make a request for the rollover out or in of your superannuation or pension benefits held in these countries.

Any overseas disclosure does not affect our commitment to safeguarding your personal information and we will take reasonable steps to ensure any overseas recipient complies with the APPs. If required you can access a  full list of countries in which disclosure, access to, use or storage of your personal information may  occur, please contact us if this is required.

Contact us via the details below if you would like to:

• Find out more. If you’d like further information about privacy at Hostplus, just let us know.
• Access or update your personal information. We’ll provide you with a copy of your requested personal information or update your details as soon as possible. We encourage you to contact us to correct any personal information we hold about you. In the rare event that we’re unable to provide you with access to or update your personal information, we’ll write to you to let you know why.
• Provide feedback or make a complaint. We’ll make sure that someone from Hostplus responds to you within 30 days. If you're still not satisfied with our response, you can then either contact AFCA or the OAIC.
• Opt-out. Please contact us at any time if you no longer wish to receive direct marketing material, or do not wish to receive information about additional services that Hostplus or our partners provide. Alternatively, log in to your Member Online account to opt-out.
   

This Privacy Policy was last updated  September 2023.