1. Who we are

Root to Rise is an Australian education and community initiative exploring medicinal cannabis, lived experience and complementary wellbeing.

For privacy enquiries, contact:

Root to Rise
Email: hello@roottorise.com.au
Website: roottorise.com.au

2. Personal information we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

• your name;

• your email address;

• your telephone number, where voluntarily provided;

• the content of enquiries or messages you send;

• your communication preferences;

• information you provide when registering interest in workshops, events, partnerships or future programs;

• technical information about your visit to the website, such as your device type, browser, pages viewed, approximate location, referring website and interaction data; and

• any other information you choose to provide.

Root To Rise does not request prescription records, diagnoses, medication histories or other detailed health information through its general contact and mailing-list forms.

3. Sensitive and health information

Information about a person’s health may be sensitive information under Australian privacy law.

Please do not submit unnecessary medical, prescription or other sensitive information through our general website forms or email address.

Where Root to Rise later needs to collect health or eligibility information for a specific program, event or membership process, we will explain:

• what information is required;

• why it is needed;

• how it will be used;

• whether providing it is optional;

• who may have access to it; and

• how long it will be retained.

Where required, we will seek your consent before collecting sensitive information. Australian privacy guidance places additional conditions on collecting sensitive information and generally requires that information collected be reasonably necessary for the organisation’s functions.

4. How we collect information

We may collect personal information when you:

• submit a contact or enquiry form;

• join our mailing list;

• email or otherwise communicate with us;

• register your interest in an event, workshop, partnership or future membership;

• respond to a survey or provide feedback;

• interact with our social-media accounts; or

• browse the website.

Some technical information may be collected automatically through cookies, website-hosting tools and analytics services.

5. Why we collect and use information

We may use personal information to:

• respond to enquiries;

• manage our mailing list;

• send updates about Root to Rise;

• notify subscribers about workshops, events and future programs;

• assess partnership or collaboration enquiries;

• understand interest in our proposed services;

• administer and improve the website;

• maintain website security;

• keep appropriate business and communication records;

• comply with legal obligations; and

• investigate or respond to misuse, complaints or security incidents.

We will not use personal information for an unrelated purpose unless you have consented or the use is otherwise permitted or required by law.

6. Mailing list and marketing communications

Where you expressly subscribe to our mailing list, we may send you:

• organisational updates;

• educational content;

• workshop and event announcements;

• community news; and

• information about future Root to Rise programs or memberships.

Submitting a general enquiry does not automatically subscribe you to marketing communications.

You may unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link in an email or by contacting hello@roottorise.com.au.

Australian spam rules generally require consent before commercial electronic messages are sent, as well as clear sender identification, contact details and a functional unsubscribe method.

7. Website hosting and service providers

The Root to Rise website is hosted using Squarespace.

Squarespace may process information required to host, secure, operate and analyse the website. This may include technical data automatically generated when visitors access the site. Squarespace describes its own information-handling practices in its privacy documentation.

Root to Rise may also use third-party providers for functions such as:

• website hosting;

• website forms;

• email hosting;

• mailing-list management;

• analytics;

• file storage;

• security; and

• administrative support.

Our current email service is provided through Zoho Mail. Zoho states that it does not sell mailbox data or use email content for targeted advertising.

We disclose personal information to service providers only where reasonably necessary for them to perform services on our behalf or where otherwise permitted or required by law.

8. Cookies and analytics

The website may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• operate essential website functions;

• maintain security;

• remember visitor preferences;

• understand website traffic and usage;

• identify technical problems; and

• improve website content and performance.

Squarespace Analytics may provide information such as page views, traffic sources, visitor behaviour and website performance.

You may be able to restrict or delete cookies through your browser settings. Doing so may affect the operation of some website features.

Where a cookie-consent tool is displayed, you may use it to manage available cookie preferences.

9. Social media and external websites

The website may contain links to Instagram and other third-party websites or platforms.

When you follow an external link or interact with a third-party platform, that provider may collect and process information under its own privacy policy and terms.

Root to Rise does not control the privacy practices of external websites or social-media platforms.

10. Disclosure of personal information

We may disclose personal information:

• to contractors and service providers supporting our website or communications;

• where you have consented;

• where reasonably necessary to investigate fraud, misuse or a security incident;

• where required or authorised by law;

• to professional advisers, such as lawyers or accountants, where necessary; or

• in connection with a legitimate organisational restructure, subject to appropriate confidentiality and legal safeguards.

We do not sell or rent mailing-list information to third parties.

We do not disclose personal information to medicinal cannabis brands, clinics, pharmacies or prescribers for their direct marketing unless you have clearly consented to that specific disclosure.

11. Overseas processing and storage

Some service providers used by Root to Rise may operate or store information outside Australia.

This means personal information may be processed in jurisdictions with privacy laws that differ from Australian law.

Where reasonably practicable, Root to Rise will consider the privacy and security practices of service providers before using them. However, internet-based services commonly involve data infrastructure located across multiple jurisdictions.

Do not state that all information is stored in Australia unless you have confirmed that for every platform and integration.

12. Storage and security

Root to Rise takes reasonable steps to protect personal information against:

• misuse;

• interference;

• loss;

• unauthorised access;

• unauthorised modification; and

• unauthorised disclosure.

Measures may include:

• password-protected accounts;

• multifactor authentication where available;

• restricted administrative access;

• reputable website and email providers;

• software and security updates; and

• deleting or de-identifying information that is no longer reasonably required.

No online service, electronic transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

13. Retention of information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for:

• the purpose for which it was collected;

• ongoing communications you have requested;

• legitimate administrative or record-keeping needs;

• dispute resolution; or

• legal and regulatory obligations.

We may delete or de-identify information when it is no longer required.

Mailing-list details will ordinarily be retained until you unsubscribe or request removal, subject to limited records that may be retained to ensure we honour your opt-out.

14. Access and correction

You may contact us to request access to personal information we hold about you or ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.

Send requests to:

hello@roottorise.com.au

We may need to verify your identity before responding.

In some circumstances, access may be limited or refused where permitted by law. Where appropriate, we will explain the reason.

15. Withdrawing consent

Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it by contacting us.

Withdrawing consent will not affect handling that occurred lawfully before consent was withdrawn.

Withdrawal may mean that we can no longer provide a requested communication or future service.

16. Privacy complaints

Privacy concerns or complaints should be sent to:

hello@roottorise.com.au

Please provide enough information for us to understand and investigate the issue.

We will aim to acknowledge the complaint promptly and respond within a reasonable period.

Where applicable, you may also be able to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

17. Children

The website is not designed to collect personal information directly from children.

People under 18 should not submit sensitive or health information through the website. Where future programs are made available to minors, separate consent and privacy arrangements may apply.

18. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as Root to Rise develops, including when we introduce:

• event bookings;

• payments;

• formal memberships;

• patient eligibility processes;

• surveys;

• community platforms; or

• new service providers.

The current version will be published on this page with an updated revision date.