Legal

Synergy Privacy Policy

Last updated: 27 August 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Synergy collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information and how you can access, correct or raise concerns about personal information held about you.

Synergy has designed its privacy practices using the Australian Privacy Principles as its privacy baseline. Where the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) applies to Synergy, its applicable requirements also apply as law.

1. About Synergy

Synergy is a private Australian community services directory. It helps local people find capable local people.

Synergy enables the introduction. The Customer and Provider manage the work and make their own arrangements.

Synergy is not a recruitment service, labour-hire service, booking platform, workforce-management service or payment intermediary for work arranged between Customers and Providers.

2. Personal information we may collect

The personal information Synergy collects depends on how you use the service.

It may include:

• your name, email address, telephone number and account details;
• account-verification, authentication and security information;
• Customer account and role information;
• Provider identifying information and Provider Profile information;
• services offered, experience descriptions, qualifications or credentials you choose to declare, pricing guidance and other Provider-supplied Profile information;
• locality, service-area and geographic information required to support directory search and matching;
• Provider photographs where a Provider chooses to supply one;
• Customer enquiries and the contact information required to relay those enquiries to the selected Provider;
• Provider Listing, subscription, payment, receipt and related commercial records;
• support requests, reports, moderation information and records relating to suspected misuse or safety concerns;
• policy and terms acceptance records;
• transactional email and delivery-status information;
• technical, security and operational information reasonably required to operate and protect Synergy, such as timestamps, request information, IP-address information and security-event evidence where collected; and
• other information you choose to provide when communicating with Synergy.

Synergy does not require full payment-card numbers or card security codes to be stored in its application database. Provider payments to Synergy are handled using an approved external payment processor.

3. Sensitive information

Synergy does not seek to collect sensitive information unless it is reasonably necessary for an approved Synergy purpose and the collection is lawful.

Please do not provide unnecessary health information, financial credentials, passwords, payment-card details or other sensitive information in free-text fields, enquiries or support messages.

4. How we collect personal information

Synergy usually collects personal information directly from you when you:

• create or update an account;
• register or operate as a Provider;
• create or update a Provider Profile;
• purchase or manage a Provider Listing;
• search or use the private directory;
• send or receive a Customer enquiry;
• submit a report or support request;
• request access, correction, export or deletion; or
• otherwise communicate with Synergy.

Synergy may also receive limited information from service providers used to operate the service, including payment, email-delivery, infrastructure and security providers.

5. Why we collect, hold and use personal information

Synergy may collect, hold and use personal information where reasonably necessary to:

• create, verify, secure and administer accounts;
• operate Customer and Provider roles;
• review and administer Provider Profiles and Listings;
• operate the private Provider directory;
• provide service and geographic search;
• relay one-to-one Customer enquiries to selected Providers;
• process Provider payments to Synergy and issue records;
• send transactional and security communications;
• provide support;
• receive, triage and review reports;
• prevent or investigate fraud, abuse, scraping and misuse;
• maintain security, auditability and service integrity;
• respond to privacy requests;
• meet legal, regulatory, accounting or taxation obligations;
• establish, exercise or defend legal rights; and
• operate, maintain and improve Synergy.

Synergy does not use personal information to create behavioural advertising profiles.

6. The private Provider directory

Provider Profiles and directory search results are private. They are not intended to be published openly on the internet.

Authorised Customers may see approved Provider Profile information needed to assess whether a Provider may suit their needs.

Private Provider account information, including ordinary private account contact details, is not published as public website information.

7. Customer enquiries

When a Customer chooses to contact a Provider, Synergy may disclose to that selected Provider the Customer information reasonably required for the enquiry and the Customer's nominated method of contact.

Synergy does not broadcast Customer work requests to multiple Providers.

8. Service providers and disclosures

Synergy may disclose personal information to service providers where reasonably necessary to operate the service.

These may include:

• hosting, database, storage, network and security providers;
• Cloudflare for approved network, security, Turnstile and related infrastructure functions;
• Stripe for Provider payments to Synergy;
• Resend for approved transactional email delivery;
• professional advisers where reasonably required; and
• government, regulatory, law-enforcement, court or other authorities where disclosure is required or authorised by law.

Synergy does not sell personal information to advertisers.

9. Overseas processing and disclosure

Some Synergy service providers operate internationally. As a result, personal information may be processed or disclosed outside Australia where reasonably necessary to provide their services.

Based on the service providers currently approved for Synergy, overseas processing may include the United States. Stripe also states that personal data may be transferred to the United States and India. Cloudflare states that it primarily stores information in the United States and the European Economic Area and may process information through its global operations.

Supplier infrastructure and processing locations can change. Synergy will update this Policy where a material change affects the description of likely overseas disclosures.

10. Cookies and similar technology

Synergy may use cookies and related browser storage where reasonably necessary for functions such as authentication, sessions, security, request protection and user-interface operation.

Security services such as Cloudflare Turnstile may also process technical information required to distinguish legitimate use from automated abuse.

Synergy does not require behavioural advertising tracking for the approved MVP service.

11. Security

Synergy takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Controls include restricted access, authentication and authorisation controls, secure transport, private data storage, auditability and operational security controls appropriate to the information and service.

No internet service can guarantee absolute security.

12. Data breaches

Synergy maintains processes for identifying, investigating and responding to suspected personal-information breaches.

Where the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme applies and an eligible data breach occurs, Synergy will make notifications required by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

13. Retention and deletion

Synergy does not treat indefinite retention as the default.

Personal information is retained only while Synergy has an approved and lawful reason to retain it. Depending on the record, that reason may include providing the service, maintaining security and audit evidence, administering payments, meeting accounting or taxation requirements, dealing with disputes, complying with law or preserving information subject to a valid retention hold.

When Synergy no longer needs personal information for an approved purpose, it will be deleted, anonymised or otherwise minimised in accordance with the applicable retention and deletion process.

Backups may retain information temporarily until ordinary backup rotation or approved destruction processes remove it.

14. Access and correction

You may access and update appropriate account information through your Synergy account where that function is available.

You may also ask Synergy to provide access to, or correct, personal information held about you by using the Contact and Support page.

Synergy may need to verify your identity before providing access or making a correction. Access may be limited where Australian law permits or requires that result.

15. Personal-data export and deletion requests

Synergy provides approved account privacy controls for applicable Customer information, including controlled personal-data export and account-deletion processes.

Deletion does not necessarily mean every historical record can be erased immediately. Synergy may retain minimum information where there remains an approved and lawful reason to do so.

16. Privacy complaints

If you believe Synergy has mishandled your personal information, contact Synergy through the Contact and Support page and choose the privacy option.

Please explain the issue and provide enough information for Synergy to investigate it.

Synergy will review the complaint, may seek further information, and will respond after considering the circumstances and any applicable legal obligations.

Where the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) applies, you may also have the right to complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner if you are not satisfied with Synergy's response.

17. Anonymity and pseudonyms

You may browse ordinary public information without creating an account.

Synergy requires identification where it is reasonably necessary for an approved function, including private-directory access, Provider participation, account administration, enquiries, payments, security and other functions where Synergy needs to know who it is dealing with.

18. Children

Synergy's Provider model is for identifiable adults.

Customer participation must comply with the applicable Synergy Customer eligibility and representation requirements.

19. Changes to this Policy

Synergy may update this Privacy Policy when its information handling practices, service providers or legal obligations change.

The date at the top of this page identifies the latest published version. Material changes will be handled consistently with applicable law and Synergy's approved policy-change processes.

20. Contact

Privacy questions, access requests, correction requests and privacy complaints can be submitted through the Contact and Support page.