Thank you for visiting the Be Free To Sing® website.  Be Free To Sing of Victoria, Australia (hereafter referred to as 'BFTS') offers classes, lessons, and sessions to adults (aged 18+ years) who are not in excluded countries.  BFTS understands that you care about how your personal information is collected and managed.  BFTS respects your right to privacy and is committed to safeguarding your privacy as a BFTS website visitor or BFTS learner/participant.

This Privacy Policy applies when you visit or use the BFTS website, and when BFTS is providing relevant services to you.  This Policy should be read in conjunction with the Cookies Policy, Terms of Use and Disclaimer.

If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy or any other agreement that governs your use of BFTS services, you should not use the BFTS website and its services.

As a matter of good privacy practice, BFTS is guided by the Australian Privacy Principles prescribed under the Privacy Act 1988 ('the Privacy Act').

1. What is personal information - how and why is it collected?

1. Personal information is information or an opinion that identifies an individual.  When BFTS collects personal information, where appropriate and where possible, BFTS will explain to you why BFTS is collecting the information and how BFTS plans to use it.

2. Where reasonable and practicable to do so, BFTS will collect your personal information only from you. BFTS collects your personal information directly from you when you use any BFTS services, interact with BFTS (eg via the BFTS website, social media posts, chats, emails and/or online video lessons/sessions) or as otherwise required by law. However, in some circumstances BFTS may be provided with information by a third party (eg Stripe, a payment service provider, when paying for BFTS classes, lessons, and sessions). In such a case, reasonable steps will be taken to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to BFTS by the third party. 

3. BFTS collects your personal information for the primary purpose of providing information and services to you.  BFTS may also use your personal information for secondary purposes closely related to the primary purpose, in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure.  Examples of personal information collected directly from you and/or used by BFTS are:

   1. when contacting BFTS you provide your name and email address so you may be contacted in return;
   2. when registering for a BFTS course, BFTS collects additional information about you including, but not limited to, details to confirm eligibility for enrolment/registration and scheduling, and to establish students' level of singing experience prior to commencement of classes;
   3. when you provide a testimonial for the BFTS website and/or BFTS social media platform(s), your first name and country will be used. Be aware that any information you choose to make publicly available, will be available for others to see. If you subsequently request to have this information removed, copies may remain viewable on social media platforms, in cached and archived pages on other websites or if others have copied or saved the information;
   4. when you opt in to receive any marketing communications from BFTS.  These are only sent to you if you have requested or subscribed to them. You can opt out of any BFTS marketing communications at any time by unsubscribing yourself or please contact BFTS via the email address listed in Section 8 below and your request will be actioned as soon as possible;
   5. when you pay for BFTS classes, lessons, and/or sessions through Stripe—a third-party service used by BFTS for the purposes of issuing invoices, and processing payments or refunds—BFTS will be notified by Stripe and have access to transaction data collected and managed by Stripe (eg the billing address you entered in Stripe but not your full credit/debit card number).  The collection and use of the personal information you provide to this payment service provider is subject to their own Privacy Policy.  BFTS encourages you to be aware of the personally and non-personally identifiable information Stripe collects and manages by reading their policies on their website as listed in Section 6 below.

4. The BFTS website and/or web server logs may collect and use your IP address for security purposes to protect against spam and site attacks.  An IP address is a number used to identify computers/devices when connected to the internet.

   1. Once you click/tap the Send button on the BFTS contact form, the date and time of this action is also transmitted, and your IP address is collected and used for the purpose of spammer/spambot checks to protect against spam attacks.

      The BFTS contact form uses a security service that transmits your IP address to the following providers for checking against their spammer/spambot databases:

      • SpamCop
      • stopforumspam

      If the IP address of a BFTS contact form sender is listed on these providers' databases as a spammer/spambot, form submission to BFTS is prevented which means BFTS will not receive your enquiry/registration.

      The collection and use of your IP address by these providers is subject to their own Privacy policies.  BFTS encourages you to be aware of the personally and non-personally identifiable information they collect and manage by reading their policies on their websites as listed in Section 6 below.

      Once verified as not being identified as a spammer/spambot by these providers, BFTS may be able to assist you with your enquiry/registration;

   2. IP addresses of website visitors may be logged by the BFTS website and/or in web server logs to monitor and maintain website security and to troubleshoot and maintain functionality of the website.  Non-personally identifiable information in aggregated and anonymised forms may be used to improve BFTS services including: administering the BFTS website, understanding and optimising how the BFTS website is used, identifying user demands, and assisting in meeting BFTS website visitor and BFTS learner/participant needs generally. 

5. BFTS' services are not directed to persons under eighteen (18) years of age and BFTS does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If BFTS becomes aware that a child under 18 has provided personal information to BFTS, it will be deleted as quickly as possible. If you are the parent or guardian of a child and you believe they have provided BFTS with personal information, then please contact BFTS via the email address listed in Section 8 below.

2. Disclosure of personal information

1. BFTS does not and will not deal in or sell personal information or any other information you have provided.

2. Your personal information may be disclosed in a number of circumstances including:

   1. to third parties where you consent to the use or disclosure;
   2. to protect the copyright, trademarks, legal rights, property or safety of BFTS, BFTS learners/participants or third parties; and
   3. where required or authorised by law.

3. Information collected may from time to time be stored, processed or transferred between parties located inside and outside of Australia.

3. Storage and security of personal information

1. Your personal information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.  The security of your personal information is important to BFTS, however remember that no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While BFTS strives to use reasonable means to protect your personal information, BFTS cannot guarantee its absolute security.  In the event there is a breach of BFTS' security and your personal information is compromised, BFTS will promptly notify you in compliance with the applicable law.

2. BFTS retains your personal information for as long as is needed to provide services to you and as otherwise necessary to comply with contractual, regulatory, security or legal requirements.  Subject to these requirements, when your personal information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, BFTS will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your personal information.

4. Access to personal information

1. You may request access to your personal information that BFTS holds, subject to certain exceptions under the Privacy Act.  BFTS will not charge any fee for your access request, but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your personal information to you.

2. In order to protect your personal information, please be as specific as possible so that BFTS can try to accommodate your request.  BFTS may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.

3. To seek access to your personal information that BFTS holds, please contact BFTS via the email address listed in Section 8 below.

4. BFTS will respond to your request in a reasonable period of time (usually within 30 days).

5. Updating personal information

1. BFTS will take reasonable steps to make sure that your personal information that BFTS holds is accurate, complete and up-to-date.  If you find that your personal information that BFTS holds is inaccurate, incomplete or is out-of-date, please contact BFTS via the email address listed in Section 8 below as soon as practicable to request BFTS to update and/or correct your personal information and ensure that BFTS can continue to provide quality services to you.

2. To make a request for the deletion of your personal information that BFTS holds, please contact BFTS via the email address listed in Section 8 below. Please note that deletion requests are subject to BFTS' record-keeping obligations and any overriding contractual, regulatory, security or legal requirements.

3. BFTS will respond to your request in a reasonable period of time (usually within 30 days).

6. Links to/from other websites

1. The BFTS website may contain links to other websites that are provided for your convenience only.   This Privacy Policy is not applicable to other websites that you may access from the BFTS website or through links BFTS provides to you for purposes such as payment processing and/or access to external resources during/following classes, lessons and sessions. BFTS is not responsible for the privacy practices of such websites.

2. BFTS cannot guarantee the safety of websites that you may access via such links.

3. BFTS does not control who links to the BFTS website.

7. Changes to this Privacy Policy

BFTS reserves the right to make amendments and corrections to this Privacy Policy at any time. Please review this page from time to time to check for new and updated information.

8. Privacy Policy and privacy-related enquiries

BFTS welcomes feedback about privacy issues and will attend to questions or concerns promptly.  If you have any feedback, questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or about BFTS' use of your personal information, please do not hesitate to get in touch at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.