16. Mr John Roe asked -

(a) On what conditions are Synod members' private address details provided to individuals or groups other than the Diocesan Secretariat?

(b) Which groups or individuals have been supplied with private address details of Synod members?

(c) Is it envisaged that members of Synod might be given the opportunity to prohibit the retailing of their private address details to other parties as is the case when many commercial address lists are complied?

To which the President replied -

I am advised that the Sydney Diocesan Secretariat provides the hardware and software for the maintenance of our mailing list by Registry staff and that the list can be accessed in several groupings, depending on what the initiator of a mailing wishes to achieve.

Sets of mailing labels can be sold with the Registrar's approval for all groupings where addresses are available in the Year Book.

The names and addresses of all clerical members of the Synod are accessible through the Diocesan Year Book. Every three years a full Synod membership list, without addresses, is published in the Year Book. The purchaser of a Year Book is entitled to use the name and address information in it.

In answering the question, it is assumed that the words "Diocesan Secretariat" include the Archbishop, the Synod, the Standing Committee, the Sydney Diocesan Secretariat and other bodies to which the Sydney Diocesan Secretariat provides services.

With that preamble, the answers to the specific questions are -

(a) The Standing Committee's policy is that sets of mailing labels for the Synod member groups can be sold, on the authorisation of the Diocesan Secretary, to any member of Synod wishing to circulate information in connection with the work and ministry of the Diocese. Otherwise, a request for the sale of a set of labels may be referred to the Standing Committee.

(b) This part of the question can be answered only within a time frame. For this session of Synod, the Diocesan Secretary sold three sets of labels comprising all Synod members groups.

To Dr L.A. Scandrett, acting for Canon B.A. Ballantine-Jones to enable the circulation of information on elections and a dinner for Synod members.

To Mr J. Kasses of The Church Missionary Society, to enable the circulation of information about church supplies available during "Synod week" as a service to Synod members.

To Mrs L. Ramsay to enable the circulation of material on the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood.

There have not been any other sales of mailing labels for all Synod member groups this year.

(c) This is not under consideration and the Synod mailing labels are not being sold for the compilation of commercial address lists as this part of the question could be thought to imply. The availability of information sometimes brings unwanted attentions, but the withdrawal of information from the Year Book or the curtailment of communication among Synod members could have unwanted effects. On request we are able to "sanitise" the name and address of a parish secretary by using the title only and the general parish mailing address. This seems hardly practicable for Synod members where the timing of communication is often essential.