privacy policy

Collection Statement

Privacy is important to us

We respect people’s privacy.  We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (“Act”), which sets out a number of principles concerning the collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information.

The following, is important that the Act requires us to communicate to our clients, as well as others from whom we collect personal information.

Personal Information

We may need to collect personal information about you and others, including names, addresses, phone numbers and other contact details.  We may also collect details of age, sex and other personal information about you or others.

How we collect personal information

Personal information may be collected by us when:

  • we are contacted about our services, in person or over the telephone or internet;
  • we are instructed to provide legal services to you or others;
  • during the course of a dealing or proceedings involving a client;
  • we negotiate and enter into dealings; or
  • we respond to an inquiry, where we consider personal details are required or appropriate to fulfil the query.

Why we collect personal information

We may need to collect personal information so we can:

  • identify our clients, potential clients and their representatives;
  • identify parties with whom our clients have dealings or who are in some way involved in proceedings involving our clients;
  • inform you or others of any initiatives we think may be of interest to you or them;
  • inform you or others of developments in the law and relevant business markets;
  • provide or offer you or others services or other benefits;
  • conduct our business and provide our services in a professional and efficient manner; and
  • develop and implement initiatives to improve our services.

If you do not provide us with all the personal information we requires from you, we may be unable to act for, do business or deal with you.

Disclosure of personal information

 In the usual course of our business, we may disclose personal information to third parties including:

  • the authorised representatives (eg. accountant or financial advisor) of the individual concerned;
  • persons with whom the individual concerned had, currently has or wishes to have any dealing;
  • persons with whom the individual concerned is involved in proceedings;
  • on a need-to-know basis, persons we engage to act on behalf of our clients (eg. barristers, expert witnesses) or our other agents or contracts, in which case we will require them to comply with our privacy policy;
  • government and regulatory authorities and other persons, as permitted, required or authorised by law;
  • persons involved in a dealing or proposed dealing (including a sale) of all or part of our assets and business; or
  • a related person or body corporate.

Sensitive Information

We may need to collect sensitive information (as defined in the Act) about you or others for a particular dealing or in relation to proceedings.

Under the Act, we are entitled to collect sensitive information about you or others for a number of reasons, including where the collection is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal or equitable claim.

Where we are required and it is practicable to do so, we will seek your consent before collecting your sensitive information and inform you of the purpose at the same time.

Updating personal information

To help us ensure that the personal information we collect, store, use and disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date, we ask that you tell us of any changes to your personal information that we hold.  You can notify us at any time of any errors in the personal information that we hold about you and to update your personal information.

Access to your personal information

You have a right to access any personal information that we hold about you on requires – subject to certain exceptions allowed under the Act.  To request access to your personal information that we hold, please contact one of our Directors.