About this Policy
Last updated 24 June 2019
The Privacy Act 1988 requires entities bound by The Australian Privacy Principles to have a privacy policy. This privacy policy outlines the personal information handling practices of Bamberry Lawyers Pty Ltd. Bamberry Lawyers Pty Ltd employees and prospective employees should also refer to our Office Procedure Manual.
The policy is written in simple language. The specific legal obligations of Bamberry Lawyers Pty Ltd when collecting and handling your personal information are outlined in the Privacy Act 1988 (the “Privacy Act”) and in particular in the Australian Privacy Principles (the “APP”‘) found in that Act. We will update this privacy policy when our information handling processes change. Updates will be publicised on our website.
Collection of your personal information
What is personal information? Personal information is any information, including any opinion, about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable whether the information or opinion is true or not; and whether the information or opinion is recorded in material form or not.
What is sensitive information? Sensitive information is a type of personal information that has a greater level of protection under the APP because of its specific nature. For example, sensitive information will include information about your health, financial status, memberships and associations. We are required to ensure that sensitive information is only collected with your consent and that reasonable steps are taken to ensure the appropriate use, disclosure and protection of your sensitive information. We only collect such information where we are permitted to do so under the APP and if such information is necessary to provide our service to you, or where we are required to collect this information by law. At all times we try to only collect the information we need for the particular function or activity we are carrying out.
The main way we collect personal information about you is when you give it to us. For example, we collect personal information such as contact details, referral details and information collected from you so that we may provide or market our services. If you do not provide the personal information that we request, we may not be able to provide the level of service necessary. Where it is lawful or practical to do so, you can remain anonymous or use a pseudonym if you wish, however it may mean that we are unable to adequately provide our services you requested from us.
We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information to carry out functions of activities as a Law Firm. Your personal information may be used by us in various ways, including to provide the services you requested from us; researching, developing and enhancing services; or complying with our legal obligations. In some circumstances, personal information is provided to us by third parties or other businesses conducting activities on your behalf. Such third parties would include for example your accountant, medical practitioner or Legal Aid Queensland. It is assumed that you have provided consent for your personal information to be used and disclosed to us in this way. Personal information may be collected from you inn a number of different ways include face to face meetings, telephone conversation, correspondence and documentation provided to us and third parties.
We may also collect and hold information including (but not limited to) personal information about clients, business associates, visitors to our website, job applicants and others we come into contact with.
Disclosure of your personal information
Personal information we have collected may be transferred to third parties where it is necessary to meet the purpose for which you have submitted the information. By submitting date to us electronically, you are providing explicit consent to trans-border transmission of data collected via our website.
The people/organisations which we disclose your personal information to may include our staff members, contractors, your authorised representatives, our professional advisors, government and regulatory authorities, barristers, Legal Aid Queensland, Queensland Courts and/or Tribunals, or our related entities.
We do not share personal information with third parties except as necessary to provide our products and services; or as required by law or other legal processes, or with your consent. We do not sell or give our client database or mailing list to any third parties.
Overseas Transfer of Personal Information
We use internet service providers that have servers located overseas, including social media and cloud service providers. This means that your personal information supplied to us through our website or our social media sites may sometimes be transferred overseas. If you elect to provide personal information to us through any of our online services, you are deemed to consent to the overseas transfer of such information.
Amendment of your personal information
We are committed to keeping the personal information that we collect, use or disclose accurate. We encourage you to tell us when your details change. You may request access to the personal information we hold about you. If we are unable to provide you with access, we will explain why.
Security of your personal information
We are committed to protecting your personal information from misuse and loss, and from unauthorised access, interference, modification, disclosure and unintentional destruction and will take reasonable steps to do so. We have security measures in place which are designed to protect personal information. If we no longer need or are no longer required to hold your personal information, we may destroy or permanently de-identify that information without further notice to you.
On-line Dealings with us
Cookies are small text files placed on your computer when you first visit our website. They are used on some parts of our website. Most internet browsers now recognise when a cookie is offered and permit you to either accept or refuse it. If you are not sure whether your browser has this capability, you should check with the software manufacturer, your company’s technology help desk or your internet service providers. Cookies are primarily used to enhance your online experience and are not used to track the navigational habits of identified visitors, unless we obtain your permission to do so. If you visit our website to read or download information, such as news or articles, much of the information we do collect is statistical in nature only and does not contain personal information.
Our website is hosted by a cloud service provider and we may also use the services or other online service providers from time to times. Our service providers use of cookies is not covered by our Privacy Policy. Our website includes hyperlinks which facilitate access to third party websites. These third party websites are not subject to this Privacy Policy. We reserve the right to collect more extensive information about any attempted access to our website that raises security issues and make the appropriate disclosure to the relevant authorities.
Automatic collection of your personal information
When you visit our website, our internet service provider automatically records the following information about you for statistical purpose – your server address; the website you visited immediately prior to ours; your domain name; date and time of your visit to our website; pages you accessed and the information or documents your downloaded; and type of browser you used.
Emails
We encourage the use of email communication to increase efficiency in communication and to reduce costs and delay. Emails sent to or by us are routinely monitored by our information technology staff for systems administration, quality control and compliance purposes. We will only record your email address if you give it to us or you send an email to us. Email enquiries will be passed to the most appropriate staff member, who will be asked to respond to you directly.
Changes to this policy
This policy is not intended to create a contract between us and any individual or entity which provides us with personal information. From time to time, it may become necessary for us to review or amend this policy. And changes will be made as and when required. We will will advise you of any changes by posting an updated version of our Policy on our website. A current copy of this policy is available in hard copy at our office.
Further information or complaints
We recognise our responsibility for protecting the privacy of your personal information. If you have any questions or comments about our administration of your personal information, please contact us as detailed below. You may also use these contact details to communicate any concerns that you may have regarding compliance with our privacy policy.
If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your complaint, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of The Australian Commission at:-
Telephone: 1300 363 992 (or =61 2 9284 9749 if calling from overseas)
TTY: 133 677 (then ask for 1300 363 992)
Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney, New South Wales. 2001.
Facsimile: 02 9284 9666
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Website: www.oaic.gov.au
Contacting Us
We may be contacted on:-
Post: The Privacy Officer, Bamberry Lawyers Pty Ltd, PO Box 10451, Southport BC, QLD. 4215
Telephone: (07) 5527 0020
Facsimile: (07) 5527 0277
Email: management@bamberrylawyers.com.au