Privacy Policy

GENERAL

At Australian Family Lawyers, we are committed to protecting your privacy. We use the personal information we collect about you to maximise the services that we provide to you. Australian Family Lawyers respects your personal information and adheres to the Australian Privacy Principles pursuant to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

This Privacy Policy describes our personal information handling practices and how we may collect, use and disclose your personal information.

Please read our Privacy Policy carefully.

DEFINITIONS

In this Privacy Policy:

  • “Australian Family Lawyers“, “we”, “our” and “us” refers to Australian Family Lawyers Pty Ltd, AF Legal Group Ltd and its related entities including AF Legal Pty. Ltd., Watts McCray (NSW) Pty Ltd, Strong Law Pty Limited and G Kordos & Y Kordos trading as Kordos Lawyers and Australian Family Law Arbitration, and our offices in Melbourne, Mornington, Preston, Sydney, Watts McCray Sydney, Watts McCray Paramatta, Brisbane, Maroochydore, Burleigh Caloundra, Gold Coast, Perth, Joondalup, Canberra, Belconnen, Darwin and Adelaide;
  • “personal information” has the meaning given to that term in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and includes information or an 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 is recorded in a material form or not;
  • “Services” means the provision of our legal services, products and access to our Website and our other services.
  • “Website” means the website at https://www.australianfamilylawyers.com.au/.

KINDS OF PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect information about you when you provide it to us, when you use our Services, and when other sources provide it to us.  The kinds of personal information we collect and hold about you depend on the nature of our relationship with you.

Clients

We typically collect and hold the following kinds of personal information about our clients:

  • Your first name, surname and date of birth;
  • Your email address, postal address and residential address;
  • Your telephone number;
  • Whether you are an Australian citizen or have an Australian visa.
  • Whether you meet Australian residency requirements;
  • The name of your employer and your job title;
  • Financial information; and
  • Other personal information that you provide to us or that we collect in the course of our relationship with you.

We may also collect sensitive information from or about you. For example, your health information.

Service providers and job applicants

We typically collect and hold the following kinds of personal information about service providers (including contractors and suppliers) and job applicants:

  • Your first name and surname;
  • Your email address, postal address and residential address;
  • Your telephone number;
  • Whether you are an Australian citizen or have an Australian visa;
  • Whether you meet Australian residency requirements;
  • Information generally contained in resumes, including educational information, academic transcripts, employment history, background checks;
  • References from previous employers and referees;
  • Information about how you have performed at work or in accordance with a contract; and
  • Information necessary to make financial payments, for example bank account details.

We may also collect sensitive information such as professional or trade associations, health information, criminal records and political memberships.

Website users and seminar attendees

We typically collect and hold the following kinds of personal information from our service users and seminar attendees:

  • Your first name and surname;
  • Your email address and telephone number;
  • The name of your employer and your job title;
  • Your areas of interest.

We may also collect and hold sensitive information about you as it relates to your dietary requirements.

Interested persons

In the course of providing Services to our clients we may need to collect personal information from other persons, including persons who are parties to, are otherwise involved in, our client’s legal matters and service providers they have retained. The personal information we collect from these persons depends on the circumstances, and may include their:

  • First name and surname;
  • Contact information; and
  • Employer and job title;

Depending on the circumstances, this information may also include sensitive information.

HOW WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION

In most circumstances we will collect personal information from you directly, for example:

  • When you use the Services;
  • Through telephone conversations or messaging technology;
  • From written forms;
  • When you sign up to our email lists or register to attend an event we are holding;
  • Through feedback you provide to us;
  • Through online queries; and
  • When you agree to the use of cookies.

We may also collect your personal information from:

  • Business cards, referrals and other similar indirect methods;
  • Our clients;
  • Government agencies including law enforcement bodies;
  • Publicly available records, including from public registries, courts and tribunals, regulatory bodies and licensing bodies;
  • Search agencies and ratings agencies;
  • Online searches;
  • Social media;
  • Recruitment agencies;
  • Service providers; and
  • Parties you have referred to us, for example previous employers and referees.

Our collection of your personal information may be on a one-off, ad hoc or recurring basis using any of the above sources and we may combine or link the personal information we collect with the other personal information we already know about you. 

When we obtain personal information from third parties, we will assume and you must ensure that you have made the third party aware that you have referred Australian Family Lawyers to them and of the purposes involved in the collection, use and disclosure of the relevant personal information.

If you supply us with personal information about another individual, please refer that person to this Privacy Policy.

ELECTRONIC COLLECTION

We may use technology to deliver, measure and improve the Website and the Services we offer, including to:

  • Gather information regarding visitor activity on the Website, or applications to evaluate and improve the Website including improving Services based on user trends;
  • Understand how you use the Website and the Services;
  • Identify what content you are interested in; and
  • Provide tailored trends or recommendations.

The information we collect electronically from our Website may include:

  • The date and time of your visits and content you have viewed;
  • How you navigate the Website, and interact with pages (including fields completed in forms, applications completed, search items entered);
  • Your location information, IP address and information about the device you use to visit the Website; and
  • Internet provider details and referring URLs (universal locators).

We use suppliers to provide this technology, including Google Analytics, Yahoo Advertising conversion tracking, Facebook Ads conversion tracking and WordPress Stats. Each supplier’s ability to use and share any information they collect about your visits to our Website is restricted by the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of each supplier.

Cookies

The technology we use to collect information may include “cookies” which identify the Website pages which are being used. Cookies help us to analyse data about web page traffic and improve our Website in order to tailor it to user needs. We only use the information collected from cookies for statistical analysis purposes.

Cookies help us provide you with a better Website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. Cookies in no way give us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you do not accept the cookies used on our Website, this may prevent you from taking full advantage of our Website.

Third party links

The Services may include links to other websites. These links are meant for your convenience only. Links to third party websites do not constitute sponsorship or endorsement or approval of these websites. Please be aware that Australian Family Lawyers is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites. We encourage our users to be aware, when they leave our Website, to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by our website.

WHY WE COLLECT, USE AND DISCLOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION

We collect, use and disclose your personal information to:

  • provide our Services to you, including to process transactions with you;
  • comply with enforcement requests and applicable laws, including to;
  • enforce our agreements, policies and terms of service;
  • protect the security or integrity of our Services;
  • protect our customers or the public from harm or illegal activities; or
  • respond to an emergency which we believe in good faith requires us to disclose information to assist in preventing the death or serious bodily injury of any person;
  • understand your needs, requirements and interactions with us so that we can tailor and enhance your experience in interacting with us, and obtaining our Services;
  • organise events;
  • conduct collective learning about how people use our Services, as well as feedback provided directly to us, in order to troubleshoot and identify trends, usage, activity patterns and areas for integration and improvement of our Services;
  • communicate with you about the Services via Customer Support, including to:
  • resolve any issues you may encounter;
  • respond to your requests for assistance; and
  • improve the Services;
  • verify accounts;
  • monitor suspicious or fraudulent activity and identify violations of service policies;
  • confirm your identity;
  • protect our legitimate business interests and legal rights in connection with legal claims, compliance, regulatory and audit functions, and disclosures in connection with the acquisition, merger or sale of business;
  • comply with our legal obligations, any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, including to meet national security requirements; or
  • facilitate a change of control in one of our businesses (whether by merger, sale, or otherwise), or a sale or transfer of its assets.

 

USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may use or disclose your personal information for the purposes it has been collected (as identified above in “Why we collect, use and disclose your personal information”) or for a secondary purpose which, depending on the personal information:

  • is related to the purpose for the personal information being collected, and in circumstances where you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose your personal information for this related purpose; or
  • is directly related to the purpose for which the personal information was collected.

We may also use or disclose your personal information in circumstances where:

  • you expressly or impliedly consented to the use or disclosure; or
  • the disclosure or use is required, authorised or permitted by law.

 

DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Who we disclose your personal information to

In order to provide our Website and Services to you, we may disclose your personal information (including, in certain circumstances, your sensitive information) to, for example:

  • courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities, or to anyone else to whom you authorise us to disclose it to;
  • contractors who assist us to provide the Services, including barristers;
  • external partners, including Google Analytics, Yahoo and AdRoll to conduct evaluation, research and reporting activities and statistical analysis, and any other qualitative and quantitative evaluations using the information we provide;
  • third-party service providers to provide Website and application development, hosting, maintenance, backup, storage, virtual infrastructure, payment processing, analysis and other services for us; or
  • entities that process payments.

We may also share information about you with third parties when you give us consent to do so. For example, we often display personal testimonials of satisfied customers on our Website. With your consent, we may post your name alongside the testimonial.

If you provide your personal information on our social media pages (for example, Facebook or LinkedIn), the privacy policy of the social media platform will apply to the personal information you have provided.

Marketing

We may use your personal information for the purpose of providing you with direct marketing material and information. This will only apply if you have registered or subscribed to such publications by entering your details with us.

You may opt out of receiving marketing material from us at any time, including by using the unsubscribe function on our e-newsletter or by contacting us (see “Contacting us” below).

European Economic Area users

If you are an individual in the European Economic Area (EEA), we collect and process information about you only where we have legal bases for doing so under applicable EU laws. The legal bases depend on the Services you use and how you use them. We collect and use your information only where:

  • we need it to provide you the Services, including to operate the Services, provide customer support and personalised features and to protect the safety and security of the Services;
  • it satisfies a legitimate interest (which is not overridden by your data protection interests), such as for research and development, to market and promote the Services or to protect our legal rights and interests;
  • you give us consent to do so for a specific purpose; or
  • we need to process your data to comply with a legal obligation.

OVERSEAS DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information to, and collect your personal information from, overseas third parties, with your consent, where authorised by law, or where our business activities or functions have been outsourced to an overseas service provider.

Australian Family Lawyers may disclose your personal information to, and collect your personal information from, the overseas service providers to the extent necessary for us to perform our business activities and functions. These service providers may be located in India or the United States of America. As a result, your personal information may be stored or accessed in those countries.

PROTECTION AND RETENTION

Protection

We take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. These steps include security locked offices for paper records, secure data centres and cloud storage providers, limiting physical access to Australian Family Lawyers premises and paper records, restricting electronic access to the personal information Australian Family Lawyers holds through cyber security software and firewalls and permanently destroying or de-identifying your personal information as required by law and otherwise when it is no longer required.

Retention

We retain your personal information for a minimum of seven (7) years from the later of the date on which the information was received or the file was opened. We also retain some of your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, to resolve disputes, to enforce our agreements, to support business operations, and to continue to develop and improve our Services.

After such time, we will either delete or anonymise your information or, if this is not possible (for example, because the information has been stored in backup archives), we will securely store your information and isolate it from any further use until deletion is possible.

If you have elected to receive marketing emails from us, we retain information about your marketing preferences for a reasonable period of time. We retain information derived from cookies and other tracking technologies for a reasonable period of time from the date such information was created.

Where we retain information for Service improvement and development, we take steps to eliminate information that directly identifies you, and we only use the information to uncover collective insights about the use of our Services.

ACCESSING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

You may request access to or an electronic copy of your personal information by contacting us using the contact details identified below (“Contacting us”).

We will respond to your request for personal information within a reasonable time of receiving the request. We may be unable to provide you with access to some or all of your personal information pursuant to law. Where we are unable to provide you with this information, or unable to provide the information in the manner requested, we will provide you with a written notice identifying our reasons for refusing access.

There is no fee for submitting a request to access your personal information. We may charge a fee for payment of our reasonable administrative costs in providing the requested personal information to you.

UPDATING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, up-to-date, complete and relevant for the purpose for which you have provided it. If you believe the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, you may request that we update your personal information by contacting us using the contact details identified below (see “Contacting us”).

We will take reasonable steps to update your personal information upon request. If we refuse to correct your personal information, we will provide reasons for this refusal in writing and you may request that we associate with the information a statement that the information is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. We will take reasonable steps to associate that statement with all our records containing the relevant information.

COMPLAINTS

Please contact us if you have a question or complaint about the handling of your personal information. We can be contacted as identified in “Contacting us” below. 

We will acknowledge your complaint within a reasonable time and will advise if we need further information from you to resolve your complaint. We will undertake to conduct a review and respond to your complaint within 30 days and will advise you of the outcome in writing.

While we aim to resolve complaints within the timeframes prescribed above, some complaints may take longer to resolve and we will contact you if the complaint will take longer than anticipated.

If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as follows:

 

Office of Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
Phone: 1300 363 992
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
www.oaic.gov.au

 

CONTACTING US

We can be contacted:

  • by post at:

    • Privacy Officer

    • Australian Family Lawyers

    • Level 2/326 William St, Melbourne VIC 3000

 

CHANGE IN PRIVACY POLICY

We may change this Privacy Policy. We will post any changes to this Privacy Policy on our Website and we encourage you to check our Website to view our current policy, or to contact us (as identified above “Contacting us”) to obtain a copy of the Privacy Policy.