Privacy Policy

At Rafton Family Lawyers (Raftons) we are committed to protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012.

This privacy policy explains the types of personal information we collect, how we collect and use this information, who we may disclose it to, how you can access and change your personal information and making a privacy complaint.

Types of personal information

We may collect and hold information about:

• clients, business associates and potential clients
• suppliers and their employees
• other people who come into contact with Rafton

The types of personal information that we may collect and hold includes (but is not limited to) the following:

• your name, postal address, email, telephone and fax numbers
  occupation
• date of birth, gender and marital status
• information about your legal issues
• information about your personal and financial circumstances
• health information
• any other information you provide to us by any means

If you do not provide us with some or all of the above information, this may affect our ability to provide you with our services.

How we collect personal information

We may collect personal information from or about you in a number of circumstances, including when you:

• use our services
• enquire about our services
• apply for or accept employment with us
• provide or offer to provide services to us

Methods of collecting information

We will generally collect information by way of face-to-face meetings, completed forms, business cards, telephone conversations, interviews, and emails.

In some circumstances we may collect personal information about you from a third party. Some examples of third party sources include other solicitors, counsellors, health professionals and financial professionals.

How we use your personal information

Raftons will collect and hold personal information that is necessary for us to provide our services and comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

We may use and disclose your personal information for the primary purpose for which it is collected, for reasonably expected secondary purposes which are related to the primary purpose and in any other circumstances authorised by the Privacy Act.

In general, we will use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

• to conduct our business
• to provide our services
• to communicate with you
• to purchase from you
• to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
• for any purpose for which the information was provided
• any other purpose related to any of the above

Disclosing your personal information

Raftons may disclose your information to:

• individuals or organisations in connection with providing our services or who perform functions on our behalf (such as barristers, experts, auditors, witnesses)
• courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities
• anyone else who you authorise us to disclose information to

We may also collect personal information from these individuals and organisations and will deal with this information in accordance with this privacy policy.

Sensitive information

Some personal information that we collect is “sensitive information”. Sensitive information includes information relating to a person’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, sexual preferences, criminal records and health information about an individual.

Unless you agree otherwise, sensitive information will only be used and disclosed for the purpose for which it was provided, for a directly related secondary purpose or where certain other limited circumstances apply (eg: where required by law).

Information about other people which you provide to us

If you provide personal information to us about someone else (such as your spouse or former partner) you must ensure that:

• the information is correct and has been collected and disclosed in accordance with the applicable privacy legislation;
• you are entitled to disclose that information to us; and
• without taking any further steps, we may collect, use and disclose that information in accordance with this privacy policy.

You must ensure that the individual concerned is aware of the various matters detailed in this privacy policy relating to that individual including, our identity, how to contact us, our purposes of collection, our information disclosure practices (including disclosure to overseas recipients), the individual’s right to obtain access to the information, how to make complaints about the handling of the information and the consequences if the information is not provided (such as our inability to provide services).

In addition, Raftons may disclose personal information to you about other individuals in the course of providing services to you. If this occurs, you agree to use, disclose, handle, collect and transfer that information in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Managing your personal information

We take your privacy seriously. All personal information is treated as strictly confidential. The Privacy Act requires Raftons to take reasonable steps to protect the security of all personal information and take reasonable steps to protect personal information held from misuse or loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

If we no longer require your personal information for any of the purposes outlined in this privacy policy, we will take reasonable steps to destroy it.

Access to your personal information

In most cases, you can request to see the personal information we hold about you. We will handle requests for access to your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act. If you would like a copy of some or all of your personal information, please contact us using the details below. If your request is urgent, please clearly indicate this in your request. We may ask that you pay our reasonable costs for complying with your request.

Changing your personal information

We attempt to keep all personal information which we hold about you up-to-date and accurate. You may ask us to correct or remove information which you think is inaccurate. If you would like to amend any of your details or the information which you have provided us, please contact us using the details below.

We are not responsible for any problems that may arise if you do not give us accurate, truthful or complete information, or if you fail to update such information.

Making a privacy complaint

If you would like to make a complaint about a breach or a potential breach by us of our privacy policy, the Australian Privacy Principles or the Privacy Act, please contact us using the details below.

Whilst we aim to resolve your complaint expeditiously and to your satisfaction, if you are not satisfied with our response you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner who may investigate your complaint further.

Changes to our privacy policy

It may be necessary for us to review and amend our privacy policy from time to time. We reserve the right to change our privacy policy at any time. We may notify you about changes to this privacy policy by posting an updated version on our website.

Contact us

If you have any queries about our privacy policy, would like to access or change your personal information or would like to make a complaint concerning the use or handling of your personal information, please contact:

Kate Rafton

Rafton Family Lawyers

317 Windsor Street

Richmond NSW 2753

Ph: 02 4578 5611

Email: reception@rafton.com.au