Privacy Policy
Our commitment to the protection of your personal information
Property Hub Conveyancing is committed to protecting your privacy. Our commitment in respect of personal information is to abide by the Australian Privacy Principles for the protection of personal information, as set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and to abide by any other relevant law, including the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) (AML/CTF Act) and the AML/CTF Rules.
Collection of personal information
When we refer to personal information, we mean information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. This information may include facts or an opinion about you. The personal information we hold about you may also include sensitive information or credit information.
The kinds of personal information we may collect about you include your name, date of birth, address, bank account details, occupation, position, email address, phone number and any other information we may need to identify you or provide our services.
We may also collect personal information to comply with our obligations under the AML/CTF Act and the AML/CTF Rules, for example, when conducting client due diligence. This may include information from identification documents (such as your name, date of birth, residential address, passport or licence number, and the date of expiry of the document), details about the nature of the legal service we are providing, and information relevant to assessing money laundering or terrorism financing risk.
We may collect personal information from you directly or indirectly. Where required or authorised under the AML/CTF Act, we may collect personal information about you from third parties, such as from our clients (for example, where we need to identify beneficial owners of a client’s company or a client’s agent). It may be unreasonable or impracticable to collect personal information directly from you in these circumstances.
We will only collect personal information which is reasonably necessary for our services, functions and activities, including our AML/CTF obligations. The ‘reasonably necessary’ test is an objective test: we will only collect personal information where a reasonable person who is properly informed would agree that the collection is necessary for our functions and activities.
In most circumstances it will be necessary for us to identify you to successfully do business with you, including meeting our client due diligence obligations under the AML/CTF Act. However, if you choose not to provide us with personal information, we may not be able to do business with you, or we may not be able to provide you with a legal service.
We may also collect personal information if required or permitted by law or professional standards, including the AML/CTF Act and AML/CTF Rules.
Sensitive information
Sensitive information includes any information about a person’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences orientation or practices, criminal record, health information and certain genetic or biometric information.
We will not ask you to disclose sensitive information unless it is necessary to provide our services to you, or unless it is required to comply with our obligations under the AML/CTF Act.
Where we or a third party agent collect or use biometric information for identification or verification for client due diligence purposes, we will generally seek your consent before doing so and will provide you with sufficient information about the process in our collection notice.
Use of personal information
We collect personal information for the purpose of providing the services you have requested and managing our relationship with you. This occurs when you seek legal advice from us, attend a seminar, sign up to receive information from us, apply for a position with us or provide services to us. We also collect personal information to comply with our obligations under the AML/CTF Act and AML/CTF Rules, including for client due diligence and personnel due diligence.
Generally, we will only use or disclose personal information for the purpose for which it was collected (the primary purpose). We will not use or disclose personal information for another purpose (a secondary purpose) unless an exception applies or we obtain your consent.
Where the use or disclosure of personal information is required or authorised under the AML/CTF Act or AML/CTF Rules, we are permitted to use and disclose that personal information (including without your consent). For example, the AML/CTF Act may require us to submit a suspicious matter report to AUSTRAC in certain circumstances, and these reports will contain personal information.
We will ensure that any use or disclosure of personal information is not inconsistent with our information-handling obligations under the AML/CTF Act, including secrecy provisions and tipping off obligations.
We may use your personal information as required by or authorised by law.
Disclosure of personal information
Your Personal Information may be disclosed in a number of circumstances including the following:
- Third parties where you consent to the use or disclosure; and
- Where required or authorised by law.
Security of personal information
We may retain your personal information electronically or in hard copy.
Your Personal Information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorized access, modification or disclosure.
When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your Personal Information. However, most of the Personal Information is or will be stored in client files which will be kept by us for a minimum of 7 years.
Retention and destruction of personal information
We will only retain personal information for as long as it is needed to comply with our AML/CTF obligations, for the purposes for which it was collected, or for another permitted purpose under the Privacy Act or APPs. Where we are required by the AML/CTF Act or another Australian law or a court or tribunal order to retain personal information, we will do so in accordance with those requirements.
Where personal information is no longer needed for any purpose for which it may be used or disclosed under the APPs, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify that information.
Access
You may access the Personal Information we hold about you and to update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your Personal Information, please contact us in writing. We will not charge any fee for your access request. To protect your Personal Information we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.
Maintaining the Quality of your Personal Information
It is important to us that your Personal Information is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.
Policy Updates
This Policy may change from time to time and is available on our website.
Further information
You may request further information about the way we manage your personal information by contacting us on the details below.
Privacy Officer, Property Hub Conveyancing
PO Box 2170, Armstrong Creek, Victoria, 3217