Legal
Privacy Policy
1. Privacy Commitment
Thank you for visiting our Website and for reviewing our Policy. We respect the importance of your privacy and the Personal Information in our care. We have created this Policy in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to your privacy.
We are subject to and seek to ensure that all Personal Information we collect is handled in compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Act. This Policy sets out how we collect, hold, use and disclose information (including Personal Information) that we obtain from you. This Policy also includes our Credit Reporting Policy which sets out how we collect, hold, use and disclose Credit Information to comply with our credit reporting obligations under the Act and the Credit Reporting Code registered under section 26S(1) of the Act (Code).
2. Collection of Personal Information
2.1. We collect Personal Information as well as non-personally identifiable information that you voluntarily provide.
2.2. We will only collect Personal Information about you:
- from you (including via online enquiry forms you submit, our direct discussions with you, any emails, blogs, letters, faxes or other correspondence you send to us and when you subscribe to our online publications);
- from any person authorised by you to provide such Personal Information to us (such as your other professional advisors or personal representatives);
- from third party contractors and suppliers we engage to help us provide services;
- from external sources where the information is publicly and readily available; and
- from third parties (for example, your spouse) where it is otherwise unreasonable or impractical to collect such Personal Information from you directly. In such cases, we will inform you before, or as soon as reasonably practicable after, we collect such Personal Information.
2.3. As an example, and without limiting the types of Personal Information we collect, we may collect the following Personal Information (a) name, address, and contact details such as telephone number and email address, and (b) details of your interests in or ownership of entities or control of trusts, and (c) relating to the matters and services we are providing.
2.4. Through technology we may automatically record details including your internet address, domain name and the date and time of your visit to our Website (including the web pages viewed), your browser and operating system. If you link to our Website from another website then that information may also be recorded. We may also use cookies (small files exchanged between a website server and your computer) on our Website. If you do not want to allow cookies to be used to collect information, you can disable cookies on your computer by changing the security and privacy settings in your browser.
2.5. Where you provide us with Personal Information of third parties (for example, your spouse) you warrant to us that the relevant individuals have consented to you disclosing their Personal Information to us.
3. Use and disclosure of Personal Information
3.1. How we use your Personal Information varies based on the services we are providing. Generally, we may use your Personal Information:
- as necessary to provide services to you;
- to perform due diligence and conflict checks prior to agreeing to provide services to you;
- for customer relationship management purposes and to respond to your queries;
- for recruitment purposes;
- to analyse client needs and improve the services we provide;
- for audit, regulatory and compliance purposes;
- for accounting and administrative purposes (including to process transactions, provide accounting services, facilitate our internal business operations and comply with our legal or regulatory obligations); and
- for other purposes related to our provision of legal services to you.
3.2. We will not use or disclose your Personal Information for a purpose other than for that which it was collected unless you have provided your consent or you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose the Personal Information for that other purpose. If you are part of a Group and have consented to our use of your Personal Information so we can perform the services in the Engagement Letter in respect of each and any Group member, we may use your Personal Information as part of performing those services for any Group member unless and until you provide us with a written notice revoking such consent.
3.3. We may disclose your Personal Information:
- to our contractors, agents and service providers (for example, information technology contractors, debt collection agencies, event managers and recruitment and human resources consultants) but only (a) for the purpose of providing services to you, (b) as necessary to facilitate the operation of our business, and/or (c) for the purpose of storing your Personal Information;
- as required or authorised by law or to meet our professional standards;
- to any person with your consent;
- in connection with any sale of Crawford Legal; and
- to our professional advisers but only so they can advise us in respect of the same.
3.4. If you are part of a Group and have consented to our use of your Personal Information so we can perform the services in the Engagement Letter in respect of each and any Group member, we may disclose your Personal Information to any other Group member as part of performing those services unless and until you provide us with a written notice revoking such consent.
3.5. Information other than Personal Information collected when you visit our Website may be used to monitor usage of and decide how to improve and promote our Website, products and services (including online advertising).
4. Collection, use and disclosure of Sensitive Information
4.1. We will only collect Sensitive Information from you directly as reasonably necessary to provide services to you and with your consent.
4.2. As an example, and without limiting the types of Sensitive Information we collect, we may collect the following Sensitive Information medical history, and (b) information collected regarding ethnicity, sexual orientation, political affiliations etc.
4.3. Sensitive Information will only be disclosed in accordance with the Act as follows: (a) for the primary purpose for which it was collected, (b) for a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose, or (c) as required by law.
5. Direct marketing
5.1. We may use or disclose your Personal Information for direct marketing purposes, being:
- to promote our services and provide you with information and marketing materials about other services that may be of interest to you;
- to provide information relevant to your type of business or other area of expertise or interest; and
- to provide you with the opportunity to attend seminars, conferences or other events that may be of interest to you.
5.2. If you do not wish to receive direct marketing communications from us, you can ‘opt out’ by clicking the ‘Unsubscribe’ link in our emails or other electronic communications, or sending an email to us at the contact details in paragraph 14 below with your contact details requesting that you no longer receive direct marketing materials from us. We will remove you from our direct marketing database as soon as reasonably practicable after receiving a request but in any event, within 30 days of receiving such a request.
6. Requirement to provide information
In general, you are not required to provide personal information to us. However, if you wish to receive information about our services, events, industry updates or to apply for employment, you acknowledge that it may not be practical for you to use a pseudonym or otherwise not identify yourself and that we may require you to provide certain Personal Information or Credit Information. If you do not provide some or all of the Personal Information or Credit Information requested, we may not be able to provide you with some or all of the services you request.
7. Cross-border disclosure
7.1. We use all reasonable efforts to ensure that all of the Personal Information and Credit Information we collect or which is disclosed to our contractors, agents and service providers is stored within Australia.
7.2. If at any time storage of your Personal Information by us or our contractors are stored overseas we will notify you of the same and take steps as are reasonably necessary in the circumstances to ensure that any overseas third party service providers we engage do not breach the Australian Privacy Principles.
8. Collection of Credit Information
We may provide credit to you from time to time (for example, by giving you time to pay our account for services) and this may involve the collection of Credit Information. We may collect Credit Information about you (a) directly from you or from persons acting on your behalf (including via application forms submitted by you or on your behalf), and (b) from third parties, including credit reporting bodies and other credit providers, to assist us in determining whether we will provide credit to you.
9. Use and disclosure of Credit Information
9.1. With your express consent, as required by law or court order and otherwise in accordance with Part IIIA of the Act and the Code, we may use or disclose the Credit Information we have collected to:
- credit reporting bodies;
- third parties that perform credit assessment and debt collection services on our behalf;
- our contractors, agents and service providers; and
- current or prospective guarantors in relation to credit we may provide to you.
9.2. We may use or disclose Credit Information we have collected about you to:
- decide whether or not to provide credit to you;
- assess your suitability to act as a guarantor for another credit facility;
- collect outstanding debts and enforce guarantees; and
- comply with our legal or regulatory obligations.
9.3. We may also use Credit Information we hold about you for internal management purposes and to respond to queries or complaints about our treatment of your Credit Information. We may disclose your Credit Information to credit reporting bodies if you fail to make payments to us or if you commit a serious credit infringement.
9.4. The credit reporting policies for such credit reporting bodies will be available on their websites. You have the right to contact any credit reporting bodies to whom we disclosure your Credit Information and request that they do not (a) use your Credit Information for pre-screening purposes to determine your eligibility to receive direct marketing from credit providers, and (b) use or disclose your credit information if you have been or are likely to be a victim of fraud.
10. Holding and security of your Personal Information and Credit Information
10.1. We may store your Personal Information and Credit Information in hard copy or electronic format, in storage facilities that we own and operate ourselves, or that are owned and operated by our service providers.
10.2. We take reasonable steps to:
- ensure that any Personal Information or Credit Information we hold or disclose about you is up to date, complete and correct; and
- protect your Personal Information and Credit Information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification and disclosure using electronic and physical security measures such as:
- securing our premises by requiring security passes to enter our offices
- using reputable cloud based document and practice management software and service providers; and
- the use of firewalls, encryption and passwords.
10.3. We will destroy or delete any of your Personal Information or Credit Information which we no longer need to retain noting that we are required by law to retain certain information for a number of years after we have ceased providing the services. If you email us any information (including Personal Information or Credit Information), it is sent at your own risk as it may not necessarily be secure against interception.
11. Accessing and correcting Personal Information and Credit Information
11.1. We rely on the accuracy of the Personal Information and Credit Information you provide to us. We take reasonable steps to ensure that your Personal Information and Credit Information is up to date including by (a) asking you to confirm your Personal Information and Credit Information is still correct when you attend our office or otherwise interact with us in any way, and (b) contacting you if we become aware that your Personal Information or Credit Information is no longer correct.
11.2. On your request, except to the extent that we are lawfully able to refuse such a request, we will provide you with access to Personal Information and Credit Information that we hold about you. All requests about the Personal Information or Credit Information that we hold should be made by email or in writing to us (see clause 14 of this Policy for our contact details). We will try to respond to your request within a reasonable period.
11.3. If you satisfy us that Personal Information or Credit Information that we hold about you is misleading, inaccurate, out of date or incomplete, except to the extent that we are lawfully able to refuse such a request, we will correct the Personal Information and Credit Information that we hold about you. If it is reasonable and practicable to do so, we will give you access to your Personal Information and Credit Information in the manner that you request. We do not generally charge for providing such access but may do so in certain circumstances.
11.4. In the event that we deny access to or refuse to correct your Personal Information or Credit Information that we hold, we will provide you with written reasons and the mechanisms available to complain about such refusal.
12. Changes to policy and complaints
We may amend this Policy from time to time without notice to you. The revised Policy will take effect when it is uploaded on our Website. If you believe that we have breached our privacy or credit reporting obligations under the Act, you can make a complaint by emailing or writing to us (see clause 14 of this Policy for our contact details). We will attempt to complete our investigation and resolve your complaint within 14 days from the date you lodge your complaint. If we think it will take longer to resolve your complaint, we will inform you. If we do not resolve your complaint to your satisfaction or you are dissatisfied with the action we have taken, you can make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. For further information about how to do this, please contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on 1300 363 992 or visit www.oaic.gov.au
13. Meanings
In this Privacy Policy (Policy):
13.1. a reference to us, our or we is to Crawford Legal.
13.2. Act means Privacy Act 1988.
13.3. Crawford Legal means the partnership conducted under the business name “Crawford Legal” from time to time (ABN 41 060 354 248).
13.4. Credit Information includes identification information (for example, name, date of birth, driver’s licence number, current and recent addresses and employment details), historical details of credit (including type and amount of credit sought or obtained) and repayment history, information about applications for credit, information about defaults and payment arrangements, details of insolvency proceedings, bankruptcy agreements, judgements and arrangements with creditors, information relating to activities and credit worthiness in Australia and external Territories, information recorded on the National Personal Insolvency Index and opinions of credit providers regarding serious credit infringements;
13.5. Engagement Letter means the letter of engagement issued by us outlining the services to be provided by us to you or members of a Group which is accepted by you or a member of the Group (as applicable).
13.6. Group means the individuals, entities and/or companies defined as “the Group” in an Engagement Letter.
13.7. Personal Information means information (including an opinion) about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information whether true or not and whether or not recorded in a material form.
13.8. Sensitive Information has the meaning given by the Act and includes Personal Information which relates to an individual’s racial or ethnic origins, religious beliefs or affiliations, trade association, trade union membership, sexual orientation, criminal record and information as to an individual’s health or biometric information.
13.9. Website means all of the pages located on the website you are currently viewing, being www.crawfordlegal.com.au
14. Contact us
If you have any queries in respect of our Policy or to request access to your information or make a complaint, please contact us by email or in writing as detailed below:
Attention: Adam Gamble (Partner)Crawford Legal
Level 1, 139 Frome Street
Adelaide SA 5000
T: +61 8 8215 34200
F: +61 8 8215 4222
E: agamble@crawfordlegal.com.au