:: ROBERTS ESTATE PLANNING SPECIALISTS - PRIVACY POLICY ::

Our firm respects your right to privacy which includes the privacy of personal information about you. We are bound by professional obligations as solicitors and accountants and also by the law relating to privacy which now comprises National Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 of the Commonwealth.

Collecting your personal information

We realize that it is important you understand the purpose for which we collect personal details. This Privacy Policy outlines how we manage your personal information. It also outlines what is meant by "personal information", why and how it is held, how it is used, and how it is disclosed.

If you instruct us in any matter, we will naturally collect and hold personal information from you. Our purpose in doing so is to:

provide you with the appropriate service, including advice or representation (which involves evaluating your matter and your interests);
manage and administer your matter;
protect your interests and obtain for you the best result.

We may also use your personal information to let you know about services or other information that might advance your legal, accounting and business needs, or in which you may be interested for other reasons. You may however choose at any time not to receive such material from us.

The information collected would include your name, postal or email address, date of birth, and other information that is necessary in the ordinary course of our practice. Depending on the type of matter, we may find it necessary to collect other information including financial information, or "sensitive" information (e.g. health information or criminal records). We will do this only in the normal course of practice and as may be necessary in your interests - e.g. to establish, exercise or defend a legal or equitable claim.

We will collect your personal information from mostly from you. This may happen when you instruct us to act for you, or when you give us personal information at an interview, or over the telephone, or in writing.

In some cases we may need to collect your personal information from third parties; e.g. we may need to collect personal information from your authorised representative, your bank or financial adviser, your employer, government instrumentalities, or publicly available sources of information or any of the other organisations referred to below under "Using and Disclosing Your Personal Information".

If we ask you for personal information or ask your consent to obtain your personal information, and it is not provided, this may make it impossible for us to properly act, or to continue to act for you.

Using and Disclosing Your Personal Information

The type of organisation to which we may disclose your personal information is described below. Such disclosure is in line with common business practice and we will always seek to ensure that the information is held, used or disclosed in accordance with the law and not otherwise.

The organisations are those:

involved in providing, managing or administering aspects of your matter such as third party suppliers, service providers, printers, posting services, archival services, lenders, insurers and our advisers and experts (including independent barristers);
who are your financial advisers and their service providers;
involved in maintaining, reviewing and developing our business systems, procedures and infrastructure including testing or upgrading our computer systems;
involved in a transfer of all or part of the assets or business of our organisation;
involved in the payments system including financial institutions, merchants and payment organisations;
involved in policy planning and development for our firm;
who are your authorised representatives;
as required or authorised by law, for example, to government or regulatory bodies for purposes related to public health or safety, the prevention or detection of unlawful activities or to protect public revenue;
where you have given your consent.

We may use parts of your personal circumstances for research purposes, in study groups or at seminars as this may provide benefits to other clients. Should that happen, your personal identity will NOT be disclosed in any circumstances.

It is our practice to seek your consent to use or disclose your personal information for the purpose of informing you about services or information that might better serve your legal, accounting and business needs, or in which you may otherwise be interested. We assume we have your consent to use your personal information for this purpose unless you tell us otherwise.

Keeping Your Personal Information Accurate and Up-to-date

We aim to make sure personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure this is the case. This way we can provide you with better service. If you believe your personal information is not accurate, complete or up to date, please contact us.

Protecting Your Personal Information

We store information in different ways, including in paper and electronic form. The security of your personal information is vital and we take every reasonable step to protect it from misuse or loss or unauthorised access or disclosure.

Some of the ways we do this are:

document storage security policies;
security measures for systems access;
providing a private environment for confidential discussions;
allowing access to personal information only where the individual seeking access has satisfied our identification requirements.

You may inspect or request copies of your records at any time. If you want copies, a fee will apply. If you request an explanation of your records or a written summary, our usual fees will apply to those.

Your Privacy on the Internet

We take care to ensure that any personal information you give us via the internet is protected. Our website has electronic security systems in place, including the use of a firewall. The internet is not, however, a secure environment. We discourage you from sending personal information over the internet if you are concerned about preservation of your privacy.

Our Website

If you visit our site to read or download information, our internet service provider may record your server address, domain name, the date and time of your visit to our site, the pages viewed and the information downloaded. This information is used for statistical and web site development purposes only.

You can otherwise rest assured that your personal information will be treated with the utmost confidentiality. Disclosure will not be made to any person without your prior written consent. If you have any queries or concerns about our handling of your personal information please do not hesitate to raise these concerns with us.