Privacy Policy

  1. Introduction

Andrew Douglas Solicitors (ABN:78 363 539 824) is referred to in this Privacy Policy as we, us or our.

This Privacy Policy explains how we manage personal information. It also describes your rights to access and correct personal information we hold about you, and how you can make a complaint about our management of your personal information. This is in addition to our obligations of confidentiality to clients and other parties arising from sources other than the Privacy Act.

This Privacy Policy only applies to some of the personal information we manage for the purposes of or in connection with our obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (the AML/CTF Act). Other personal information we manage remains excluded by applicable exemptions in the Privacy Act.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The current version will be available on our website.

  1. What is Personal Information

Personal information means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

This may include (without limitation):

  • name, address, email and telephone details;
  • date of birth and identification details;
  • occupation and financial information;
  • government identifiers (where permitted);
  • sensitive information where relevant to legal services or AML/CTF requirements;
  • professional and business information;
  • matter-related and transaction information;
  • communication records with you.
  1. How We Collect Personal Information

We collect personal information through:

  • client interviews and consultations;
  • correspondence (including email and electronic communications);
  • our website (andrewdouglas.com.au), forms and cookies;
  • publicly available sources;
  • third parties (e.g. referrers, identification & other agents, counterparties), such as searches and our InfoTrack software provider.

Where reasonable and practicable, we collect information directly from you.

We may be required to verify your identity and collect certain information under the AML/CTF Act when we provide designated services. Identity documents might also be required for other services such as court matters, real property transactions and asset dealings.

This includes collecting identification documents and information about the source of funds and beneficial ownership of entities.

If you are a client, you have the option of requesting to deal with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym. However, in most cases this is not lawful nor practical for legal services. If you do not provide us with the personal information we request, we may not be able to provide you with legal services or respond to your enquiry.

  1. Purpose of Collection

We collect and use personal information for:

  • providing legal services;
  • communicating with clients and stakeholders;
  • managing client relationships;
  • complying with legal and regulatory obligations;
  • limited marketing and service updates (subject to consent requirements)

We may also use information for secondary purposes where reasonably expected or required by law.

Secondary purposes include financial management, system improvement, enforcement of our right to payment and managing the relationship between our firm and former clients once the retainer has concluded.

  1. Disclosure of Personal Information

We may disclose personal information:

  • with your consent;
  • to persons authorised to act on your behalf;
  • to courts, tribunals, regulators or government agencies;
  • where required or authorised by law.

We may also disclose personal information to third parties to facilitate the purposes of collection noted in section 4. We also disclose information to third parties (such as data storage or archiving companies, our regulators or our insurers) who hold or process information for us.

Your personal information and confidential data is held by us subject to our duty of confidentiality under the Australian Solicitor’s Conduct Rules (“ASCR”) and any applicable undertakings or court rules.

  1. Overseas Disclosure

We will disclose information to overseas recipients where this is reasonably necessary to progress our instructions (dealing with a company with an overseas office, for example).

We may disclose personal information to recipients located outside Australia where reasonably necessary or convenient to facilitate the purposes of collection, holding, use and disclosure of information stated in sections 2 and 5 of this policy.

  1. Security of Personal Information

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure through:

  • physical, electronic and procedural safeguards;
  • secure IT systems and access controls;
  • document management and destruction protocols.

We retain personal information for as long as required for:

  • the purpose for which it was collected;
  • legal, regulatory and professional obligations;
  • to ensure that pertinent evidence remains available if reasonably required.

In most cases, this will be a minimum of seven (7) years.

  1. Using Our Website / Third Party Websites

When you interact with our website, we and our internet service providers collect data to enhance your experience when using our website. We also use this data to interpret and report on which pages and downloads are used by visitors.

We use cookies in a limited manner when you visit our website, for the purpose of providing you with a better and more customised service. Cookies are not used by us to collect and store your personal information.

Our website may also contain links to third party websites, such as payment processors. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites, and we encourage you to read their privacy policies.

  1. Access and Correction

You may request access to personal information we hold about you. We may require verification of identity prior to release. We will take reasonable steps to correct inaccurate or outdated information.

The Privacy Act permits us to refuse access in some circumstances. If we refuse your access request, we will provide you with written reasons for the refusal (unless unreasonable to do so or we are prohibited from doing so by law) and information about how you may complain.

  1. Complaints

If you are dissatisfied with how we have dealt with your personal information, or you have a complaint about our compliance with the Privacy Act, please contact us on the details below. We will usually acknowledge your complaint within seven (7) days and provide you with a substantive response to your complaint within thirty (30) days.

If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may make a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) [email protected] or on 1300 363 992. Further information is available on the OAIC’s website at https://www.oaic.gov.au/

  1. Contact Details

If you have any questions or complaints regarding this Policy, please contact:

Andrew Douglas Solicitors

PO Box 169

Morayfield QLD 4506

Email: [email protected]