Privacy Statement

1 - Your rights in relation to privacy

Hall & Wilcox ABN 58041376985 (Hall & Wilcox) understands the importance of protecting the privacy of an individual’s personal information. This statement sets out how Hall & Wilcox aims to protect the privacy of your personal information, your rights in relation to your personal information managed by Hall & Wilcox and the way Hall & Wilcox collects, holds, uses and discloses your personal information. Hall & Wilcox is the data controller of any personal information collected by us by any of the means set out in section 3 below.

In handling your personal information, Hall & Wilcox will comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and with the 13 Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act. This privacy statement may be updated from time to time.

2 - What kinds of personal information does Hall & Wilcox collect?

Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified, or reasonably identifiable, individual. During the provision of its services, Hall & Wilcox may collect your personal information.

Generally, the kinds of personal information Hall & Wilcox collects are:

contact and professional information such as your name, business or personal addresses, email addresses, phone and fax numbers and job title and
other information relevant to the type of legal services being provided which may include information about assets and finances, property interests or titles, income, directorships, your employment, health conditions, family relationships and tax file numbers.

In some circumstances, Hall & Wilcox may also hold other personal information provided by you.

If you apply for a job, Hall & Wilcox will collect information such as your name, contact details, qualifications, employment history and contact details of referees.

3 - How does Hall & Wilcox collect personal information?

Generally, Hall & Wilcox collects your personal information directly from you through:

exchanges and discussions with you, whether in person or via telephone, email, fax or post
Hall & Wilcox’s website, including the completion of online forms, registering or subscribing to any of our services, submitting material or information or otherwise requesting further information or services.

There may be other occasions when Hall & Wilcox collects your personal information from other sources such as from an information services provider, a publicly maintained record including publicly available information on social media or similar sites, other professional advisors or an insurance company or authority in connection with a claim related to you or a company for whom you work or other professional advisors.

Generally, Hall & Wilcox will only collect your personal information from sources other than you if it is unreasonable or impracticable to collect your personal information from you.

4 - Why does Hall & Wilcox need your personal information?

Hall & Wilcox collects, holds, uses and discloses your personal information where it is reasonably necessary for the purposes of:

providing you, or an entity with which you are connected, with legal advice and associated services;
accounting, billing and other internal administrative purposes;
developing and facilitating a business relationship with you or an entity with which you are connected;
determining your eligibility and suitability for employment with Hall & Wilcox;
inviting you to events, functions or training events and providing you with updates and publications;
identifying and informing you of services that may be of interest to you and;
any other legal requirements including any prescribed by the relevant legal profession legislation in the state or territory in which you reside (or in which the majority of the legal services will be performed, in the case of overseas persons); and
to assist us with continual improvement, asking you to participate in surveys conducted by us, or third party providers on our behalf, about our service and your experience with us.

Where personal information is used or disclosed, Hall & Wilcox takes steps reasonable in the circumstances to ensure it is relevant to the purpose for which it is to be used or disclosed. You are under no obligation to provide your personal information to Hall & Wilcox. However, without certain information from you, Hall & Wilcox may not be able to provide its products and/or services to you.

5 - To whom does Hall & Wilcox disclose your personal information?

Hall & Wilcox discloses your personal information for the purpose for which Hall & Wilcox collects it. That is, generally, Hall & Wilcox will only disclose your personal information for the purpose of providing legal services or other purpose set out at paragraph 4. This may include disclosing your personal information to third parties engaged to perform administrative or other business management services. This disclosure is always on a confidential basis or otherwise in accordance with law. Hall & Wilcox may also disclose your personal information with your consent or if disclosure is required or authorised by law.

6 - Overseas disclosure

Hall & Wilcox may disclose personal information to overseas recipients in order to provide necessary legal services and for administrative or other business management purposes. Before disclosing any personal information to an overseas recipient, Hall & Wilcox takes steps reasonable in the circumstances to ensure the overseas recipient complies with the Australian Privacy Principles or is bound by a substantially similar privacy scheme unless you consent to the overseas disclosure or it is otherwise required or permitted by law.

7 - Direct marketing

Hall & Wilcox may use and disclose your personal information in order to inform you of products and/or services that may be of interest to you. Where legally required (including under the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679), Hall & Wilcox will only provide these communications to you after you have opted to receive them and will provide you with the opportunity to opt out of receiving them at any time if you do not want to receive further marketing-related communications from us. Where a specific ‘opting in’ process is not legally required (including under the Privacy Act), you can opt out at any time if you do not wish to receive further marketing-related communications from us. In either case, you can opt out by contacting Hall & Wilcox via the contact details set out in paragraph 10 or through any opt-out mechanism contained in a marketing communication to you.

8 - Security of your personal information

Hall & Wilcox takes steps reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that the personal information it holds is protected from misuse, interference and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Hall & Wilcox holds personal information in both hard copy and electronic forms in secure databases on secure premises, accessible only by authorised staff.

Hall & Wilcox will destroy or de-identify personal information in circumstances where it is no longer required unless Hall & Wilcox is otherwise required or authorised by law to retain the information.

9 - Can you access and correct the personal information that Hall & Wilcox holds about you?

Hall & Wilcox takes steps reasonable in the circumstances to ensure personal information it holds is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading. Under the Privacy Act, you have a right to access and seek correction of your personal information that is collected and held by Hall & Wilcox.

If at any time you would like to access or correct the personal information that Hall & Wilcox holds about you, or you would like more information on Hall & Wilcox’s approach to privacy, please contact Hall & Wilcox via the contact details set out in paragraph 10 below. Hall & Wilcox will grant access to the extent required or authorised by the Privacy Act or other law and take steps reasonable in the circumstances to correct personal information where necessary and appropriate.

To obtain access to your personal information:

you will have to provide proof of identity to ensure that personal information is provided only to the correct individuals and that the privacy of others is protected
Hall & Wilcox requests that you be reasonably specific about the information you require and
Hall & Wilcox can provide you with a copy of your personal information in our current records free of charge. If Hall & Wilcox provides access to non-current records, Hall & Wilcox may charge you a reasonable administration fee, which reflects the cost to Hall & Wilcox for providing access in accordance with your request.

If Hall & Wilcox refuses your request to access or correct your personal information, Hall & Wilcox will provide you with written reasons for the refusal and details of complaint mechanisms. Hall & Wilcox will also take steps reasonable in the circumstance to provide you with access in a manner that meets your needs and the needs of Hall & Wilcox.

Hall & Wilcox will endeavour to respond to your request to access or correct your personal information within 30 days from your request.

10 - How to contact us

For further information or enquiries regarding your personal information, or if you would like to opt-out of receiving any promotional or marketing communications, please contact Hall & Wilcox’s Privacy Compliance Officer at:

Hall & Wilcox
Level 11, Rialto South Tower
525 Collins Street
Melbourne Victoria 3000

T: +61 3 9603 3555

E: privacy@hallandwilcox.com.au

11 - Privacy complaints

Please direct all privacy complaints to Hall & Wilcox’s Privacy Compliance Officer. At all times, privacy complaints:

will be treated seriously
will be dealt with promptly
will be dealt with in a confidential manner and
will not affect your existing obligations or affect the commercial arrangements between you and Hall & Wilcox.

Hall & Wilcox’s Privacy Compliance Officer will commence an investigation into your complaint. You will be informed of the outcome of your complaint following completion of the investigation.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you may refer the complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.