WESTBOURNE LEGAL (“we”, “us”, “our”), is committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information. We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (the “Privacy Act”). Westbourne Legal applies the APPs to govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information. A copy of the APPs may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.aoic.gov.au
 

1.    What is Personal Information and why do we collect it?
Personal Information is information that identifies an individual or has the potential to identify them. Examples of Personal Information we collect include names, addresses, dates of birth, gender, email addresses, and phone numbers.
This Personal Information is obtained in many ways including interviews, correspondence, by telephone, by email, via our website, from your website, from website cookies, from media and publications, from other publicly available sources, and from third parties. We do not guarantee website links or the policies of authorised third parties.
We collect your Personal Information for the primary purpose of providing our services to you. The primary purpose is for the identification of you.  The initial information collected may be used for further legal work for which we are instructed.  For example, we may collect your name and address for estate planning, and we may use that same information when you sell your real property. When we collect Personal Information, it will be obvious to you why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it. You may unsubscribe from our mailing/marketing lists at any time by contacting us in writing.

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2.    Sensitive Information
Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal or court records, or health information.
Sensitive information will be used by us only:

• For the primary purpose for which it was obtained

• With your consent; or where required or authorised by law.

 

3.    Third Parties
Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your Personal Information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties, for example, a Real Estate Agent. In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by that third party.

 

4.    Disclosure of Personal Information
Your Personal Information may be disclosed in a few circumstances including the following:

• Third parties where you consent to the use or disclosure; and

• Where required or authorised by law.

 

5.    Security of Personal Information
Your Personal Information is stored in Australia consistent with Australian Laws and in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse, interference, and loss and from unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure by: 

• taking measures to protect the physical security of our premises, document management systems, databases, and records

• implementing technical measures, such as strong computer passwords, multi-factor authentication, regular data back-ups at locations within Australia and endpoint protection software

• taking measures so our staff also adhere to internal information security policies

• reviewing the Cybersecurity Policies and Privacy Policies of our supply chain vendors. 

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.

 

6.    Access to your Personal Information
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 but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your Personal Information. To protect your Personal Information, we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.

 

7.    Maintaining the Quality of your Personal Information
It is an 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.

 

8.    Policy Updates
This Policy may change from time to time and is available on our website.

 

9.    Privacy Policy Complaints and Enquiries
If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Email:    admin@westbourne.legal 
Post:    Privacy Team, Westbourne Legal, 3/18 Bentham Street, Yarralumla ACT 2600