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DBA Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 28 May 2020

DBA Lawyers (ABN 74 120 513 037) manages your Personal Information for use, disclosure and storage in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1998 (Cth). We manage your Personal Information with great care and confidentiality as outlined in this Privacy Policy.

Collection, Storage, Use and Disclosure

Should you request that our firm provides you with legal advice or should you use or apply for another service that we offer, then you implicitly agree to the collection, use, storage and disclosure of your Personal Information in relation to this Privacy Policy. Personal Information that is often required by us to provide accurate legal services includes:

  • Full name
  • Contact details (address, phone, email)
  • Spouse name and address
  • Occupation details
  • Tax File Number
  • Date of birth
  • Employer
  • Taxation, superannuation, financial and other related details when relevant to the type of service that you have instructed us to provide

The type of Personal Information required is dependent on the legal service that DBA Lawyers has been instructed to provide. These services can include but are not limited to:

  • Producing and reviewing tailored documents
  • Providing superannuation advice
  • Providing taxation advice

All personal information and correspondence provided by email/and or other communication is electronically stored in DBA Lawyers’ internal database. Should we receive any hardcopy order forms, original deeds or relevant documents concerning instructions, these will be converted to electronic form for filing and promptly returned to the address from which they were sent. We do not store executed DBA documents once they have been sent to the relevant client.

We require clear and timely instructions to complete your assignments. We ask that you keep us informed of any changes to your instructions and provide us with any relevant documentation. We prefer all instructions in writing and will not prepare any work without your consent. By agreeing to our terms of engagement (eg, in writing, signing our costs agreement, or via other methods), you authorise us to destroy contents of the related file at the expiration of 7 years from the date that we initially received instructions.

We confirm that upon providing your details in writing, you agree to receive our electronic newsletters and for your details to be used in internal marketing assignments unless we are otherwise instructed. You may unsubscribe from our monthly newsletter at any time by clicking the unsubscribe button or by contacting us on (03) 9092 9400 or emailing us [email protected].

Third Parties

If you brief us using an adviser, agent or another person (‘Agent’), you confirm that they are authorised to act, obtain legal advice and/or other work on your behalf. Accordingly, we will refer to your Agent as our ‘Original Instructor’. DBA Lawyers only provides details of work to our Original Instructor (who is the entity that instructed us to prepare the work originally) in order to maintain client confidentiality as part of our Privacy Policy. Therefore, should another party who is not recognised as our Original Instructor request details of work, we will require the appropriate authorisation from the Original Instructor to release any details or Personal Information to the requesting party.

We may also collect Personal Information from other contacts with whom you have authorised us to share information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. This may include your employer (if you are an Accountant or Advisor who has instructed us to provide work on behalf of your employer), spouse, a company where you are a shareholder or officeholder, superannuation documents where you are a member of that fund, your Legal Personal Representative (‘LPR’), ASIC and related entities.

Third party companies and individuals may be exposed to your Personal Information while collaborating with our firm to assist us with improving the facilitation of our services and handling technical issues. However, they are obligated not to disclose or use the information for any other purpose. In the event that Personal Information is to be disclosed to a third-party overseas recipient, DBA will ensure that the handling of Personal Information complies with the Australian Privacy Principles.

Access to your Personal Information

In accordance with this Privacy Policy, we take client confidentiality very seriously and protect all Personal Information by maintaining a strong ‘Release of Details/Documents’ process. To access details or documents that relate to your file you typically must be our ‘Original Instructor’. We require a written request including the relevant file reference, details of the documents or correspondence, and sufficient evidence of your identity to confirm your relationship to the documents. Should you not be our Original Instructor or provide the appropriate information or authorisation, we may be unable to release any details or documents to you.

Subject to the above terms, there are some special circumstances where we may consider the release of details or documents to someone other than our Original Instructor. However, in the event of such a special request, we may still require authorisation from our Original Instructor prior to releasing any details or documents. Fees may be applicable for the investigation, processing and release of any Personal Information or details of work for a special circumstances request.

Protection and Security

We maintain records of your Personal Information and/or your firm in our internal database and online portals (eg, DBA Online, DBA Network and Annual Update Service).

We have invested in our IT software and in a high level of security to maintain the safety of your stored Personal Information. We regularly monitor the activity of incoming and outgoing correspondence in accordance with our Privacy Policy to ensure that all Personal Information remains secure.

Please be aware that while we manage your Personal Information with great IT and office security, we cannot guarantee that your Personal Information is entirely safe when providing information through an online/internet service. It is important that you monitor your activities to protect your own information when using an online service. Refer to our Disclaimer for further information regarding using our website and our online portals.

We appreciate and value the relationships with our clients and strive to ensure that your information is safe and protected at our firm.

Complaints

If there has been a breach of this Privacy Policy or the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and your Personal Information has been misused or handled insufficiently, please email us at [email protected] with supporting evidence. We will investigate the breach according to our DBA Data Breach Policy based on the supporting evidence that you provide and will work with you to resolve the issue. Our aims are to ensure that you are satisfied with the outcome and that you maintain trust in our firm.

If your complaint relates to DBA Lawyers Privacy Policy in general, you can contact us at [email protected] or, alternatively, you may contact the Australian Privacy Commissioner at https://www.oaic.gov.au/.

We welcome your feedback and any suggestions regarding our Privacy Policy.

Updates

It is important that you review this page periodically for any changes as we update our Privacy Policy as required. Updates to our Privacy Policy will be effective immediately once they are posted to this page.

Contact Us

For more information or to provide feedback or suggestions regarding our Privacy Policy, feel free to contact our office on 03 9092 9400 or at [email protected]. For more information regarding our Costs Agreement & Disclosure and Disclaimer, please see the links below: