Probate Consultants
ABN 12 635 839 397
We recognise the trust you are placing in us by providing your personal details and we are committed to the protection of your personal information. This Privacy Policy describes the manner in which Probate Consultants collects, uses and discloses Personal Information that is covered by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (‘Privacy Act’). This policy applies to and is adopted by our employees, related entities and associated companies and contractors which are subject to the Privacy Act.
1. What is “Personal Information”?
“Personal Information” is information or an opinion about an identified individual (or an individual who is reasonably identifiable), whether the information is true or not, and whether the information is recorded in a material form or not.
2. What personal information we generally collect and why:
We collect information in a number of different ways including directly, indirectly and through third parties including:
- In person;
- Via our website;
- Via our online forms;
- Via email;
- Via social media;
- Over the phone;
- Through documents we request;
When collecting your personal information, we may ask you to provide the following information:
- Your name, address, telephone number, email address and occupation;
- Details about your relationship with other people relevant to your application for a Grant of Representation (‘application’);
- Personal Information about other people who are relevant to your application including, but not limited to, the deceased, executors and next of kin;
- Details about the estate of the deceased including property and liabilities;
- Details of interactions between you and our staff;
- Feedback in relation to your experience with us;
- Other Personal Information relevant to the services which we provide.
We collect your personal information so we can provide our services to you. In addition, we may utilise this information to communicate news, promotional offers or special events to you or for marketing, research, planning and product development purposes.
This information is used to assist in the conduct our services, to provide and market our services, to communicate with you and, most importantly, to help us manage and enhance our service for you. By providing consent to receive these communications from us you are acknowledging that the consent will remain current until you advise us otherwise in writing.
You can opt out at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer or by unsubscribing to our commercial electronic messages
3. Junk mail or unsolicited email
You will only receive emails from us if:
- You request information about our services when you choose to contact us. You will not be added to a mailing list of any kind and will only receive e-mails related to the matter that you have contacted us about; or
- They are otherwise relevant to the reasons for which we hold your email address, where we are permitted to do so by law.
We will destroy information if the information was not lawfully collected by us, and/or by written request by you.
4. Other information we collect
We also collect information about you from our website or social networking service and we use that information and feedback to improve our services and web content. The information may include:
- The date and time you accessed each page on our website including the duration;
- The IP address of your computer;
- The path taken through our website;
- Cookies which track your visits to our website;
We use this information so that we can tell which pages are the most popular and where people spend most of their time on our website. We use this information to improve our website and our services delivered to you. In some circumstances we may collect personal information about an individual from a third party, for example, to analyse traffic on our website. If this information is linked with personal information we already hold about you (as set out above), this new information will be treated as personal information and will be handled in the same manner as the personal information to which it has been linked
5. Are we likely to disclose your personal information overseas?
We may disclose your personal information to the following overseas recipients:
- Other trusted companies or individuals who assist us in providing services or who perform functions on their behalf (such as third party service providers and specialist consultants);
- Anyone else to whom you authorise us to disclose it; and
- Anyone authorised by law.
6. How your personal information is stored and kept secure
All personal information collected by us is held securely on a secure computer storage facility or in printed form. This information is only made available to our staff, contractors and third parties to a level that is necessary for them to perform their duties, and in accordance with the terms as set out in this Privacy Policy.
We will use all reasonable endeavours to keep your personal information in a secure environment, however, this security cannot be guaranteed due to the nature of the internet. We will take reasonable steps to protect personal information held from misuse, loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, for example by use of physical security and restricted access to electronic records.
When your personal information is no longer required we will take reasonable steps to destroy it. These measures are designed to assist in your personal information not being accessed by unauthorised personnel, lost or misused. If you reasonably believe that there has been unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal information, please contact us immediately (contact details below).
7. Accessing your information
In order to maintain the security of your personal information we may require you to provide proof of your identity before discussing any personal information and we may ask you to specify what information you require. Ways in which we may ask you to provide proof of identity may include the following:
- Certified Photo Identification (for example, passport, drivers licence etc.)
- Providing date of birth, address, telephone number or other particulars pertaining to your identity
- Providing passwords or codes.
All reasonable steps are taken by us to ensure that your personal information held by us is accurate, complete and up to date. If you believe that any of your personal information is inaccurate, please contact us and subject to the exceptions set out in the Privacy Act 1988, you may seek access to and correction of the personal information which we hold about you and we will take all reasonable steps to correct it within a reasonable timeframe.
8. How you can make a privacy related complaint?
If you have any questions about privacy-related issues or wish to complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles or the handling of your personal information by us, please contact us. We may ask you to lodge your complaint in writing. Any complaint will be investigated by our Privacy Officer and you will be notified of the making of a decision in relation to your complaint as soon as is practicable after it has been made (usually within 30 days). If you are not satisfied with our response, you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (details below).
9. Changes to our privacy policy
This privacy policy relates to our current privacy standards. We may periodically amend our Privacy Policy in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 and other relevant laws. It is your responsibility to ensure you understand our current Privacy Policy. The most current version of our Privacy Policy is located on our website or can be obtained by contacting our Privacy Officer.
By using our services without written objection, you agree to us using your personal information in accordance with the terms of our Privacy Policy.
Questions or Complaints
Should you have any questions or complaints about our Privacy Policy, please contact us:
Privacy Officer
Thomas Torcello
e: thomas@probateconsultants.com.au
p: 1300 561 803
For more information on privacy in Australia, please visit the Australian Commonwealth Government’s Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s website at www.oaic.gov.au (email – enquiries@oaic.gov.au).