Privacy Statement

Aitken Partners is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“the Act”) and the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”) contained in Schedule 1 of the Act. We are committed to ensuring that we protect the privacy of your personal information, preserve the confidentiality of this information and comply with the Act and the APPs.

What follows is our policy statement required by the Act. Our obligation to you is however, more expansive than the Act – it is to keep your information confidential unless we are required by law or authorised by you, to disclose the information.

Privacy Act Policy

We may modify this policy from time to time by publishing it on our website. Your continued use of our website will indicate your acceptance of any changes to this Privacy Policy. You can request a copy of the current Privacy Policy at any time by contacting the Privacy Officer; contact details below.

Personal information

“Personal information” is any information or opinion (recorded in any form) about a person, whether true or not, from which that person may be identified.

What type of information do we collect?

The type of personal information we collect from you will depend on the type of dealings we have with you. This will generally include contact information, and depending on our relationship with you further information including information in relation to assets and finances, property interests, employment, tax file numbers, your health and family relationships.

We will sometimes collect “sensitive information” from you. Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act to include, information and/or opinions about sexual preference, political affiliations, religious beliefs and health information. We will only collect sensitive information with your consent or as required by law.

How we collect your personal information

We will generally collect personal information through direct contact with you. This may be in person, by telephone, email or post.

We may also collect information from publicly available sources, other professional advisors or government and statutory authorities in connection with your matter.

We will only collect personal information when you are using any part of this website. This website uses cookies that gather information that may include your browser type, operating system, IP address, date and time of visit and the referring domain name from which you access this site (e.g. www.google.com). This information is anonymous and only used for statistical and website development purposes and as a general rule it is not possible to identify you personally from our use of cookies.

You have no obligation to provide us with your personal information. However, where certain information is not provided we may be unable to provide services to you.

The purpose and use of your personal information

We collect your personal information to:

• Provide you with legal advice and associated services;
• Communicate new legal or firm developments; and
• As required by law.

We will not use or disclose any information about you other than the purpose for which it was collected, without your consent, unless the use or disclosure is permitted under the Privacy Act, required by law or authorised by you.

We are bound by professional obligations of confidentiality and legal professional privilege. We will continue to treat and protect any personal information we receive in accordance with these obligations.

If you supply us with your contact details, you may receive information from us on new products and services or upcoming events. By using our website, you consent to the receipt of such information. We do not use sensitive personal information in direct marketing activity. If you do not wish to receive such marketing material, please contact us on 8600 6001 or email privacy@aitken.com.au and let us know.

Management and security of your personal information

We take reasonable precautions to safeguard your information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We use a number of means to protect your information including:

• premises in secure building with access restrictions;
• secure database;
• IT password protection including multi factor authentication;
• anti-virus and firewall software;
• employment conditions and staff policies requiring confidentiality of information and the privacy of individuals.

We take reasonable steps to securely dispose of all information that is no longer needed for the reason that it was requested, or as required by law. We are unable to guarantee that the transmission of data over the internet is totally secure.

Family Law and Wills & Estates services – Settify

We use a program called Settify to provide a free information service regarding family law and wills & estates matters. We pay Settify a fee for providing this service to you.

Personal information submitted via the online form is collected directly by Settify and will be handled in accordance with Settify’s privacy policy, a copy of which is here.

All personal information disclosed to us (either by Settify or by you directly) will be handled in accordance with our privacy policy.

Disclosure

We may disclose personal information to external service providers including IT service providers and external archiving services. Where we engage external service providers we take reasonable steps to ensure these providers comply with the APPs.

Overseas disclosure

We 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, we take steps reasonable in the circumstances to ensure the overseas recipient complies with the APPs 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.

Access and correction of information we maintain

You are permitted to access the personal information we hold about you in certain circumstances and you are also allowed to correct inaccurate personal information we hold about you subject to certain exceptions. If you would like to obtain such access, please contact us as set out below.

To make a complaint

If you have a complaint concerning the manner in which we maintain the privacy of your personal information, please contact us as set out below. All complaints will be considered by our privacy officer and we may seek further information from you to clarify your concerns. If we agree that your complaint is well founded, we will, in consultation with you, take appropriate steps to rectify the problem. If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome, you may refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

How to contact us

If you have any queries, or if you seek access to your personal information, or if you have a complaint about our privacy practices, you can contact us as follows:

• Attention: Privacy Officer
• Address: Level 28, 140 William Street Melbourne VIC 3000
• Email: privacy@aitken.com.au

You should include details in your enquiry or complaint of the aspect of the policy and any specific details about the matter you wish to discuss.