Privacy Policy

Grauf O'brien Lawyers cares about your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with this policy and the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Cwth) - which also includes the Australian Privacy Principles (APP’s).

The purpose of this privacy notice is to set out the type of information that Grauf O'brien Lawyers may collect about you and the purposes for which Grauf O'brien Lawyers will use and/or disclose your personal information and how it should be treated.

Grauf O'brien Lawyers may change this privacy notice at any time. If we make any changes, they will be published on this page and you will have immediate access to the most up to date version of this privacy notice. We recommend that you check this page regularly.

Use of cookies

Most commercial websites, including this website, use cookies. Cookies are pieces of information that websites send to the browser and are stored in the computer hard-drive. Cookies are designed to make using the website easier by storing information about your preferences on the website. Cookies will not identify you personally.

If you would prefer not to receive cookies, you can alter your security settings on your web browser to disable cookies or to warn you when cookies are being used. However, by disabling the ‘cookie’ function in your web browser you may impede your ability to use parts of the website.

What is personal information?

“Personal information” is information or an opinion relating to an individual that can be utilised to identify that person.

Your personal information

We may collect and hold personal information about you during the course of conducting our business, such as:

Contact information
Job position or title
Membership of associations, industry groups, boards or networking groups
If required, financial information
If required, health information

The type of personal information we collect and hold about you will vary depending on the nature and purpose of our relationship.

If the personal information you provide to us is inaccurate, or if you choose not to provide us with certain personal information, we may not be able to contact you, give you access to information you have requested or otherwise provide you with the outcome you require from us.

How we collect personal information

Your personal information will be collected by Grauf O'brien Lawyers through the website or otherwise through our dealings with you. We will only collect personally identifiable information that you voluntarily provide. You may choose to provide us with personally identifiable information if, for example, you contact us with an enquiry, register on the website, subscribe to our articles or newsletters, fill out a survey or other form with your personal information included or request us to provide you with information or services. If you are a client, you will be required to provide us with your personal information to allow us to comply with our obligations to you.

Some examples of how we collect personal information includes:

Directly from the source to whom the personal information relates
From organisations about their employees and contractors
From organisations about their customers and suppliers
Marketing purposes, from events, seminars, business associates, potential new clients and other third party sources.
Contact forms and subscription forms completed by visitors to the Grauf O'brien Lawyers website *

Email addresses of Grauf O'brien Lawyers lawyers are not provided as a means of prospective clients to contact the firm or submit information to us. By clicking the “submit” checkbox and reading this privacy policy, you acknowledge that we have no obligation to maintain the confidentiality of any information you submit to us unless we have already agreed to act for you or we later agree to do so. Thus, we may represent a third party in a matter adverse to you even if the information you submit us could be used against you in the matter, and even if you submitted it in good faith effort to retain us.

We collect certain information from visitors who access our website, including dates and time of access, IP addresses, browser type, operating system and domain names.

We also collect information via analytics software that can track use of the website. This analytic information can include navigation through the website, number of visits, duration of the visit and the areas of the website commonly used. This analytic information does not identify or disclose any personal information about the visitor and is utilised to improve performance of the website.

This information can also assist us in preventing or detecting fraud or abuses of the website. By visiting the Grauf O'brien Lawyers website, you are accepting and consenting to the collection of this information. The information we collect in this way will not personally identify you.

Use and disclosure of personal information

We use personal information collected for a number of reasons. You consent for us to collect, use, disclose and store your personal information for the following purposes, which are related to the purpose for which you provided the information:

to conduct our business (including through the provision of legal products and services);
to provide information or market our services that may be of interest to you;
to communicate with you and manage our relationship with you;
to purchase from you;
to facilitate our internal business operations, such as for internal marketing analysis;
to comply with our legal obligations; and
to help us manage and enhance our services.

We will disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected and related purposes. You consent that Grauf O'brien Lawyers may also disclose your personal information (subject to our professional obligations) to:

other members of Grauf O'brien Lawyers;
any third parties who assist us in providing services or who perform functions on our behalf (such as mailing houses, specialist consultants and barristers);
If a client or potential client requests a referral;
to our external service providers, who assist us in operating our business (subject to the compliance with the APPs);
courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities; and
anyone else who you authorise us to disclose it to.

We do not rent, share or trade personal information.

Cross border disclosure

We will not transfer any personal information to recipients that are not located in Australia, unless:

We have the consent from the individual to whom the personal information relates
It complies with the APP’s.

Consent

It is up to you whether you submit any other personal information regarding your identity when you use our website or other services. By providing your personal information you are deemed to have consented to the collection, use, disclosure and storage of that information as outlined in this privacy notice.

Security

We may hold your personal information in different ways, including in hard copy or electronic form. We have measures in place to ensure that any personal information we hold is secure and protected from misuse, loss, fraudulent activity and unauthorised disclosure.

All information is held in a secure, electronic or physical manner. Information storage methods include access controlled premises or via electronic databases and customer relationship management databases that require logins and passwords.

In the instances where a secure connection is utilise Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. SSL is industry standard and ensures data transmission integrity, preventing any unauthorised access by an unauthorised party.

We take all reasonable steps to protect all personal information that we hold from misuse or unauthorised access.

Access and accuracy of information

Grauf O'brien Lawyers endeavours to ensure that the personal information it holds about you is accurate and up-to-date.

You have a right to view and have a copy of, personal information about you that we hold at any time, unless we are permitted under the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 to refuse access. If you are able to establish that personal information we are holding about you is not accurate, complete and up-to-date, please let us know and we will take reasonable steps to correct it so that it is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

If you wish to exercise your right of access and correction, please contact Grauf O'brien Lawyers using the details provided below. We may charge you a reasonable fee for processing your request to access your information. Identification will also be required to access personal information.

At any time you may opt out of receiving any communications from Grauf O'brien Lawyers

Grievance procedure

If you wish to make a complaint about the way we have managed your Personal Information you may make that complaint verbally or in writing by setting out the details of your complaint to any of the following:

Our Privacy Officer:
Dane Grauf
askus@go-lawyers.com.au

Alternatively, complaints may also be referred to a number of services as set out below:

Australian Information Commissioner
The Australian Information Commissioner receives complaints under the Act. Complaints can be made:
Online: http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint
By phone: on 1300 363 992
By fax: on +61 2 9284 9666
In writing:
Address your letter to the Australian Information Commissioner at the:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 2999
Canberra ACT 2601 NSW 2001

How we will deal with your complaint

The complaint will be investigated by us in accordance with our internal procedures and processes.

The complainant may be invited to participate in a conference by the staff member conducting the investigation. At the discretion of the Privacy Officer other interested parties may also be invited to participate in the conference to discuss the nature of the complaint and attempt to resolve it. This may include the presence or participation of a support person or advocate for the complainant.

The complainant will be provided with a response to their complaint within a reasonable timeframe after completion of any investigation. This response will be in writing and will include the outcome of the investigation, any proposed action

How to contact us

If you wish to contact us about your personal information, to obtain further information about privacy or to lodge a complaint, you should contact our Privacy Officer at the following email address: askus@go-lawyers.com.au

For further information, please visit the Federal Privacy Commissioner’s website at www.privacy.gov.au.