General
Curtis Family Law (referred to in this document as “we”, “us” or “our”) are committed to protecting the personal information we collect from you. This policy sets out how we collect, use, disclose and manage your personal information.
We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”) and the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”) set out in the act. This policy applies to any person for whom we currently hold or may in the future collect personal information. This policy does not apply to acts done or practices engaged in which relate directly to the employee records of our current and former employees. Some of the work performed by us falls within the following permitted general situations as set out in s16A of the Act:
The collection, use or disclosure is reasonably necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal or equitable claim; or
The collection, use or disclosure is reasonably necessary for the purposes of a confidential alternative dispute resolution process.
Except where a permitted general situation applies, this Privacy Policy will apply to all your dealings with us, whether in person, or via telephone, email, correspondence or on our website at www.curtisfamilylaw.com.au.
What is Personal Information
“Personal Information” means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not, and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
Management of Personal Information
We manage the personal information we collect by ensuring that all of our officers, employees and subcontractors are aware of and understand our obligations as well as their own obligations under the Act. We will achieve this through the provision of training and through maintaining and implementing internal policies and procedures to prevent personal information from being collected, used, disclosed, retained, accessed or disposed of improperly. We provide training to our employees about professional obligations, including those relating to confidentiality, legal professional privilege and privacy.
Kinds of Personal Information
The kinds of information we may collect and hold include name, gender, date of birth, address, phone number, facsimile number, email address, bank account and credit card details, place and type of business, tax file number if we have money invested in our trust account for you, financial information, business circumstances, family circumstances, information about assets and investments, employment history, expertise and interests, driver’s licence and other photographic information, Medicare card number for identity purposes, information otherwise required by law or our professional obligations and/or other information relevant to providing you with the services you are, or someone else you know is, seeking.
Sensitive Personal Information
Depending on the type of legal matter involved, we may need to collect sensitive information about you including but not limited to information about your health, medical records, criminal record, racial or ethnic origins, political opinions and membership of political associations, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of professional or trade associations or unions, sexual preferences or practices, genetic information, any sensitive information required to be disclosed by law and any other sensitive information required to perform the legal services required by you. We will only collect sensitive information in circumstances where:
it is reasonably necessary for one or more of the services we provide or functions we carry out; and
you consent to the collection of the information; or we are required or authorised by law to collect the sensitive information.
Purpose of Collection
Curtis Family Law will only use or disclose your personal information for the primary purpose for which you provided it. Curtis Family Law will not use or disclose your personal information for any secondary purpose without your consent, or unless you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose it for that secondary purpose (and that secondary purpose is related to the primary purpose). You may give Curtis Family Law your consent expressly or it may be implied by your conduct. Curtis Family Law, may use or disclose your personal information:
in response to a legal requirement.
where required or authorised by or under an Australian law (including the Act) or court or tribunal order.
· if we reasonably believe that the use or disclosure is:
reasonably necessary for an enforcement related activity conducted by or on behalf of an enforcement body.
- necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of any individual, or to public health or safety, and it is unreasonable or impracticable to obtain your consent.
- necessary in order to take appropriate action where we have reason to suspect that unlawful activity, or misconduct of a serious nature, which relates to our functions or activities has been, is being or may be engaged in; or
- reasonably necessary in order to locate a person reported as missing.
if the assets and operations of our business are transferred to another party as a going concern; or
if reasonably necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal or equitable claim, or for the purposes of confidential alternative dispute resolution.
Curtis Family Law may from time to time send you marketing material that Curtis Family Law considers will be useful to you. If you do not wish to receive this information, you can let us know and we will not send it to you. This does not apply to information that we are legally required to send.
Depending on the purpose for which it was provided to us, your personal information may be disclosed to external service providers, including specialist advisers, and any other person authorised by you.
Under no circumstances will Curtis Family Law sell or receive payment for licensing or disclosing your personal information.
Method of Collection
Personal information will generally be collected by us directly from you, through the use of any of our standard forms, over the internet, via email or other written correspondence or through a telephone or general conversation with you. We may also collect personal information about you from our related entities, third parties acting on your behalf (for instance, agents, brokers, financial advisors) and past or current employers, medical practitioners, government bodies, paid search providers or financial institutions etc. There may, however, be some instances where personal information about you will be collected indirectly because it is unreasonable or impractical to collect personal information directly from you. We will usually notify you about these instances in advance or, where that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable after the information has been collected.
Internet Users
If you access our website, we may collect additional personal information about you in the form of your IP address (that is, the single numerical address for your computer on the internet which consists of four consecutive numbers ranging between 0 and 255) and/or domain name (that is, the textual address for your location on the internet which corresponds to your IP address, which the internet computers can read). Our website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of linked websites and any linked websites are not subject to our privacy policies and procedures.
Collection of Statistical Information via our website
Our internet service provider makes a record of each visit to the website. When you visit our website, the following information is logged for statistical purposes only:
Your server address.
Your top-level domain name (for example .com; .gov; .au; etc)
The date and time of your visit to the site.
The pages you accessed, and documents downloaded by you.
The previous site visited by you.
The type of browser used by you.
Copying / Scanning of Identification
In certain circumstances a copy (paper copy or electronic) of your identification may need to be taken and retained on our files as evidence that we have established your identity. This evidence may be required in order to best comply with our professional obligations, to confirm that we have verified your identity and established your authority to provide us with instructions, for insurance reasons or to be provided by us in the future in the event that a claim arises indicating fraudulent activities being conducted.
Failure to Provide Information
If the personal information you provide to us is incomplete and/or inaccurate, we may be unable to provide you, or someone else you know, with the services you, or they, are seeking.
Overseas Disclosure
Unless your matter or our dealings with you necessitate the disclosure of your Personal Information overseas and you are reasonably aware of such necessity or unless we have obtained your consent to a particular disclosure for the purposes of your matter or our dealings with you, we do not disclose personal information to overseas recipients apart from any disclosures which may occur as a result of the use by us of IT service providers who assist in managing our servers and networks and software including but not limited to “cloud”-utilising providers such as Smokeball, Google, Dropbox and Smart sheet etc. These providers may be based overseas or use overseas infrastructure to perform services for us, including in the USA, UK or EU.
Where the provision of this information to these providers is not considered a “disclosure,” we may provide this information as part of our “use” of this information for the purposes of allowing those IT providers to assist us in operating our business and providing required services to you.
Where the provision of this information to these providers is considered a “disclosure” then where we consider in our discretion that it is practical, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the overseas recipients of your personal information do not breach the Australian Privacy Principles (APP’s) in relation to that information. However by having dealings with us and or engaging us to act for you, you acknowledge and consent to disclosure of your personal Information to the overseas recipients described above in the circumstances described above only, and on the basis that, whilst those overseas entities may be required to comply with similar laws to the Australian Privacy Laws we cannot confirm this requirement you may not be able to seek redress in that overseas jurisdiction, those overseas recipients will not be required to comply with the Australian Privacy Laws and you will not have any redress under the Australian Privacy Laws for a breach by them, we will not be required to ensure that the overseas recipient complies with the Australian Privacy Laws or otherwise be liable or accountable for how that recipient handles your personal information and the overseas recipient may be subject to a foreign law that could compel the disclosure of your Personal Information to a third party, such as an overseas authority. If you have any objections to this, please let us know.
Security
We store your personal information in different ways, including in paper and in electronic form. The security of your personal information is important to us. We take all reasonable measures to ensure that your personal information is stored safely to protect it from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, including electronic and physical security measures. We cannot guarantee that personal information cannot be accessed by an unauthorised person (e.g.: a hacker) or that unauthorised disclosures will not occur.
Access, correction and complaints
If you wish to access your personal information held by us you should make a request in writing to the Principal, Bronwen Curtis. We will endeavour to provide a response to the request in writing within 30 days. To the extent we are required to provide access pursuant to the APP we will. There are situations that are set out in the APP in which we will not be required to provide access.
If we hold personal information that we believe is incorrect we will take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to correct that information. In doing so we will have regard to the purpose for which the information is held and make attempts to ensure the information is accurate, up to date, complete, relevant and not misleading.
If you are aware of any personal information that is held by us which is incorrect you may make a request for a correction in writing to the Principal, Bronwen Curtis. We will endeavour to provide a response to the request in writing within 30 days in compliance with the APP. If we agree with your request and we have previously provided the information to be corrected to other third parties we will, at your request, inform those third parties about the correction. If we do not agree to make the correction you seek, our written response to you will give reasons, set out a mechanism to complain about our decision and provide you with the option, if reasonable in the circumstances, to have us attach a statement of your assertion with our record.
If you believe we have breached the APP, you may make a complaint in writing to the Principal. We will endeavour to provide a response to the complaint in writing within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information.
Postal address: 138 Juliette Street, Greenslopes QLD 4120
Telephone: 07 3088 7956
Email: bronwen@curtisfamilylaw.com.au
More information
For more information about privacy in general, you can visit the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s website at www.privacy.gov.au.
Commissioner Updates
This privacy policy may be updated by us from time to time. We encourage you to check our website regularly for any updates to our privacy policy. This policy was last updated in April 2024. By using this website and by continuing to deal with us, you accept and agree to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
Disclaimer
The material on this website is intended only to provide a summary and general overview on matters of interest.
This website and the information contained within it, is subject to continuous change and although we attempt to ensure the content is correct and current we do not guarantee its currency nor correctness due to delays, errors and omissions which may occur.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Curtis Family Law takes no responsibility whatsoever to you or anyone else for any loss or damage suffered as a result of or in connection with the use of this website or any of its content. This includes, but is not limited to, the transmission of any computer viruses and any subsequent constructive loss which may occur. We recommend that prior to downloading any files, photos or articles, an appropriate virus check should be conducted.