Your privacy is important to us at Moores and so we always endeavour to handle your personal information in a professional and secure manner.
At Moores, we will only collect, use, disclose, and store your personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and any other applicable legislation.
What is “Personal Information”?
Personal information means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:
a) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
b) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
Sensitive information is a special category of personal information.
Sensitive information includes (but is not limited to):
a) information or an opinion about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs or affiliations, sexual orientation or practices, and criminal record; and
b) health information about an individual.
We take extra care in keeping your sensitive information private and secure. Moores will only collect this information if it is necessary to do so and you have consented to us collecting the information. We do not use or disclose your sensitive information other than as allowed by the law or with your consent.
What type of personal information do we collect?
The type of information that we collect and hold about you will depend on the nature of your involvement with Moores. Generally, the personal information we collect includes (but is not limited to) your name, residential address, email address, fax number, phone number, gender, date of birth and bank account details.
It is also necessary in some cases for our practice areas to collect sensitive information including your health information.
In circumstances where we receive unsolicited personal information we will usually destroy or de-identify the information as soon as practicable if it is lawful and reasonable to do so unless the unsolicited personal information is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our functions or activities.
How do we collect personal information?
Generally, and where possible, we will collect your personal information directly from you via a form, face-to-face meeting, job application, email correspondence, telephone calls, or when you attend one of our events. Sometimes, however, personal information will be collected about you from a third party.
In addition, our website offers you an opportunity to submit other personal information which may include:
- submitting your résumé and job application;
- submitting your contact details;
- seeking additional information on topics of interest;
- providing feedback; or
- registering for an event, conference or newsletter.
Moores takes reasonable steps as required by the Privacy Act to ensure that our website is protected from outside sources. If you post personal information on our website, we will consider that you have consented to the collection of this information.
In all instances, regardless of the method used to collect your personal information, we will deal with it in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Why does Moores collect personal information?
Moores will not collect any information about you that is not necessary for the purpose for which you have engaged us. The primary reason why Moores collects your personal information is so that we can provide you with legal services.
In addition, we may collect personal information to:
- offer you our written publications to advise you of legal developments;
- consider your job application for recruitment purposes; and
- undertake various marketing activities, including direct marketing (in which case, you will be given a clear opt out from such direct marketing initiatives).
Can I object to giving Moores my personal information?
If you telephone to make a general inquiry about the types of legal services we offer at Moores, you do not have to identify yourself. However, whilst you do have the right to seek to deal with us anonymously or using a pseudonym, if you choose us to act for you, it would be impracticable to provide legal services to you if you do not supply us with your personal information.
We really enjoy sending our clients and referrers information about our products and services and news updates relating to developments in the law. However if you do not wish to receive information about our products and services, you can request to be withdrawn from our Moores marketing database at any time, either by contacting us or by using the opt out function contained in our direct marketing emails. Once you have made this request, Moores will no longer continue to provide you with any further information..
Who will Moores disclose your personal information to?
In certain circumstances it will be necessary to disclose your personal information to other people for the purposes for which we collected it. For example, we may disclose your personal information to a barrister acting on your behalf on our instructions. We may also disclose it to someone lending you money for the purposes of buying your house. You are entitled to know the identities of any third party to which we disclose your personal information, and you may access these details at any time.
If you are submitting a job application, we place limitations on who can access this information within the organisation and we do not disclose the information to any other organisations.
When you provide your personal information to us it may be transferred to our service providers, including those located outside of Australia. In such circumstances, Moores will take reasonable steps to ensure that the service provider acts in accordance with the APPs in relation to the information.
Keeping your personal information up to date
It is important to us that your personal information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. So that we can deliver services as best as we possibly can, please let us know if there are any changes to your personal information. At any time after we have finished assisting you, you can contact us to tell us that any of the information previously given is now inaccurate or incomplete. We will make any amendments to your personal information upon your request.
Where any information is not accurate, up-to-date or complete, you can request that the information be amended.
How safe is my personal information at Moores?
At Moores we do all we can to safeguard your personal information.
We take all reasonable steps to protect personal information under our control from misuse, interference and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Moores protects personal information in a number of ways including:
a) securely storing paper records;
b) firewalls;
c) password restricted access to computerised records;
d) routine security risk assessments;
e) internal policies in relation to access to personal information and data retention and disposal; and
f) cyber resilience and security education training for staff.
Can I access my personal information?
At any time you may request access to any of the personal information we hold about you. In order to respond to any request, we will require the following information:
- your name and address;
- your contact telephone numbers; and
- the legal matter/s we have helped you with in the past or are currently assisting you with.
Sometimes, we may ask that you send this information to us in writing to assist us and/or we may ask for reasonable identification. On occasion, if further more detailed personal information is in our archives, a small fee may be charged to cover the cost of obtaining the information for you. We will inform you of any charges payable upon your request.
Can Moores deny me access to my personal information?
In accordance with the Privacy Act, we may refuse access to personal information in a number of circumstances including where giving access to the information would pose a serious threat to the life, health or safety of a person, giving access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of a person, the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings and would not be available under the discovery process, or denying access is required or authorised by an Australian law or court order.
Moores will seek to handle all requests for access to personal information as quickly as possible.
Can I complain about a breach of my privacy?
If you believe that we have not protected your personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy, or you think we have in some other way breached an APP, you must first lodge a complaint with us by contacting our Privacy Officer.
Moores has a dedicated Privacy Officer who can be contacted in relation to any privacy issue you may have. You may contact the Privacy Officer via email at privacy@moores.com.au.
If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint after this meeting, you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
From time to time our Privacy Policy may change. This Privacy Policy is current as at March 2018.
Can I complain about a breach of my privacy?
If you believe that we have not protected your personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy, or you think we have in some other way breached an APP, you must first lodge a complaint with us by contacting our Privacy Officer.
The privacy legislation requires us to respond to your request in 30 days, and you must allow us the full 30 days to respond before you can escalate any complaint you may have. We will at first seek to deal with you via phone. If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved after the phone call, we would meet with you in person.
If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint after this meeting, you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
enquiries@oaic.gov.au or
tel 1300 363 992 or fax +61 2 9284 9666
Or https://forms.business.gov.au/aba/oaic/privacy-complaint-/