Privacy Policy

About this policy

Chamray Law Pty Ltd (ABN 43 686 209 754) (Chamray Law, we, us or our) is committed to protecting the personal information we collect and hold. We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). As lawyers, we are also bound by duties of confidentiality and legal professional privilege, which apply in addition to this policy.

This policy explains what personal information we collect, how we collect, hold, use and disclose it, whether we disclose it overseas, and how you can access and correct your information or make a complaint. We may update it from time to time. The current version is available at www.chamray.com.au and free of charge on request.

What personal information we collect

The personal information we collect depends on your relationship with us – for example, whether you are a client, a person associated with a client (such as a director, trustee, beneficiary, guarantor or employee), another party to a matter, a supplier or a job applicant. It may include:

identity and contact details, including your date of birth, signature and copies of identity documents such as a driver licence or passport;
details of your role in, and association with, companies, trusts and other entities;
financial information, such as bank account details, income, assets, liabilities and tax information (including tax file numbers where lawfully required);
information about your matter, including your instructions, correspondence and documents, and information about other parties and witnesses;
information needed to verify identity, beneficial ownership and source of funds under anti-money laundering and conveyancing laws;
if you apply to work with us, your résumé, qualifications and referee details; and
technical information when you use our website (see section titled 'Our website and cookies').

Sensitive information. Sensitive information (such as health information, criminal record, and racial, religious or political information) has extra protection under the Privacy Act. We only collect it where it is reasonably necessary for a matter and you consent, the collection is required or authorised by law, or another exception applies – for example, where it is needed to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.

Identity verification and AML/CTF. We are required by law – including the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) and conveyancing rules – to verify the identity of our clients and, in some cases, their beneficial owners, directors, trustees and agents. If we cannot verify identity, we may be unable to act for you or complete a transaction. We may be required to report certain matters to AUSTRAC and may be prohibited from telling you if we do.

How we collect personal information

Wherever practicable we collect personal information directly from you – in person, by telephone, email or letter, through our website, and in the course of acting for you.

Because of the nature of legal practice, we also collect personal information from others, including your other advisers and agents, other parties to a transaction or dispute and their representatives, lenders and financiers, barristers and experts, courts, regulators and government agencies, identity verification and search providers, and public registers such as ASIC, land title and Personal Property Securities Register records.

If you give us personal information about another person, please make sure you are entitled to do so and, where practicable, let them know how to find this policy.

You may make a general enquiry anonymously, but we cannot act for you without identifying you.

Our website and cookies

When you visit our website, technical information such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you visit may be recorded and used to operate, secure and improve the site. Our website uses cookies for these purposes. You can disable cookies in your browser, although parts of the site may not work properly if you do.

Our website may link to other sites, and social media platforms have their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for their practices.

Why we collect, use and disclose personal information

We use and disclose personal information for the purposes for which it was collected and for related purposes you would reasonably expect, including to:

provide legal advice and services and act for you in transactions, matters and proceedings;
verify identity and check for conflicts of interest;
comply with our legal, regulatory and professional obligations;
manage our relationship with you, including trust accounting, invoicing and collecting fees, and responding to enquiries and complaints;
run our practice, including insurance, audits, quality assurance, precedents, training and information security;
recruit and manage our people;
keep you informed about legal developments and our services (see section titled 'Marketing'); and
any other purpose you consent to or that is required or authorised by law.

Who we disclose personal information to

Depending on the matter, we may disclose personal information to: other parties and their representatives; barristers, experts and other professionals engaged in a matter; courts, tribunals, regulators and government agencies; electronic conveyancing platforms, banks and lenders; our insurers, auditors and professional advisers; the service providers that support our practice (such as IT and cloud hosting, practice management, identity verification, electronic signature, archiving and marketing providers); and anyone you authorise us to deal with.

We require our service providers to keep personal information confidential and to use it only to provide services to us. We do not sell personal information.

Disclosure overseas

We are likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients in the following circumstances:

Overseas support staff. Some of our administrative support staff are located in the Philippines and India. They assist our Sydney lawyers with tasks such as document preparation, file management, data entry, transcription and billing support, and may access personal information for those purposes. They work under the supervision of our Sydney lawyers, are bound by confidentiality obligations and our security policies, and access only the information they need.
Technology providers. Some of our technology providers store or process data outside Australia, including in the United States of America. We select reputable providers and require appropriate security and confidentiality commitments.
Matters with an overseas element. If your matter involves overseas parties, assets, lawyers, courts or registries, we may disclose personal information to recipients in those countries to carry out your instructions.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that overseas recipients handle personal information in accordance with the APPs.

Technology and AI

We use cloud-based practice management, document management, electronic conveyancing, electronic signature and communication platforms, and AI-assisted tools for research, drafting, document review and transcription, in accordance with our professional obligations. Work produced with the assistance of AI is reviewed by our lawyers, who remain responsible for it.

We do not use computer programs, including AI, to make decisions that could reasonably be expected to significantly affect your rights or interests. Those decisions are made by our lawyers. If this changes, we will update this policy as required by the Privacy Act.

Marketing

We may send you legal updates, newsletters and event invitations where you would reasonably expect this or have agreed to it. You can opt out at any time using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us. We do not give your personal information to other organisations for their marketing.

Security and retention

We hold personal information in our practice management, document management and email systems (including cloud-based systems), in physical files at our office and in secure offsite storage. We take reasonable steps, including technical and organisational measures, to protect it from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure – please ask us if you would prefer to send sensitive documents through a secure link rather than by email.

We keep personal information for as long as it is needed for the purposes above and to meet our legal and professional obligations, which generally require us to keep client files and records for at least seven years after a matter ends. Documents held in safe custody are kept until you ask for their return. When information is no longer needed, we take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it.

If a data breach involving personal information is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify the affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as required by the Privacy Act.

Access and correction

You may ask to access or correct the personal information we hold about you by contacting our Privacy Officer (section titled 'Contact us'). We will verify your identity and respond within a reasonable period, generally within 30 days. There is no charge for making a request, but we may charge a reasonable fee for providing access, which we will tell you about first.

We may refuse or limit access where the Privacy Act permits, for example, where the information is subject to legal professional privilege, relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings, or would unreasonably affect another person’s privacy. If we refuse a request for access or correction, we will tell you why in writing and how you can complain, and you may ask us to attach a statement of your requested correction to the information.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer (section 13). We will acknowledge your complaint within seven days, investigate it, and aim to respond in writing within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the OAIC at www.oaic.gov.au, by telephone on 1300 363 992, or by post to GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001.

Privacy Officer

Chamray Law

Suite 509, Level 5, 165–167 Phillip Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Email: privacy@chamray.com.au

Telephone: 02 8027 0777