Privacy Policy

Introduction

H&O Lawyers Pty Ltd and H&O Lawyers (Sydney) Pty Ltd (collectively, “H&O Lawyers”, “we”, “us”, “our”) respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose and protect your personal information in compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).

1. Collection of Personal Information

1.1 Types of personal information we collect

We may collect personal information about you, which may include:

a) name, address, phone number and email address;
b) employment history and education qualifications;
c) financial information such as bank account details and tax file numbers;
d) sensitive information such as health information and criminal records, but only where necessary and with your consent; and
e) any other information relevant to the services we provide.

1.2 How we collect personal information

We may collect personal information in a variety of ways, including:

a) directly from you, for example when you provide us with your personal information through our website, email or in person;
b) from third parties, such as government agencies, other law firms, professional organisations and recruitment agencies; and
c) from publicly available sources, such as social media platforms and publicly available records.

2. Use and Disclosure of Personal Information

2.1 Why we collect personal information

We collect personal information for the purposes of providing legal services to you, conducting our business operations and complying with our legal obligations. This may include:

a) providing legal advice and representation;
b) managing our relationship with you;
c) administering our website, including responding to your enquiries and comments;
d) marketing and promoting our services; and
e) conducting research and analysis.

2.2 Disclosure of personal information

We may disclose your personal information to third parties in the following circumstances:

a) to our employees, contractors and agents who require access to the information for the purposes of providing legal services to you or conducting our business operations such as local counsel, barristers and other professional advisors;
b) to third party service providers to whom we outsource services, such as IT providers; banking, payment, archival, financial, research and other services.
c) to government agencies, regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies as required or authorised by law; and
d) to other parties with your consent.

3. Storage and Security of Personal Information

3.1 Storage of personal information

We may store your personal information in hard copy or electronic form. Personal information may be held by us at our offices or by third party service providers located within or outside of Australia.

3.2 Security of personal information

We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We have in place security measures such as password-protected systems, firewalls, anti-virus software. Transmission of information over the internet is not completely secure and we cannot therefore guarantee the security of your data transmitted, any transmission of data is at your own risk.

Please be aware that your personal information may be accessed by third parties from countries whose laws are not always equivalent to the level of protection that may be provided in Australia. Where information is transferred by us internationally we will take reasonable steps to ensure that your information is treated securely and the means of transfer provides adequate safeguards.

4. Access and Correction of Personal Information

4.1 Access to personal information

You may request access to the personal information we hold about you by contacting us using the details provided in section 6 below. We will respond to your request for access within a reasonable time.

4.2 Correction of personal information

If you believe that any of the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date, you may request that we correct the information by contacting us using the details provided in section 6 below.

5. Status of This Policy

5.1 We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. The updated version will be available on our website, and the date of the update will be indicated at the top of the Privacy Policy.

6. Cookies & Analytics

6.1 Our website may use cookies to collect information about your use of our website. We may also use analytics tools to collect information about your use of our website, such as the pages you visit and the links you click. This information may be used to improve our website and the services we provide.

7. Third Parties

7.1 Our website may contain links to websites which are hosted and controlled by third parties. We do not accept responsibility for their use of your information which they may collect and you should consult their privacy policies. If you enter other websites from links contained on our website, you do so at your own risk.

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions, comments or complaints about this Privacy Policy or our practices regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information, please contact us at:

H&O Lawyers

Level 1, TF3/22-30 Field Street,
Adelaide SA 5000
Australia

Email: info@holawyers.com.au