1. PURPOSE OF POLICY
This HHG Legal Group Privacy Policy applies to the collection, use, disclosure and handling of personal information by HHG Legal Group (also referred to as We or Us), including personal information collected via our www.hhg.com.au website (Website), and in the course of dealing with our clients.
By using our Website, or otherwise dealing with us, you accept this Privacy Policy as it applies from time to time.
HHG Legal Group is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals and is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Act). We will only collect, use, or disclose personal information in accordance with the Act and this Privacy Policy.
This Policy explains:
- The kind of personal information that HHG Legal Group collects and holds;
- How HHG Legal Group collects and holds personal information;
- The purposes for which HHG Legal Group collects, holds, uses, and discloses personal information;
- Whether HHG Legal Group is likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients;
- How we keep your personal information safe;
- How you can access, update, and correct your personal information; and
- How you can make a privacy complaint.
2. COLLECTION
HHG Legal Group collects personal information from you in a number of different ways. We may collect personal information directly from you or during our dealings with you, for example when you:
- provide personal information to us;
- apply for a position of employment with us; and
- contact and correspond with us, for example to ask for information or engage us to provide services to you.
We may also, if you consent, collect personal information about you from another legal entity, from publicly available sources of information, or in some cases, from third parties including government departments, courts, your insurer, a company in which you are a shareholder or officeholder, your employer, or a family member you have authorised to deal with us.
The personal information we collect about you may include (but may not be limited to):
- Information about your identity: your name, date, and place of birth, contact details such as your address, email address and phone number.
- your occupation and education/work history, employer, professional memberships;
- your legal and industry areas of interest;
- your location information, IP address and any third-party sites you access.;
- your driver’s licence, passport details or other identifying document(s); and
- information relevant and relating to your dealings with HHG Legal Group and our clients, such as correspondenc
We may also collect sensitive information about you, including health information, financial information, and criminal background checks.
The purposes for which we collect your information may include:
- verifying your identity;
- contacting you (including via electronic messaging such as SMS and email, by mail, by phone or in any other lawful manner);
- providing you with legal services or legal information;
- undertaking conflict checks for our own purposes and the purpose of determining if we can represent a client or potential client;
- acting for a client when it acquires a business with employees;
- acting for a client in litigation against an individual;
- acting for a client in a matter against an individual (e.g., an employment matter).
- complying with laws, and assisting government and law enforcement agencies; and
- managing our business.
If we are not able to collect personal information about you, we may not be able to provide you with products, services, and assistance to the extent that you require us to.
Personal information we collect will not be kept for longer than is necessary for the purpose it was collected. We are subject to legal and regulatory requirements to retain client files for a specified period of time, which will include personal information.
3. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
We collect personal information about you when you contact us, use our products or services, visit our websites or deal with us in some other way.
We may also collect personal information from third parties such as Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn.
4. PURPOSE, USE AND DISCLOSURE
HHG Legal Group may use or disclose your personal information for the purpose for which it was collected and in accordance with Australian law, such as:
- to provide legal services to you, to manage and account for those services, and to improve those services;
- to manage our relationship with you;
- to promote HHG Legal Group to you; and
- to fulfil our legal requirements.
We may also use and disclose your personal information for a secondary purpose that is related to a purpose for which we collected it, where you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose your personal information for that secondary purpose.
Other instances when we may use and disclose your personal information include:
- where you have expressly or impliedly consented to the use or disclosure;
- in confidence, to our advisers and insurers to fulfil our legal requirements;
- where the use or disclosure is authorised or required by or under an Australian law or court/tribunal order.
5. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION TO OVERSEAS RECIPIENTS
Some of the third parties to whom we disclose your personal information may be located outside Australia. Eg, we may disclose your personal information to external national or overseas facilities while conducting information and data processing, back up and scanning or for the purposes of obtaining other services on your behalf from third parties.
This may include to:
- Service providers or other third parties who store data or operate outside Australia; and
- Comply with laws and assist government or law enforcement agencies.
If we do this, we will ensure that there are arrangements are in place with these third parties to protect your personal information.
6. INFORMATION ABOUT EVENTS, THE WEBSITE AND OUR SERVICES
We may contact you via email, SMS, or other means in order to provide you with updated information about the Website, in relation to events or to provide you with other information about our services. If you do not wish to receive any such information, please contact us as set out in (11) below.
7. ACCESS AND CHANGES
You have a right to request access to or correction of your personal information held by us. If you wish to access, correct, or update any personal information we may hold about you, please contact us as set out in (11) below. We may charge for providing access to this information and we may refuse access where the Act allows us to do so. If we refuse you access or correct your information for a valid reason, we will advise of the reason(s) at the time of your request.
8. COMPLAINTS PROCESS
If you have any questions or concerns about our collection, use or disclosure of personal information, or if you believe that we have not complied with this Privacy Policy or the Act, please contact us as set out in (11) below. The Privacy Officer will investigate the complaint and determine whether a breach has occurred and what action, if any, to take. When contacting us, please provide as much detail as possible in relation to the query, issue, or complaint.
We will take any privacy complaint seriously. We will aim to resolve any such complaint in a timely and efficient manner, and our target response time is 30 days. We request that you cooperate with us during this process and provide us with relevant information we may require.
We expect our procedures will deal fairly and promptly with your complaint. However, if you remain dissatisfied, you can also make a formal complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (which is the regulator responsible for privacy in Australia):
The contact details for the Office of the Australian Information Commission (OAIC) are below:
| Phone |
1300 363 992 |
| Mail |
Director of Compliance
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001 |
| Website |
www.oaic.gov.au |
9. STORAGE AND SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
HHG Legal Group will take reasonable steps to keep any personal information we hold about you secure. We foster a security-aware culture. However, except to the extent liability cannot be excluded due to the operation of statute, HHG Legal Group excludes all liability (including in negligence) for the consequences of any unauthorised access to your personal information. Please notify us immediately if you become aware of any breach of security.
We may store your files in hard copy or electronically in our ordinary IT systems. These may include Australian-based cloud servers or the servers of third parties within Australia.
We implement a range of physical and electronic security measures to protect the personal information that we hold, including:
- key access to all offices;
- mandatory password protection on all computers and file management software;
- hardware encryption on desktops and portable devices including storage devices;
- secure hard copy document, electronic storage media and hardware disposal procedures;
- firewall and antivirus/malware software; and
- secure off-site storage for records management.
Following the conclusion of a matter in which we have acted for you, we will return all original documents to you (unless you request us to hold them for you). The file will be archived in secure off-site storage and will be accessible only by HHG Legal Group. We are required to keep the file for a minimum seven years for record management.
10. CHANGES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY
The date of this Privacy Policy is set out below. We may change this Privacy Policy at our discretion. By continuing to use the Website, or otherwise continue to deal with us, you accept this Privacy Policy as it applies from time to time.
11. CONTACT US
Please direct any privacy issues or queries to the HHG Legal Group Privacy Officer on (08) 1800 609 945 or
Email us
Privacy Policy last updated: 1 July 2023.
