Privacy Policy
LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED
This Privacy Policy applies to the collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information by or on behalf of the Law Council of Australia Limited (Law Council) (ABN 85 005 260 622), referred to in this policy as “the Law Council”, “our”, “we” or “us”). Please read it carefully.
Our commitment to your privacy
The Law Council respects the privacy of its Section members and other individuals. We are committed to protecting your personal information, and ensuring its privacy, accuracy and security.
We handle your personal information in a responsible manner in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).
By using any of our services, visiting our website or giving us your personal information, you agree to your information being collected, stored, used and disclosed as set out in this Privacy Policy.
Collection
The types of personal information collected and maintained by the Law Council, and the purposes for which we handle the personal information we collect, will depend on our interaction with you.
Wherever reasonable and practicable, we collect personal information from the individual to whom the information relates. If you provide personal information about someone other than yourself, you agree that you have that person’s consent to provide the information for the purpose for which you provide it to us. You also agree that you have told the person about this Privacy Policy and where to find it.
The Law Council will only collect your sensitive information if you have consented to us doing so, such as part of information collected about directors and employees for company and human resource management purposes, or where required or permitted by law.
If you do not provide your personal information, we may not be able to supply the requested services, employ you or otherwise deal with you.
Membership
We collect personal information about you when you join and renew your membership of a Section so that it can process your application and maintain your membership registration. The personal information collected will also be used to ensure that we can provide you with information that is relevant to your Section membership, your area of specialty and generally in relation to matters affecting the legal profession. The types of personal information collected for this purpose may include your name, contact details, position, date of admission to practice and your area of specialty.
Promoting the Law Council's objects
We may collect personal information about you, such as name, title, position, contact details, date of admission to practice and area of speciality, either directly from you or through our Constituent Bodies, for the purpose of:
- promoting and discharging the objects of the Law Council as set out in our Constitution;
- promoting the interests of the legal profession in Australia;
- representing our Constituent Bodies in connection with law reform and dealings with the federal government;
- promoting the administration of justice and the development and improvement of law; and
- providing individuals with information about the Law Council's activities and other matters of interest.
A reference in this Privacy Policy to the Law Council's Constituent Bodies is a reference to the 16 Australian State and Territory law societies and bar associations together with Law Firms Australia Limited.
A copy of the Law Council's Constitution, which sets out the objects of the Law Council, may be viewed here.
Events management
If you register for a Law Council event, such as a conference or workshop, we may collect personal information about you so that we can process your registration and otherwise organise and manage the event. This may extend to name tag details, particulars of dietary requirements and credit card information. On some occasions you may be offered complimentary membership of a Section as part of the event registration, in which case we will also collect your personal information for the purposes described in the Membership section above.
Unless advised otherwise, non-members do not need to provide their identity when registering for an event and can, to the extent practicable, use a pseudonym or remain anonymous if they prefer. We may not allow pseudonymous or anonymous registrations where an event registration includes a complementary Law Council Section membership, or where it would otherwise become impracticable to deal with the individual or conduct the event.
We may also use the personal information you provide when registering for an event to provide you with other information relevant to your professional interests, such as details of other upcoming events, information about law reform initiatives impacting upon your practice area, advertising the sale of event papers, and conducting surveys after the event.
The Law Council may also include the names and positions of those who register for an event on a delegate list. At our discretion, lists may be made available to other attendees of the event, and the sponsors of the event, in appropriate circumstances.
Event attendance
We may collect photographs, audio and video recordings of individuals who attend events organised by the Law Council. This personal information is collected to enable us to promote our activities and to publish recordings or transcripts of events. For example, we may include photographs or transcripts in hardcopy publications, and may make photographs and other content available on our website.
Contractors and prospective employees
If you apply for employment with the Law Council, we may collect and hold information about you, including your name, address, contact details, current and past employment information, and educational qualifications. We may also collect the personal information of prospective employees from recruitment agents.
The Law Council may also collect and hold information about its contractors, such as their name, contact details, ABN and bank account details. We will use this information for the purpose it was provided and for our other internal business purposes.
Unsolicited information
If we receive personal information about you that we have not requested, and we determine that we could not have lawfully collected that information under the APPs had we asked for it, we will destroy or de-identify the information if it is lawful and reasonable to do so.
Use and Disclosure
We only use your personal information for the purpose for which it was provided to us, for related purposes or as required or permitted by law. Such purposes include:
- in the ordinary course of Law Council operations. For example, supplying or acquiring services, responding to your enquiries and feedback, and providing information about our events, news, publications and services that may be of interest to you;
- performing general administration, reporting and management functions. For example, invoicing and account management, payment processing, risk management, training, quality assurance and managing suppliers;
- employment-related purposes, such as recruiting and providing services to staff; and
- other purposes related to or in connection with our operations, including meeting our legal and contractual obligations to third parties and for internal corporate governance purposes.
Parties to whom personal information may be disclosed
The organisations to which we would usually disclose your personal information will depend on your interaction with us. For the purpose of administering memberships, undertaking its advocacy functions, and organising events, the Law Council may disclose personal information to its Constituent Bodies, contractors, service providers and members of the public as necessary.
If you consent, your personal information may also be disclosed to Constituent Bodies for the purpose of those Bodies providing membership opportunities and other offers. The personal information provided to Constituent Bodies for this purpose is limited to your name, contact details, Section and state or territory in which you practice.
Personal information collected by one Division, Section, Committee or Working Group on behalf of the Law Council may be shared with other Divisions, Sections, Committees or Working Groups for purposes consistent with the original reason for collection.
Overseas disclosure
We do not ordinarily disclose any personal information to overseas recipients. However, if you register to attend a Law Council event conducted outside Australia, we may disclose your personal information to the overseas recipients in the location where the event is being hosted for purposes related to the management of the event.
Office bearers and committee participants
If you are an Executive member, Director or employee of the Law Council, or if you participate in any Law Council Sections, Committees or Working Groups, your contact information may be published on the Law Council website or in other Law Council publications.
Notifications
On occasion, the Law Council, its Constituent Bodies, Sections, Committees or Working Groups may distribute publications, marketing material and related communications for the purpose of informing you of matters relevant to your Section membership, your area of speciality or the profession generally. If you do not wish to receive any marketing communications from the Law Council, you may contact the Law Council as detailed below.
Cookies
The Law Council may collect information about your visit to its website through cookies to assist the Law Council to measure and improve its website. Examples of information that we may collect include: day and time of your visit, whether you visited our website previously, whether you used a search engine to find our website, and some geographical information about what country and state you are in. You can set your browser to reject cookies, or to notify you when you receive one in order to accept or reject such receipt in each instance.
Data Quality
The Law Council will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the personal information it collects, uses and discloses is accurate, complete and up to date. However, the Law Council relies on you to advise of any changes or corrections to the information we hold about you. If you consider that the information the Law Council holds about you is not accurate, complete or up-to-date, or if your information has changed, please let us know as soon as possible.
Data Security
We have appropriate security measures in place to protect personal information from misuse or loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Access & Correction
You may request access to, or the correction of, your personal information held by the Law Council by contacting us. We may decline to provide you with access to your personal information, or to correct your personal information, where permitted under the Privacy Act.
No fee applies for requesting access to information we hold about you. However, we reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee where we do provide access. You will be notified of any such charge at the time of making a request for access to your personal information.
If you notify the Law Council that personal information it holds is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, the Law Council will take action to correct the information in accordance with the Privacy Act.
Further information & complaints
If you would like further information about the way that the Law Council handles personal information or wish to make a complaint relating to our handling of your personal information or our compliance with the APPs, you may do so by contacting the Law Council as detailed below.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Further information is available on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's website www.oaic.gov.au/.
Privacy Officer
Law Council of Australia Limited
19 Torrens Street
BRADDON ACT 2612
GPO Box 1989
CANBERRA ACT 2601
DX 5719 CANBERRA
T. (02) 6246 3788
F. (02) 6248 0639
E.