This document outlines why Attwood Marshall may gather personal information from you, how it will be handled and how you may request access to the personal information we have on file.
Attwood Marshall firmly believes in the privacy of your personal information and adheres to the National Privacy Principles, as described in the Privacy Act 1988 (amended).

1. Collection

Attwood Marshall will only seek to collect necessary personal information from you or your authorised representatives in order to fulfil our legal obligations whilst we are acting as your representatives.
Personal information is information or an opinion provided by you that your identity can be ascertained or discerned from (eg: home or business address, date of birth, phone number etc).

2. Use of Personal Information

Attwood Marshall will use this information for the purpose of:

• Acting as your legal representatives during the course of your current and any future matters;
• Communication, both written and verbal, during the course of your current and future matters;

For any reason directly related to the service we are providing to you.
*Please note that this may involve disclosing your information to a third party.

Attwood Marshall may also use your personal information for the secondary purpose of:

• Communicating information that you may find of interest;
• Informing you of changes in the law that may effect you;
• Informing you of seminars and events that Attwood Marshall is associated with;
• Statistical purposes.

3. Disclosure of Personal Information

Attwood Marshall will only use your personal information for the purposes listed in this statement or any directly related purpose. Attwood Marshall will not trade, sell or lease your information. In some circumstances, we may be required to pass on information about you to particular third parties. The most likely entities to which we may provide information include:

3.1. Barristers and Experts

In matters where it is necessary for us to obtain an opinion from a barrister or an expert, we will disclose to such persons all information held by us which is relevant to your matter, in order to obtain such an opinion.

3.2. Professional or Trade Associations

If you are a member of a professional or trade association, and that association has referred you to us for the provision of legal services, we will disclose to such association the fact that we are acting for you in a matter in order to obtain any required documentation or information from the association.

In relation to direct marketing we will, where practical, attempt to seek your consent before we use your information. Should you at any stage wish to cease receiving information regarding the services we provide, including articles that may be of interest to you, please contact our office.

4. Access and Alterations to your Personal Information

Except in a few unusual circumstances provided for in the NPPs, you are able to gain access to any personal information which we may hold about you. Should you wish to obtain access to such information, please either telephone us at our Coolangatta Office on (07) 5536 9777 or provide us with a written request by writing to us at PO Box 334 Coolangatta QLD 4225.

Please note that there may be a fee for supplying the information and/or documentation to you. This fee will be calculated as an estimate of the cost to reimburse us for the expense of retrieving and/or copying the information or documentation. Wherever possible, we will advise you of the amount of this fee before retrieval of the information and/or documentation.

We will endeavour to respond to your request for access as soon as possible. However, our response time will depend upon the type or amount of information requested and how the information is held by us.

Where you have made a written request for access, we will acknowledge the request within fourteen (14) days.

If we consider your request to be straightforward, we will endeavour to respond within fourteen (14) days. Unless exceptional circumstances apply, we will respond to your request within a maximum of thirty (30) days.

5. Security of your Personal Information

Attwood Marshall takes reasonable steps to ensure the security of your personal information from unauthorised access, theft or modification. In most cases, your personal information is held by us in electronic format, and online security measures are in place, such as password protection, to ensure that only authorised employees have access to your information.

6. Feedback on the handling of your Personal Information

Should you be unsatisfied in the manner in which Attwood Marshall has handled your personal information please contact the person looking after your matter, then if you are still unhappy (or feel you are unable to discuss the problem with the person looking after your matter) please contact the office manager who will investigate your concerns and contact you to discuss the matter. We will take all necessary steps to investigate and address your concerns. The person looking after your matter or our Practice Manager, can be contacted by telephone at our Coolangatta office on 07 5536 9777.

If the issue you have raised is not solved to your satisfaction you should contact the Federal Privacy Commissioner at:

Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner
Level 8, Piccadilly Tower
133 Castlereagh Street
SYDNEY 2000

7. Thank you
Thank you for being one of our clients. You can be assured that we are ever conscious of the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of your personal information. You can learn more about the Privacy Act and your rights at www.privacy.gov.au..