Privacy

CENTRAL TABLELANDS AND BLUE MOUNTAINS COMMUNITY LEGAL CENTRE PRIVACY STATEMENT

What is ‘personal information’?

‘Personal information’ is any information that can be used to identify someone. ‘Sensitive information’ is a subset of personal information. Both personal and sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

What personal information does CTBMCLC collect and hold?

The type of information collected will depend on the nature of your interaction with us.

For example, if you:

  • seek legal assistance: we may collect your name, your contact details, your financial details and information about the matter you are seeking assistance with
  • make a donation: we may collect your name, your contact details, the amount and frequency of your donation and your payment details
  • attend an event facilitated by CTBMCLC: we may collect your name, your organisation (if applicable), your contact details, payment details and details of your dietary and/or accessibility requirements
  • participate in a survey: we may collect your name and your contact details, and we will collect your survey responses
  • send us an enquiry: we may collect your name, your contact details and the details of your enquiry
  • make a complaint: we may collect your name, your contact details, the details of your complaint, information collected in any investigation of the matter and details of the resolution of the complaint
  • apply for a role at CTBMCLC: we may collect the information you include in your application, including your cover letter, resume, contact details and referee reports.

How does CTBMCLC collect your personal information?

We collect personal information directly from you unless it is unreasonable or impracticable to do so. This may occur: in person; by letter, email or telephone; on hard copy forms; through the website; from referring or third parties (with consent); and at events or forums.

What happens if CTBMCLC can’t collect personal information?

The nature of our work is that, generally, it is not possible to provide services or deal with individuals in an anonymous way. For example, if a client does not provide us with the personal information described above, we may not be able to provide legal services to that client, or to provide information about services.

We are required to collect your name, address, date of birth and other personal information relevant to providing you with legal advice under the Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW) and the Legal Profession Regulation 2005 (NSW).

For what purposes does CTBMCLC collect, hold, use and disclose personal information?

We collect, use and disclose personal information for the following purposes:

  • to assess whether a client is eligible for assistance and provide legal services, referral or non-legal assistance to clients
  • to answer enquiries and provide information or advice about our services
  • to recruit staff, contractors and volunteers
  • for planning, quality control and for the creation of anonymous case studies
  • for use in monitoring and assessing our services,
  • to process and respond to any complaints, and
  • to comply with relevant laws, rules, regulations, and other lawful and binding determinations.

To whom may CTBMCLC disclose your information?

We may disclose your personal information to:

  • employees, volunteers, contractors or service providers for the purposes of providing legal services, fulfilling requests by clients, and to otherwise provide services to individuals (including IT systems administrators, and professional advisers such as accountants, solicitors, barristers and consultants)
  • any organisation for any authorised purpose with your express (written) consent
  • other third parties where required by law or in accordance with legal profession laws.

We do not use direct marketing, or provide personal information to other organisations for the purposes of direct marketing. We do not disclose personal information to anyone outside Australia.

Accessing and correcting personal information

You may request access to any personal information we hold about you at any time by contacting us. Where we hold information that you are entitled to access, we will try to provide the information to you in a timely way.

There may be instances where we cannot grant access to the personal information: for example, if granting access would interfere with the privacy or breach the confidentiality of others. If that is the case, we will give you written notice, outlining the reasons for the decision and letting you know what the available complaint mechanisms are.

If you believe personal information we hold about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend it. If we agree with the request, we will take reasonable steps to correct that information. If we do not agree, you may ask that we add a note to the personal information about you stating that you disagree with the information, and we will take reasonable steps to do so.

If we correct personal information about you and have previously disclosed that information to another agency or organisation that is subject to the Privacy Act, you may ask us to notify that other entity and we will take reasonable steps to do so, unless this would be impracticable or unlawful.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy has been breached, contact our service. We treat all complaints confidentially. We try to resolve all complaints in a timely, fair and reasonable way. The process for complaints is:

  1. The person lodging the complaint will be advised within 2 working days that their complaint has been received.
  2. The complaint will be investigated and resolved within 30 days of being received.
  3. If the person lodging the compliant is not satisfied with the investigation and outcome, they can ask the CTBMCLC Board for a further review of the matter.
  4. If the person remains unsatisfied, they can make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (by telephone: 1300 363 992, by email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au or by post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001).

Contact us

For questions about this statement or privacy complaints, contact our CEO, Arlia Fleming, on 4704 0203 or via email (arlia@ctbmclc.org.au).

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which we work, the Darug, Gundungurra and Wiradjuri nations. We pay respect to past, present and future Elders, extending this respect to all Aboriginal people. We respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of our regions. CTBMCLC is is committed to honouring Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and seas and their rich contribution to society.