Privacy Policy - Best Practice Law

Privacy and Information Handling

At Best Practice Law, we are committed to safeguarding your privacy and handling
personal information responsibly.

This policy outlines our practices regarding the collection, use, retention, and
disclosure of personal information. We aim to maintain a positive “privacy culture,”
building trust and confidence with our clients while ensuring legal compliance and
adhering to best privacy practices.

Privacy Framework

Our privacy policy framework is designed to respect your privacy rights and ensure that your personal information is handled with the utmost care. We aim to achieve the following objectives:

Foster a positive privacy culture among our staff, contractors, and appointees by encouraging the adoption of good privacy practices.
Build trust with our clients by ensuring clear purposes for collecting personal information, implementing secure data collection processes, maintaining transparency in handling personal information, preventing security breaches, promptly addressing access and correction requests, ensuring accuracy of personal information, and respecting individuals as unique individuals, not just identification numbers.
Comply with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006, along with relevant regulations.

Privacy Act 2020 (Privacy Act) – Rights and Obligations:

Our privacy policy aligns with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 (LCA). We are not subject to the provisions of the Official Information Act 1982.

Personal Information Collection:

We collect personal information for specific purposes related to our services at Best Practice Law. You will be informed about the purpose for collection, how the information will be used, disclosure recipients, your right to access and correct your information, and the consequences of not providing certain information.
In general, we will collect information directly from you. However, there may be exceptions, such as when the information is publicly available, you consent to us collecting it from someone else, or when collecting directly from you would prejudice the purpose of collection or is not reasonably practical.

Use and Disclosure of Personal Information:

We use personal information solely for the purposes for which it is collected. Before using your personal information, we take steps to ensure its accuracy, completeness, and up-to-date status. In general, we do not use your personal information for purposes other than the ones specified during collection, and we do not disclose it to third parties.

There are some permitted exceptions for this: such as when necessary to avoid prejudicing the maintenance of law (including preventing, detecting, investigating, prosecuting or punishing offences) to enable the conduct of proceedings before a court or tribunal, or protect public health, safety, or an individual’s well-being. The grounds listed above also apply to the disclosure of personal information to third parties.

We may also use information for related purposes directly connected to the original purpose of collection.

Security of Personal Information:

We have a responsibility to securely store the personal information we collect and create. At Best Practice Law, we follow an internal data security policy to ensure that only authorised staff members have access to your personal information, and appropriate security measures are in place to protect it, including password protection and limited access to electronic databases.

We retain personal information for the purpose it was collected, and if any information is no longer required it may be securely destroyed or deleted.

Requests for Personal Information (Correction and Access):

You have the right to request access to your personal information under the Privacy Act (IPPs 6 & 7). There are limited grounds upon which we may refuse to disclose personal information including when it may prejudice the maintenance of the law, breach legal professional privilege, or endanger someone’s safety.

If you believe your personal information is inaccurate, you can request correction, and we will consider your request. In cases where correction is not made, your request will be attached to available copies of the information.

We aim to respond to such requests promptly, usually within 20 working days of receipt. If we require more time to respond, we will inform you and provide the reason for the extension.

Privacy Act requests

If an information privacy request is made by an individual and received by Best Practice Law regarding access to or correction of their personal information, Best Practice will provide reasonable assistance to the requester to make their request in accordance with the Privacy Act (if the request is not compliant).

Best Practice Law will decide as soon as reasonably practicable and within 20 working days if the request is to be granted and whether charges will apply. Best Practice Law will advise the requester of this or advise the requester if an extension of time is sought and if so on what basis and for how long.
If information is able to be released, Best Practice will make information available to the requester.

Where there is good reason to withhold some of the information contained in a document, Best Practice Law will provide a copy of the document with appropriate redactions and if redactions are applicable, the requester will be advised of the reason for withholding the redacted information.

Where an information privacy request is refused, Best Practice law will advise the requester of the reason for the refusal and advise the requester of their right to take the matter to the Privacy Commissioner to seek a review of the refusal.

Maintaining Best Privacy Practice:

At Best Practice Law, we strive to maintain the best privacy practices by ensuring our staff are well-informed through regular training, seeking review from our Privacy Officer for disclosure requests and projects involving personal information, conducting annual privacy policy audits, staying updated on privacy law developments, and promptly addressing privacy concerns and complaints.

Action in Case of Potential Privacy Breach:

We are aware that despite good intentions and privacy processes being in place, sometimes privacy breaches may occur. In the event of a potential privacy breach, we act quickly and transparently. As soon as a breach is detected, our staff notify the Privacy Officer. We work diligently to address any privacy concerns, following the Privacy Commissioner’s guidelines for handling privacy breaches.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy policy or how we handle personal information at Best Practice Law, please don’t hesitate to contact our Privacy Officer at [email protected] and ensure the email subject line reads PRIVACY POLICY.

Your privacy is essential to us, and we are here to assist you in any way we can