APP Privacy Policy

Elite Legal Pty Ltd ABN 25 161 269 263 (Elite Legal, we, us or our) is committed to protecting your privacy and handling personal information in an open and transparent way. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, hold, use, disclose and protect personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and any applicable State or Territory privacy, health records or surveillance laws, and in the context of our professional obligations of confidentiality and legal professional privilege.

This Privacy Policy is available on the Elite Legal website and may also be obtained from us on request.

Elite Legal collects personal information in the course of providing legal services and operating our practice, including information about clients, prospective clients, employees, contractors, suppliers, witnesses, experts, counterparties and individuals associated with organisations we deal with. If you provide us with personal information about another person, you should ensure you are authorised to do so and, where reasonable, make that person aware of this Privacy Policy.

Throughout this policy, “personal information” means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether or not the information or opinion is true and whether or not it is recorded in a material form. Some information we handle may also be “sensitive information” for the purposes of the Privacy Act, and we treat that information with additional care as required by law.

We collect personal information where reasonably necessary to assess whether we can act, open and manage matters, provide legal advice and representation, communicate with clients and others, conduct litigation and transactions, brief barristers and experts, deal with courts, tribunals and regulators, manage conflicts, trust accounting and billing, verify identity and comply with AML/CTF obligations where applicable, manage recruitment, operate our website and events, administer business relationships, protect safety and security, prevent fraud and cyber incidents, and meet legal, professional and regulatory obligations.

The personal information we may collect includes, but is not limited to: your name, residential or postal address, email address and telephone number; date of birth, occupation and role; matter, enquiry and client file information; identification details and related records used for identity verification (such as driver’s licence, Medicare card, passport or other identity document details); tax file numbers or other government identifiers where required or authorised by law; billing, payment, trust account and transaction information; information about legal issues, disputes, transactions, court or tribunal proceedings and regulatory matters; communications with us and with other persons involved in a matter; organisational affiliations and business contact details; health information, criminal history information and other sensitive information where relevant to a matter, employment, engagement or our legal obligations; IP addresses, device identifiers, website usage data and social media interaction data; usernames, passwords and account credentials for client portals or other systems; complaint records; employment application and personnel information; photographs, CCTV footage, video images and audio recordings where used for office security, meetings or events; and information generated through your use of our systems and services.

Elite Legal will only collect sensitive information where that collection is reasonably necessary for our functions or activities and with your consent where required by law, or where otherwise authorised or permitted under the APPs or other applicable law. Sensitive information may be relevant to the legal services we provide, or in recruitment and workplace matters. Any consent will generally be express, though in limited circumstances it may be clearly implied from your conduct where appropriate and lawful. We apply additional safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information and will not collect sensitive information merely because you visit our website or attend our offices or events.

In this policy, “sensitive information” has the meaning given in the Privacy Act and includes information about your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions or associations, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade, professional or union memberships, sexual orientation or practices, criminal record, and health, genetic and biometric information.

We collect personal information through a wide range of channels, both directly from you and from third-party sources. Direct collection occurs when you instruct us, ask us to act, submit an enquiry, attend a meeting, event or seminar, use the Elite Legal website, create or use a client portal or digital account, make a payment, apply for employment or otherwise interact with us, including through telephone calls, emails, forms, document uploads, our website, social media pages and office reception processes. We may also collect information indirectly through cookies, website analytics tools, CCTV and access control systems, matter records, court and tribunal records, searches and public registers, client documents, counterparties and their representatives, witnesses, experts, barristers, regulators, investigators, recruitment platforms, contractors, service providers, referees and publicly available sources.

Where required or appropriate for legal compliance and risk management, we may collect information from identity verification, KYC, PEP and sanctions screening providers, including the results of those checks.

We will only collect personal information where it is reasonably necessary for our functions and activities or where required or permitted by law. In many cases, the circumstances will make it clear that we are collecting personal information. Where the Privacy Act requires us to notify you about the collection of your personal information, we will take reasonable steps to do so at or before the time of collection, or as soon as practicable afterwards, including by notices on forms, in engagement documents, on our website, at our offices or by other appropriate means.

We collect personal information for the purposes described in this policy, including providing legal services, assessing whether we can act, managing matters and relationships, legal and regulatory compliance, safety, security, risk management, recruitment, administration and marketing where permitted. If you do not provide requested information, we may be unable to act, continue acting, verify your identity, comply with our obligations or otherwise deal with you effectively.

Where you provide us with personal information about another person (for example, a person involved in a client matter, an emergency contact, referee, witness, expert, counterparty, employee or contractor), you confirm that you are authorised to provide that information and, where reasonable in the circumstances and consistent with confidentiality, privilege and legal obligations, that you have made that person aware of this Privacy Policy and how we handle personal information.

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies (such as tags, pixels and analytics tools) to recognise you, remember your preferences, measure performance, improve our website and, where permitted, deliver relevant content or communications. Some of these technologies are operated by third parties (for example, analytics providers and social media platforms such as Meta/Facebook), which may set their own cookies subject to their own privacy policies. Cookies do not usually identify you personally but may be linked to information we hold about you. You can control or disable cookies through your browser or device settings, although some features of our website or client portals may not function properly if you do.

Elite Legal will generally use and disclose personal information for the purpose for which it was collected, for related purposes you would reasonably expect, with your consent, or where required or permitted by law. We may use your personal information to communicate with you about legal services, client matters, events, seminars, publications, updates and services that may be relevant to you. We will only use your personal information for direct marketing where permitted by the Privacy Act, the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) and other applicable law, and you may opt out at any time by using the unsubscribe facility in the communication or by contacting us using the details in this policy.

Without limiting the above, we may collect, hold, use and disclose personal information to identify you, conduct conflict checks, open and manage matters, provide legal advice and representation, communicate with clients and others, prepare documents, conduct transactions and disputes, brief barristers and experts, deal with courts, tribunals and regulators, meet professional, trust accounting, taxation, employment, AML/CTF and other legal obligations, provide legal updates and event invitations subject to your opt-out rights, improve our services and systems, manage our business, recruit staff and contractors, and for any other purpose you would reasonably expect, to which you have consented, or as otherwise required or authorised by law.

Elite Legal does not sell or trade your personal information to third parties for their own commercial use. We may disclose personal information where reasonably necessary for our legal practice and business operations, including to service providers such as cloud hosting, software, document management, client portal, website, payment, trust accounting, billing, analytics, marketing, identity verification, screening, cyber security and technology support providers. Subject to confidentiality and privilege, we may also disclose personal information to barristers, counsel, experts, investigators, process servers, search providers, other lawyers, counterparties and their representatives, courts, tribunals, regulators, government agencies, law enforcement agencies, professional advisers, insurers, auditors and other persons where required or authorised by law or reasonably necessary to provide legal services.

When you sign up to our e-newsletter, register for an event or seminar, request a publication or make an enquiry, we may collect the personal information reasonably necessary to administer that activity. Subject to applicable law, we may also use that information, together with your interaction history with us, to send you relevant legal updates, event invitations, publications and information about our services where you have consented or where we are otherwise permitted to do so.

We may also use or disclose personal information where required or authorised by court or tribunal orders, subpoenas, notices, taxation, corporations, employment, trust accounting, AML/CTF or other laws, or where necessary to protect our rights, recover debts, obtain professional advice, respond to complaints or claims, maintain insurance, manage conflicts or comply with duties to courts and clients. Any disclosure of client information will be considered in light of confidentiality obligations and legal professional privilege, and we will not intentionally waive privilege without authority unless required by law.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support our legal practice and business operations, including research assistance, document review, summarisation, drafting support, knowledge management, analytics, cyber security, identity verification and administration. Where AI tools involve personal information, confidential information or client material, we use them consistently with the APPs, client instructions, confidentiality duties and privilege considerations. We do not enter sensitive information, confidential client information or privileged material into publicly available AI tools unless authorised, necessary and subject to appropriate safeguards, and we maintain human oversight of AI-assisted legal work.

When you interact with us, we may need to identify you and verify your identity, including for matter opening, conflict checks, trust account dealings, payments, refunds, complaints, AML/CTF compliance where applicable, sanctions and PEP screening, and legal or professional compliance. If you do not provide information we reasonably require, we may be unable to assess whether we can act, open or continue a matter, provide legal services, complete a transaction, comply with our obligations or otherwise deal with you.

We will generally be open with you about identity, due diligence and screening activities. However, confidentiality obligations, privilege, duties to other clients or laws such as AML/CTF tipping-off restrictions may limit what we can tell you, including in relation to suspicious matter reporting, investigations, access requests or reasons for particular decisions.

Elite Legal uses a range of physical, technical and organisational measures to protect the personal information we hold. Personal information may be stored in paper files, electronic matter files, local systems, hosted platforms and with cloud-based service providers. We implement security measures that are reasonable in the circumstances, including access controls, password protection, multi-factor authentication where appropriate, encryption where appropriate, staff training, confidentiality obligations and other safeguards designed to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

We treat privacy and information security as part of our broader governance, professional responsibility and risk framework, supported by staff training, confidentiality obligations, cyber security controls and periodic review of this policy.

Our website, client portals and electronic communications may contain links to third-party websites and services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those websites.

If we suspect or become aware of a data breach involving personal information we hold, we will assess it in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme under Part IIIC of the Privacy Act. Where a breach is likely to result in serious harm to affected individuals and is not otherwise remediated, we will take reasonable steps to notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required by law.

We may disclose personal information to overseas recipients where reasonably necessary for a client matter, to use service providers that support our practice, for recruitment or business administration, with your consent, or where otherwise required or authorised by law. The countries involved may vary depending on the matter, service provider or transaction. Where the APPs require us to take steps in relation to overseas disclosure, we will do so.

Elite Legal takes reasonable steps to ensure that personal information we hold is accurate, up to date and complete. You may request access to, or correction of, personal information we hold about you by contacting our Privacy Officer. We may ask you to verify your identity, respond within a reasonable timeframe and, where permitted, charge a reasonable administrative fee for providing access. If we refuse access or correction, we will give written reasons and information about how to complain to the extent required by law and consistent with legal professional privilege, confidentiality, court or tribunal processes, investigations and the privacy of others.

You may ask us to delete or de-identify personal information we hold about you. We will consider that request and, where reasonable and lawful, give effect to it. We may retain information where required or authorised by law, court or tribunal order, professional obligations, insurance, limitation periods, trust accounting, taxation, employment, AML/CTF or other record-keeping requirements, or where it remains reasonably necessary for a purpose described in this policy.

Elite Legal retains personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, for related legitimate business purposes, and to comply with legal, professional, regulatory, accounting, employment, insurance, dispute resolution and record-keeping obligations. Retention periods vary depending on the information, matter or relationship and applicable legal or professional requirements.

When personal information is no longer reasonably necessary and we are not required or authorised to retain it, we will take reasonable steps to destroy it or ensure that it is de-identified. Client matter files, trust records, employment records and business records may be retained for periods reasonably necessary for legal practice requirements and possible proceedings, complaints, audits or investigations.

If you have any enquiry about this policy, wish to request access to or correction of your personal information, wish to make a privacy complaint, or have a question about the way Elite Legal handles personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer using the details set out below.

We may amend this policy from time to time. Where we make material changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify you, such as by posting a notice on our website, updating engagement materials. The most current version will be published on our website. Please contact our Privacy Officer if you wish to confirm the latest version.

If you have a concern or complaint about the way Elite Legal has handled your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer in the first instance. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days, consider and investigate it in accordance with our internal processes, and endeavour to provide you with a written response within 30 days (or such longer period as may be reasonably required for complex complaints, in which case we will keep you informed of progress). We may ask you to provide further information to help us investigate your complaint. If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au or by calling 1300 363 992. If your complaint concerns the conduct of legal services, you may also have rights to contact the relevant legal profession regulator.

Contact details for Elite Legal’s Privacy Officer are as follows: