Privacy Policy
Arabon Accountants is committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information. We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The NPPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information. A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.aoic.gov.au
What is Personal Information and why do we collect it?
Personal Information is information or an opinion that identifies an individual. Examples of Personal Information we collect include names, addresses, email addresses, phone and fax numbers. Depending on the type of services you are seeking, we may also conduct credit reports on our clients or collect your Tax File Numbers which are sensitive information. This Personal Information is obtained in many ways including interviews, correspondence, by telephone and fax, by email, via our website www.arabon.com.au, from your website, from media and publications, from social media including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter & Instagram, from other publicly available sources, from cookies and third parties. We don’t guarantee website links or policy of authorised third parties. We collect your Personal Information for the primary purpose of providing our services to you, providing information to our clients and marketing. We may also use your Personal Information for secondary purposes closely related to the primary purpose, in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure. You may unsubscribe from our mailing/marketing lists at any time by contacting us in writing or using appropriate unsubscribe features. When we collect Personal Information we will, where appropriate and where possible, explain to you why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it.
Sensitive Information
Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information. Sensitive information will be used by us only:
- For the primary purpose for which it was obtained
- For a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose
- With your consent; or where required or authorised by law.
Identifiers
In some circumstances we are required to collect government identifiers, for example, your Tax File Number. We may be required to collect or disclose government identifiers from the Australian Taxation Office or a regulated entity to the extent permitted by law in the provision of our services. We will not use or disclose this information other than when required to do so by law, or when consented to by you.
Third Parties
Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your Personal Information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties. In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.
Disclosure of Personal Information
Your Personal Information may be disclosed in a number of circumstances including the following:
- Third parties where you consent to the use or disclosure; and
- Where required or authorised by law.
Security of Personal Information
Your Personal Information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your Personal Information. However, most of the Personal Information is or will be stored in client files which will be kept by us for a minimum of 7 years.
Once we collect your personal information, we will either hold it securely and store it on infrastructure owned or controlled by us or with a third-party service provider who have taken reasonable steps to ensure they comply with the Privacy Act.
Arabon will take all reasonable steps to protect against the loss, misuse and/or alteration of the information under its control, and that the information it holds is accurate, complete and up to date including through appropriate physical and electronic security strategies.
Only authorised Arabon personnel are provided access to personal information, and these employees are required to treat this information as confidential. We may need to maintain records for a significant period of time. However, when we consider information is no longer needed, we will destroy or permanently de-identify these records.
Our policy is that all electronic records are only stored within Australia whenever this is commercially feasible. However, on occasion, a limited number of specialist software applications may involve the storage of personal data at an overseas location where a suitable alternative is not available. We presently disclose some information to the following jurisdictions – USA, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea in limited circumstances.
Arabon will only store data with an external provider if a technical assessment of a service provider’s security protocols is considered to meet or exceed the level of security that Arabon could apply if the electronic data were to be stored in Arabon’s own in-house systems and where we are satisfied that Arabon is able to meet its commitments under Australian Privacy Legislation.
Access to your Personal Information
You may access the Personal Information we hold about you and to update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your Personal Information, please contact us in writing. Arabon will not charge any fee for your access request but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your Personal Information. In order to protect your Personal Information, we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.
Maintaining the Quality of your Personal Information
It is an important to us that your Personal Information is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is accurate, complete and up to date. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.
Policy Updates
This Policy may change from time to time and is available on our website.
Privacy Policy Complaints and Enquiries
If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy please contact us at:
Level 1, 655 Sherwood Rd, Sherwood QLD 4075
07 3278 3477
