Privacy Policy

Redfern Legal Centre is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information.

We are bound by a range of privacy laws, as well as professional duties of confidentiality, and take those obligations seriously.

We collect, hold and dispose of your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) which are contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).

This Privacy Policy describes how Redfern Legal Centre handles personal information and provides information about your privacy rights.

The types of Personal Information Redfern Legal Centre collects and holds

Redfern Legal Centre collects personal information about people, including current, former and prospective clients, personnel, service providers, counterparties, other lawyers and professional advisors, donors, event attendees, government agencies, people related to legal matters we work on, and staff and advisors of any of those parties.

The types of personal information we collect depend on the type of dealings you have with us, and may include:

• name and contact details;
• age or date of birth;
• demographic information, such as gender, birthplace, ethnicity, education, income, languages spoken, disabilities and Centrelink benefits;
• circumstances relating to the matters we advise on – depending on the matter, this may include work circumstances, union membership, property details, study details, fines, criminal history, financial circumstances and family and relationship circumstances;
• records of communications including emails, phone calls, meetings and written communications;
• feedback, comments, opinions, interests and preferences relevant to us and our activities;
• transactions, interactions and activity with or relevant to us, including participation in our events;
• photos, videos and recordings including from events and fundraising activities;
• payment details;
• any other circumstances and information that may be relevant for us to provide legal advice;
• other information people provide to us;
• for our personnel and job applicants: CV information, work visas and eligibility, qualifications, accreditations, emergency contacts, background checks, references, payment details, tax details, superannuation details, payroll details, leave details (including related health information), conflict details and conduct/performance.

We collect some personal information under applicable laws such as the Corporations Act, Fair Work Act, Health Records and Information Privacy Act, Income Tax Assessment Act (and other tax laws), Legal Profession Uniform Law, Privacy Act, Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act, Public Health Act, Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act, Surveillance Devices Act, Work Health and Safety Act, Workers Compensation Act, Workplace Surveillance Act, Telecommunications (Interception and Access Act).

How we collect and hold personal information

We collect your personal information in various ways, including:

• when you provide it to us directly;
• from our clients;
• from your referees where we are considering you for employment or other appointment;
• from your representatives;
• from other third parties such as those described below; and
• from public sources, including public registers and online content.

We store personal information in electronic systems and secure cloud-based platforms used to provide legal and operational services, as well as in physical forms. These systems may include client and matter management systems, document management systems, workflow and intake platforms, communication tools and other technology services used to support our operations. Some of these service providers may store or process information outside Australia.

We implement various technical and organisational security measures to protect personal information. These include, depending on the circumstances, security software protections, data access restrictions, firewalls, restricted access to our sites and requirements for our service providers to protect personal information they handle on our behalf.

Why we collect and hold personal information

We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information to provide our services, to manage and maintain our operations, relationships and organisation, and to communicate and understand the people we interact with. For example, we may collect, hold, use and disclose personal information (as applicable):

• to consider and respond to requests, including requests for legal services and applications for employment;
• to provide, review and improve our services;
• to communicate with clients, personnel and other stakeholders;
• to host, facilitate and record our events;
• to assess and manage conflict of interest issues;
• to verify your identity and information;
• to comply with our legal obligations;
• to exercise and defend our legal rights;
• to maintain and update our records;
• for administration and internal business purposes;
• to conduct research, reviews and analysis;
• to hire, train and manage staff;
• to protect the safety and security of staff, sites, systems and assets;
• to investigate and deal with suspected unlawful activity and misconduct, subject to our professional duties of confidentiality where we are acting for a client;
• as otherwise required or permitted by law.

We may not be able to do these things if we are unable to collect personal information that we seek. In some circumstances, we may not be able to provide advice, for example if we are not given sufficient information about the matter or to determine whether a conflict arises. 

For personnel and job applicants, we may be unable to offer or maintain a role for you without the necessary personal information.

Who we disclose personal information to

The types of third parties to which we disclose personal information to include those set out below. Please note that not all information we hold is always disclosed to all of these parties. 

In particular, we are subject to strict professional confidentiality duties when we are advising our clients.

The third parties are as follows:

• other lawyers and professionals including law firms that provide volunteer lawyers to advise our clients, barristers, specialists, experts, auditors and those working on the same matters as us (including those acting for other parties);
• courts and tribunals;
• with your consent - other government agencies, including agencies that provide us with funding support;
• service providers including providers of financial, technology, data, storage, fundraising, events, delivery, and payment services;
• other employers, where you have nominated us as a referee and advised us of this.

If you make a donation, we will acknowledge you publicly, unless you ask for the donation to be anonymous.

Other parties we disclose personal information to may also be in other countries.

When you visit our website

Our website may use ‘cookies’.A cookie is a piece of information that allows our system to identify and interact more effectively with your device and browser.

The cookie helps us to maintain the continuity of your browsing session and remember your details and preferences.

You can configure your web browser software to reject cookies however some parts of our website may not have full 
functionality in that case. See www.allaboutcookies.org for instructions on how to delete and block cookies for many popular browsers.

Our website may use Google services such as Google Analytics from time to time. For more about how Google collects and processes data, please see Google’s privacy policy and their information at www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/.

Online Intake Form

We use automated decision-making in our online intake form to indicate whether an enquiry meets our eligibility criteria. 

The system uses information provided in the form, such as your location, income and legal issue, to indicate whether your enquiry meets our eligibility criteria. Where an enquiry does not meet our eligibility criteria, the form may direct the person to alternative services.

Artificial Intelligence

We use artificial intelligence and automated technologies to assist staff with administrative, communication, drafting, transcription, summarisation and other work activities. 

Any use of these technologies involving personal information is subject to our privacy, confidentiality and information security requirements.

Destruction

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, to comply with legal, regulatory, funding and professional obligations, or to resolve disputes. 

When personal information is no longer required, we take reasonable steps to securely destroy or de-identify it.

Your privacy rights

You can ask us to:

• give you access to personal information we hold about you;
• correct or update personal information we hold about you;
• keep a note of your request with your personal information, if we do not update personal information in the way you have requested;
• stop activities involving your personal information that are based on your consent, if you withdraw that consent;
• unsubscribe you from any Ebulletins or other emails we may send you about our work; and
• raise any concerns about how we have handled your personal information.

You can use our contact details in this Privacy Policy to make one of these requests. 

We may need to verify your identity. Please be as specific as possible with your request, as this will help with our response. In some circumstances, we may decline your request where this is in accordance with applicable law.

Contact us

If you have any queries or complaints about privacy, please contact Redfern Legal Centre as follows: