Privacy Collection Notice for Customer Due Diligence

This privacy collection notice from Terry Anderssen Lawyers outlines why we collect your personal information, what we collect, how we collect it and who we share it with.

Why we need to collect your information

We collect your personal information to comply with the ‘Customer Due Diligence’ requirements in the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act). This includes to:

• establish and verify your identity before providing certain services to you or the person you are acting on behalf of;
• assess and manage potential money laundering, terrorism financing, proliferation financing risks or related compliance risks associated with the provision of our services;
• make reports required by law under the AML/CTF Act; and
• meet record keeping obligations under the AML/CTF Act.

What personal information we collect

We collect the following types of personal information:

• your full name, date of birth, residential address;
• photo ID and unique identifier, such as a passport or driver’s licence number.

We also collect the following sensitive information:

• whether you are a member of any political associations, professional or trade associations, which may be used to verify your occupation or determine whether you are a politically exposed person.

How we collect your information

We will generally collect your personal information by, for example:

• collecting personal information from you directly (over the phone, via email or in person) or via our website when you complete our intake form;
• personal information will also be collected by another entity. For example, we use third party identity verification services such as Infotrack to collect personal information on your behalf.

Where required by law or where reasonably necessary to verify information you have provided, we may collect personal information about you from third parties, including:

• government departments and agencies, identity verification providers, credit reporting bodies, financial institutions and banks, accountants, professional intermediaries, auditors and financial advisers, mortgage brokers and lenders, superannuation funds, insurers, publicly available registers and databases, land title offices, company and business registers, trust and charity registers, insolvency and bankruptcy registers, court and tribunal records, law enforcement agencies, regulatory authorities and filings, sanctions and politically exposed person (PEP) databases, electronic verification providers, referees you nominate and employers or past employers, other legal practitioners acting for you or another party; executors, attorneys, guardians or administrators;
• family members or authorised representatives where appropriate; your agent or intermediary, real estate agents, settlement agents and conveyancers; licensed valuers, licensed surveyors, migration agents, interpreters and translators;
• medical practitioners or other health professionals where relevant to your legal matter, educational institutions, utility providers where relevant to identity verification, telecommunications providers where permitted by law, electoral rolls (where lawfully available), insolvency records, media reports, internet searches and commercially available databases, any person or organisation authorised by you to provide information to us, and any other person or organisation where collection is authorised or required by law.

If you do not provide the information requested, or we are unable to verify your identity or obtain information required by law, we may be unable to act for you, continue to act for you or complete your transaction.

Who we may share your information with

To provide legal services and comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, including our obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) legislation, we may disclose your personal information to:

• the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), or an entity in our AML/CTF reporting group, where required or authorised by law;
• Australian and overseas government departments and regulatory authorities where required or authorised by law;
• identity verification, document verification and electronic Know Your Client (eKYC) service providers;
• sanctions screening, politically exposed person (PEP) screening and adverse media screening providers;
• our technology, document management and secure cloud service providers who assist us in operating our practice;
• financial institutions, lenders, superannuation funds and payment providers where relevant to your matter;
• other professional advisers acting for you or involved in your matter, including accountants, financial advisers, valuers, conveyancers and other legal practitioners;
• courts, tribunals and dispute resolution bodies where required in connection with your matter;
• law enforcement agencies where required or authorised by law;
• any person or organisation that you authorise us to disclose information to; and
• any other person or organisation where disclosure is required, authorised or permitted by law.

We will only disclose your personal information where it is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, to provide legal services to you, or to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

What happens if we cannot collect your information

If you choose not to provide the personal information we request, or if we are unable to verify your identity or obtain information required by law, we may be unable to act for you, continue to act for you, or provide some or all of the legal services you have requested. This may also delay or prevent us from completing your transaction or matter. Where possible, we will let you know if only certain information is required to provide a particular service and whether there are any alternative options available.

Your privacy rights and our privacy policy

Our Privacy Policy contains further information about how we will handle your personal information and how you can access and correct your personal information. It also outlines how to lodge a complaint and how that complaint will be managed if you are concerned about how we handled your information. Read our Privacy Policy here

How to contact us about your privacy

Please refer to the contact us page to contact us if you have any queries or concerns about this.