PRIVACY POLICY
Updated 8 August 2018
UHY Haines Norton Perth Pty Ltd trading as UHY Haines Norton Perth (“UHY HN Perth”) understands the importance of keeping your personal information secure. Due to its nature as an accounting firm, UHY Haines Norton Perth collects and holds a large range of confidential personal and commercial information. That is why UHY Haines Norton Perth places a high priority on the security of information held by our firm. This policy has been put in place to inform you of what personal information UHY Haines Norton Perth collects, and how we manage it and maintain its integrity and security.
UHY Haines Norton Perth is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Privacy Amendment Act) and the Privacy Regulation (APP). To find more information about the Privacy Act and the APPs, please visit www.oaic.gov.au. In this privacy policy, “personal information” has the same meaning as defined by Section 6 of the Privacy Act.
While UHY Haines Norton Perth makes every effort to keep your personal information highly secure, we also believe that you have the right to be informed about how we handle your information. If, after reading this policy, you are unclear on any of the matters, or simply want more information, please do not hesitate to contact our Privacy Officer.
Collection of personal information
UHY Haines Norton Perth only collects the personal information that is necessary to provide the service you have requested from us. If you do not provide us with the personal information we have requested, we are unable to provide those services with efficiency and accuracy.
Generally, UHY Haines Norton Perth collects and holds the following personal information:
- Name, address, contact details and job titles
- Date of birth
- Tax file number
- Australian Company Numbers and Australian Business Numbers
- Bank account details
- Details of your income, expenses, assets and liabilities
Naturally we collect and hold a broad range of personal information gathered during the course of providing our services. However, UHY Haines Norton Perth strives to ensure that we collect and hold only that personal information which is relevant and necessary to advise on the specific matters you have requested us to address.
UHY Haines Norton Perth will collect personal information only by lawful and fair means.
The personal information will usually only be collected from you, your authorised representatives or from publicly available sources. We will only collect personal information from a third party if you have consented to such collection or you would reasonably expect us to collect the personal information in this way.
We may also collect personal information about you from your use of our website and information you provide to us through contact mailboxes or the registration process on our website.
Purposes of collection
We primarily collect personal information to allow us to provide the services you have requested.
However, UHY Haines Norton Perth may also use the personal information to send newsletters concerning various financial and taxation matters, invite you to seminars or events, and to inform you of developments at the firm. If you would like to opt out of receiving this type of information, please contact us. Our contact details are listed at the end of this document.
We will never sell, rent or trade any of your personal information to a third party.
Unless you have given us prior consent, or it is required or authorised by law, we will never disclose personal information about you to a third party.
Third parties
You should be aware that Sothertons may have to disclose personal information to the following third parties: the Australian Taxation Office, ASIC, Centrelink, your solicitors, your bank and financial institutions, any related corporations or affiliate practices and any other organisations to which you normally disclose information of this kind.
In addition to the above-named parties, there are other third parties which may, on occasion, have access to your personal information, such as IT technicians working onsite, or potential buyers carrying out due diligence on our practice.
Personal information quality
Our aim is to ensure that at all times your personal information is accurate, complete and current. In order for us to accomplish this, you need to provide true, accurate, up-to-date and complete information about yourself where requested and inform us of any changes.
If you discover any inaccurate or incomplete information, please contact us so that we can correct the information.
Securing your personal information
UHY Haines Norton Perth is committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of the data you provide us and we will take all reasonable precautions to protect your personal information from unauthorised disclosure, use or alteration.
Your personal information will be held either physically in our offices or electronically.
In order to keep your personal information secure, we have a number of systems in place. All computer access is password-protected and provided through a firewall, and all computers run anti-virus software. Our offices are supplied with secure shredding bins, and our office is fully secured with security keys required for entry. Our practice management systems also provide access to client information only to those staff who are authorised to view it.
There are inherent risks in transmitting information across the internet and we do not have the ability to control the security of information collected and stored on third party platforms. In relation to our own servers, we take all reasonable steps to manage data stored on our servers to ensure data security.
Discarding your personal information
UHY Haines Norton Perth will hold any personal information used in the provision of your services for up to seven (7) years after completion of those services, after which all files will be destroyed or deleted securely.
Accessing your personal information
You can ask UHY Haines Norton Perth to provide you with access to all personal information that we hold about you. You will never be charged a fee for submitting a request to access to your personal information, though we reserve the right to charge you a fee for the access itself.
If, after you ask to see your personal information, we refuse your request, we will give you a reason for this decision.
UHY Haines Norton Perth do not have to provide access where the personal information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings between UHY Haines Norton Perth and an individual, and the information would not be accessible by the process of discovery in those proceedings; where denying access is required or authorised by law; or when providing access would be unlawful.
To submit a request for access to your personal information, please contact us. Our contact details are listed at the end of this document.
Government identifiers
At times, UHY Haines Norton Perth may ask you to provide details regarding certain government assigned identification numbers (e.g. tax file numbers, Medicare numbers, etc.) to assist us in providing your agreed services. We will only use these government identifiers where it is necessary and lawful to do so, and we will not otherwise use these identifiers within our own organisation.
Cross-border disclosure
From time to time during the completion of your work, UHY Haines Norton Perth may engage various staff and / or contract personnel including overseas contractors who we consider appropriate for the completion of your work. These personnel will have access to your accounting and taxation records only for the purpose of completing the accounting and taxation engagements agreed. In all cases these personnel will be subject to our supervision and control and are required to protect your personal information in a way that, overall, is at least substantially similar to the APPs.
Sensitive information
Occasionally, UHY Haines Norton Perth may need to collect and hold sensitive information; this includes information about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, or criminal record.
Sensitive information is subject to a higher level of privacy protection than other personal information, and may only be collected with consent, except in specified circumstances. Consent is generally not required to collect personal information that is not sensitive information. Sensitive information must not be used or disclosed for a secondary purpose unless the secondary purpose is directly related to the primary purpose of collection and within the reasonable expectations of the individual, and it cannot be used for the secondary purpose of direct marketing.
Notifiable Data Breaches Scheme (NDB) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
From February 2018 UHY Haines Norton Perth covered by Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) have clear obligations to report eligible data breaches. The NDB scheme implements changes to an existing law and the GDPR introduces a whole new regulation with global implications.
In Australia, the following link provides further information regarding the NDB scheme and the responsibilities of all parties:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy-law/privacy-act/notifiable-data-breaches-scheme
In Europe, the GDPR applies and information about the regulatory framework can be found here:
Information the law requires us to collect
UHY Haines Norton Perth is not required by law to collect any particular personal information.
Complaints
If you have any complaints about the personal information we hold or the way that we manage it, please get in touch with us. Our contact details are listed below.
Changes to this statement
This privacy policy is not a static document and we may make changes from time to time, for any reason.
Privacy Officer
If you would like to contact us with requests for access, questions about our privacy policy, or have any complaints, please send an email to privacy@uhyhnperth.com.au or write to us at UHY Haines Norton Perth,
PO Box 458, West Perth WA 6872. If necessary, your matter will be referred to a director.