Privacy Policy
Your privacy is important to us
At StewartBrown we are committed to ensuring your privacy is safeguarded and, accordingly, have created this Privacy Policy and Disclosure Statement (together referred to as ‘this Privacy Policy’) in order to demonstrate our commitment to privacy and compliance with the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles.
This Privacy Policy applies to personal information collected by us.
What sort of personal information do we collect?
We collect personal information about you (‘the personal information’) when you engage us. Personal information collected by us may include your name, date of birth, current address, contact numbers, email address, details of your income and expenditure, investments, business activities, tax file numbers, marital status, etc.
How is your personal information collected by us?
Personal information is collected directly from you through conversations by telephone or in person, correspondence received from you (including completion of our annual tax checklist questionnaire), via email and our website and, where authorised, from your financial advisor, financial institutions, and government agencies (e.g. Australian Taxation Office, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, etc) and similar sources.
Why do we collect the personal information and how is it used?
We collect personal information to assist us in providing to you specific professional services. For example, we may use the personal information you provide us to complete your annual income tax return or provide you with other tax, audit and accounting advice relevant to the engagement.
We also use the personal information to send you tax and accounting information, updates and newsletters as provided by our standard terms of engagement and this may be via post or email. If at any time you receive material that you did not request or do not want to receive any longer please let us know and we will remove you from our mailing list for such material (see below for contact details).
What happens if you do not provide the personal information?
If you do not provide the personal information required by us to undertake the engagement our advice to you may be inaccurate or incomplete, it may also be delayed, and in some cases we may not be able to provide the professional services required under our terms of engagement.
Is personal information collected by us disclosed to third parties?
We will not sell, rent, trade or otherwise supply to third parties any personal information obtained about you unless you consent, however, we will make your personal information available to the Partners, Staff and other service providers to StewartBrown to enable them to undertake the professional services related to your engagement.
We advise that if at any time we are required by law to release information about you or your entities we must co-operate fully.
Can my personal information be made anonymous or be under a pseudonym?
Most StewartBrown services provide require your personal information for law or order purposes therefore having your personal information be made anonymous or under a pseudonym may be impractical. Although there are services and exceptions where making your personal information anonymous or under a pseudonym could be possible. If you are unsure or would like to clarify, please contact your StewartBrown representative or manager.
Privacy Protection
We are committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality and security of personal information provided to us. We will not disclose any confidential information you may provide to us to third parties without your consent unless required by law. However, you specifically authorise us to disclose necessary and appropriate confidential information in the furtherance of the professional services we are providing you to other professional advisers and authorities acting on your behalf including your bankers, financial planner, insurance agent, mortgage broker, the ATO, etc.
We will advise you in advance if, in the unlikely event, we are required to disclose your personal information to overseas recipients including tax authorities. The use of outsourced ‘cloud’ platforms (such as Xero, MYOB, Class and Reckon amongst others) may result in your information being stored overseas and we refer you to those companies Privacy Policy statements for further information. You also authorise us to send you appropriate information by way of newsletters, reports and alerts related to the services we provide. You may request not to receive this information.
How will we keep your personal information secure?
We have security measures designed to protect against the loss, misuse and/or alteration of your personal information under our control. These security measures include: restricted access to client records, clauses in employee agreements requiring client confidentiality, software firewalls, passwords to gain access to databases, security disposal of stationery containing personal and confidential information and other official quality control procedures adopted by us.
What do we do with unsolicited personal information?
If we receive personal information which is not required for any of the services we provide, we will destroy or de-identify as soon as practicable. The only exception to this is if the unsolicited personal information is part of a commonwealth record or it is unlawful to destroy for any reason.
How do I correct and update my personal information?
You may gain access or update your personal information that we have collected about you by contacting your Manager or Partner. We will not charge you for attending to your request unless we incur costs in providing the information to you.
Can this Privacy Policy be modified?
We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If it is changed, the new Privacy Policy will be posted on our website so that you are always aware of the type of information collected, how the information may be used and under what circumstances it may be disclosed by us.
Other information
We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 and Australian Privacy Principles, however, this Privacy Policy does not apply to acts or practices of StewartBrown that are directly related to employee records of current or former employees.
Complaints
You may make a complaint about our handling of your personal information, or in relation to your dealings with us about your personal information, by contacting StewartBrown’s Privacy Officer. We handle any complaints received by fully investigating the circumstances and rectifying our procedures and policies as required and taking steps to further protect your privacy.
StewartBrown
In relation to this Privacy Policy, StewartBrown comprises the Partnership, its affiliates and related practice and service companies and entities.
How do I contact StewartBrown?
If you require any information regarding this Privacy Policy or require a correction or an amendment to your personal information or to lodge a complaint, please contact your Manager or the person named below:-
Contact: Privacy Officer
Address:
Tower 1, Level 2, 495 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood
Postal: PO Box 5515, Chatswood NSW 2057
Telephone: (02) 9412 3033
Facsimile: (02) 9411 3242
Email: info@stewartbrown.com.au
Australian Privacy Principles
Stewart Brown Advisory Pty Ltd (SBA) is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Our Privacy Policy reflects our commitment to those principles. We require our staff to comply with our Privacy Policy.
What type of information does SBA collect?
As an organisation that provides risk, superannuation and financial planning advice, SBA is subject to legislative and regulatory obligations to obtain and hold detailed information that personally identifies you and/or expresses opinions about aspects of your financial affairs. This may include the following:
- Name and address
- Date of birth
- Contact details including telephone numbers and email
- Gender
- Occupation and employment details and history
- Details of your financial position, including salary and other income
- Assets and liabilities, expenditure, risk protection, superannuation and investments
- Details of your risk preferences
- Bank account details
- Details of your social security entitlements and status
- Details of your estate planning requirements
- Details of your Tax File Number and ABN or those of any entity related or connected to you
- Sensitive information including details of your health that may be relevant to our services
- Details of family arrangements such as trusts, Wills, powers of attorney or personal commitments that may be relevant to our services.
It is important for SBA to obtain this information to enable us to provide you with appropriate and timely advice and support. If we are unable to obtain the information we require, we may be unable to provide you with our services.
How does SBA collect your personal information?
SBA collects this information directly from you when we obtain completed forms and other information from you, and from records of communications with you when we provide you with services, including phone calls, emails and meetings.
How does SBA use your personal information?
We use your personal information to:
- Review and assess your circumstances
- Prepare advice regarding your risk, superannuation and financial planning needs
- Prepare advice and recommendations for investments, insurance and financial products
- Implement recommendations you have approved
- Consider other matters relevant to your financial circumstances
- Generally manage your transactions and affairs in accordance with your instructions, approval and needs.
How do we store and treat your personal information?
We store your personal information in both secure computer storage facilities and paper-based files. We use technology and physical security measures to protect your information from loss or unauthorised access, use or disclosure.
We keep your personal information for as long as is necessary to provide you with our services and to comply with our legal record-keeping obligations, after which we destroy it using secure and confidential processes.
If you cease to be a client of SBA, we retain records of your personal information for 7 years, to comply with legal requirements, after which it is securely destroyed or deleted.
Will SBA share your personal information with other organisations?
SBA will share your personal information only in so far as may be necessary for us to provide you with our services or comply with legal requirements.
We may share it with the following organisations:
- External service and product providers such as insurance companies and brokers, superannuation fund trustees and administrators
- Banks and investment fund managers
- Custodians and share registers
- Regulators such as ASIC, ATO and Centrelink
- Organisations that provide you with tax or accounting support or other professional services, including, if applicable, our related entity Stuart Brown Chartered Accountants
- Organisations such as the Financial Planning Association that supervise our compliance with professional standards.
We may also use your personal contact details to provide you with informational or marketing material such as newsletters, which we believe may be of value or interest to you. We will not send you such material if you instruct us not to do so.
If we propose to sell our business we may disclose your personal information to a potential purchaser to enable them to conduct due diligence investigations. Any such disclosure will be under conditions of strict confidentiality that prohibit further disclosure of your information. If our business is sold to another party we may transfer your personal information to the purchaser, and we will notify you of such transfer.
SBA does not sell client details to mailing lists.
It is unlikely that SBA will disclose your information to overseas recipients.
Access to your information/complaints
Under the APPs you are entitled to access information we hold about you and we are required to correct any information we hold that is incorrect.
SBA will endeavour to respond to your request for information on a timely basis in the same manner in which you made the request.
If, under the APPs, we are entitled to decline your request, we will advise you of our reasons for doing so.
If you wish to access or correct any personal information we hold about you, or if you wish to complain about a breach of privacy, please contact your Adviser at SBA or use any of the following points of contact:
Contact: StewartBrown Advisory
Address:
Tower 1, Level 2, 495 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood
Postal: PO Box 5515, Chatswood NSW 2057
Telephone: (02) 9412 3033
Facsimile: (02) 9411 3242
Email: sba@stewartbrown.com.au
If you are not satisfied with our response, you are entitled to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at GPO Box 5128, Sydney NSW 2001 or Phone 1300 363 992.
Changing this Policy
We are entitled to change this policy from time to time by giving you notice. This edition of our privacy policy is current as of the 1st July 2021.
Additional Privacy information
Further information on privacy in Australia may be obtained from the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au
Privacy Protection
We recognise the importance of privacy protection. Our policy for dealing with any personal information that you might disclose to us while visiting this website is explained below:
Types of Personal Information Collected
The types of personal information that we collect from you will depend on how you use our website. You can be certain that the information we receive about you will be treated as strictly confidential.
We do not collect or use any personal information on visitors to our website, through the use of "cookies" or other software or hardware techniques.
We look at the number of unique site visitors, hits the website receives and keep track of the domains from which our website is accessed.
To determine what our users are interested in, we may also look at the frequency of search words used in connecting you to this website.
The names of persons who request information from or about us by emailing us are added to our database as members. Each member is given a user name and password. Members who do not wish to receive emails from our website, can unsubscribe via our website or unsubscribe via received profiled emails, or notify us by email, and we will stop emailing you.
How Personal Information is Collected
The personal information we collect when you log onto this website, how we do it and what we do with it is explained below:
If you log onto the website and read or download information our Internet Service Provider/Hosting Provider will record your server address, domain name, the date and time of your visit to our website, the pages viewed and the information downloaded. This information is used for statistical and website development purposes only.
We can determine the number of times that you have visited our website, the date of last visit, if you have updated your details/interests, and if you have clicked on the hyperlink contained on emails that have been sent to you. The information collected will be used to send you emails when content relevant to your areas of interest are added to the website.
We can determine if you emailed any articles of interest to a friend using our 'email a friend' functionality, and if your friend has clicked on the hyperlink contained on the email that was sent by you. We record the email addresses of these recipients which may be used for our own marketing purposes.
Disclosure of Personal Information
The circumstances under which we disclose information about you is as follows:
It is our policy not to sell or pass on any personal information that you may have provided to us unless we have your express consent to do so. An exception to this is where we may be required by law to disclose certain information.
Handling of Emails
How we handle emails is as follows:
We will preserve the contents of any email message that you send us if we believe that we have a legal requirement to do so. Emails sent to or from us are routinely monitored for quality control, systems administration and legal compliance purposes.
Accuracy of Personal Information
What to do if you believe the information we hold about you is inaccurate is as follows:
If you believe that any information that we hold about you is inaccurate or out of date, please contact us and we will review the relevant information.
Contact Us
How to contact us if you wish to discuss this policy is as follows:
Contact: Privacy Officer
Address:
Tower 1, Level 2, 495 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood
Postal: PO Box 5515, Chatswood NSW 2057
Telephone: (02) 9412 3033
Facsimile: (02) 9411 3242
Email: info@stewartbrown.com.au
If you wish to discuss any aspect of this policy please contact us by email or telephone.