Privacy Statement

At Rudkin Hitchcock your right to privacy has always been important and, for that reason, we are committed to complying with The Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act (“the Privacy Act”) which came into effect on the 21st December 2001.

This privacy policy covers all personal information we hold for individuals whether sourced directly from those individuals or from third parties and provides details as to how and when we collect personal information and how it is used and stored at Rudkin Hitchcock.

Collection of Personal Information

Generally Rudkin Hitchcock collects the following information:

• name;
• address;
• contact details (including telephone, facsimile and email details).

Depending upon the work we are undertaking it may also be necessary to collect other types of personal information from you.

This information is collected to enable us to provide legal services and to give legal advice.

We may also use this information for specialised newsletters and mail outs that we feel may be of interest to you. You are free at any time to advise us if you do not wish to receive this information.

Disclosure of Personal Information

We will only disclose personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act. This means that personal information may be disclosed:

• for the purposes for which we have advised that we are collecting it and for purposes that the individual would reasonably expect;
• where we have the consent of the individual to do so;
• as required by law; or
• under other circumstances where permitted under the Act.

During the course of your dealings with us it may be necessary for us to utilise the services of other organisations. We will always seek your consent before providing your information to third parties.

Unauthorised disclosure or access

At Rudkin Hitchcock our employees are all aware of their responsibilities to protect and use correctly information you provide to us.

We will endeavour to ensure that your personal information is kept secure at all times and reasonable precautions are in place to prevent any loss, misuse or unauthorised alteration of the information we hold.

Access to personal information

You can request access to your personal information at any time and if we cannot comply with your request we will explain why.

Keeping your information up to date

We will endeavour to keep your personal information accurate and complete. You can assist by advising us of any change to your details or whether you believe that any of the information we hold is not correct.

Security

Our goal is to protect the personal information collected. All personal information will be managed confidentially and securely and will be destroyed appropriately when no longer required.

We will monitor and implement appropriate technical advances and management processes to safeguard personal information.

Data Quality

We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the data we collect, use or disclose is accurate and complete and has been obtained directly from individuals or other reputable sources.

Our Web Site

To allow our web server (computer) to identify and interact more effectively with your computer we may use “cookies”. Cookies are small packets of information.

When you use our website, we send you a cookie with a unique identification number. A different number is sent to you each time you use our site.

From the cookies we can collect certain information to help us improve the performance of our site. The information we collect tells us the following:

• your browser type;
• the date and time of your visit;
• the pages you accessed; and
• your internet service provider.

You can control the use of cookies on your computer by configuring your browser according to your personal preferences. You can accept or reject all cookies and you can be notified when a cookie has been sent.

We use both “persistent” and “session” based cookies. Persistent cookies will be stored on your computer and contain an expiration date. Session cookies are short-lived and are only held on your browser's memory for the duration of your session. Once you close your browser, the session cookie is destroyed.

If you email a request to us for more information about Rudkin Hitchcock and the services we provide, and you provide your personal information to us to enable us to contact you, this information will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with this policy.

Privacy Inquiries

Any privacy related matters should be directed to our Privacy Officer. We can be contacted at:

Rudkin Hitchcock
35-39 Scarborough Street
SOUTHPORT QLD 4215
Email: info@rudkinhitchcock.com.au
Telephone: (07) 5532 2021
Facsimile: (07) 5532 5886

Availability and review of Policy

This privacy policy can be viewed in our reception area or you can request that a copy be mailed to you or you can download a copy of it from our internet site.