AccountingHQ Privacy Policy
Who we are:
AccountingHQ is an independent firm located in Moonee Ponds and Airport West, Melbourne, Victoria.
This website privacy statement applies to AccountingHQ and all associated entities of the Firm.
AccountingHQ respects your privacy and is committed to treating the personal information we collect in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 and is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles established under the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).
This policy may be modified from time to time to reflect our current privacy practices and any changes to legislation.
Our Privacy Policy outlines how we manage your personal information and provides some guidance on the personal information held and the purpose for and the manner in which we collect, hold, maintain, use and disclose this information. This policy is not intended to, nor can it, replace the provisions Acts themselves.
If you would like further information on this privacy policy, you may contact us at info@accountinghq.com.au
Privacy Policy Contents:
1. Personal information we may collect
2. How we collect your personal information
3. Usage and disclosure of personal information
4. Disclosure of government related identifiers
5. Sensitive information
6. Unsolicited personal information
7. Validity of personal information
8. Security of personal information
9. Retention of personal information
10. Website and Cookies
11. Third party sites
12. Social media platforms
13. Access to Personal Information
14. Email Policy
15. Changes to Privacy Policy
16. Complaints about privacy
1. Personal information we may collect:
As a provider of accounting, advisory, audit, wealth advisory & finance broking services it may be necessary, and in some cases be a legislative and regulatory requirement, for us to collect and hold detailed personal information.
We will remain open with you about what sort of personal information we hold, how we collect it, and for what purposes we use and disclose this information
In general, the main types of personal information we collect and hold includes (but is not limited to):
- Names
- Contact details
- Gender
- Dates of Birth
- Employment details and employment history
- Tax File Numbers
- Details of your financial circumstances, including bank account details, your assets and liabilities (both actual and potential), income, expenditure, insurance cover and superannuation
- Health information (for some types of insurance cover)
- Details of your investment preferences and aversion or tolerance to risk (if a wealth advisory client)
We will not collect any personal information about you except when you have knowingly provided that information to us or authorised a third party to provide that information to us.
2. How we collect your personal information:
AccountingHQ will collect information that is required or necessary for the primary purpose of providing a professional service to you and for complying with our legal obligations. If this required information is considered sensitive (such as health information, race, religion, trade union or professional association membership, sexual preference(s) or criminal records), then unless the law provides otherwise, we will also require your consent to the collection of this sensitive information.
We will only collect this information as permitted under the Privacy Act. Sensitive information will be used and disclosed only for the purpose for which it was provided or a directly related secondary purpose, unless you agree otherwise, or where certain other limited circumstances apply (e.g. where required by law).
AccountingHQ will collect all personal information in a fair and lawful manner. In most instances, we will collect personal information directly from you unless it is unreasonable or impracticable to do so.
We may collect personal information from you in a variety of ways, including when you interact with us electronically or in person. This includes, but is not limited to, when you provide feedback, complete business forms/documentation, when you provide information about your personal or business affairs, change your content or email preference(s), respond to surveys and/or promotions, provide financial or credit card information, or communicate with your advisor.
3. Usage and disclosure of personal information:
AccountingHQ understands and acknowledges that your personal information is highly confidential, we will not use or disclose personal information collected by us for any purpose other than the primary purpose for which it is collected, unless you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose the information for a secondary purpose or your consent has been obtained to use the information for additional purposes.
Exceptions to this include where disclosure is:
- required by superannuation fund trustees, insurance providers, and product issuers for the purpose of giving effect to your financial plan and recommendations made by us
- auditors/compliance officers as required by law or for inspection to ensure compliance with mandatory professional standards
- reasonably necessary to assist a law enforcement agency
- external service providers for the purposes of audit, peer reviews, legal advice, consultancy, outsourced administration, issuing statements or handling mail
- required by reporting entities for the purpose of complying with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing legislation
- permitted under the Australian Privacy Principles
- anyone else to whom you consent such as banks, accountants and other financial institutions.
- Where you engage us to attend to your tax affairs we will assume (unless you advise otherwise) that you have specifically authorised us to deal directly with the Australian Tax Office (the “ATO”)
Where contact information has been collected from you, we may use this information for business related purposes, including:
- provide you with products and services during the usual course of our business activities
- provide you with information about our products and services, invite you to events or distribute articles or publications
- communicate with you by a variety of measures including, but not limited to, by telephone, email, SMS or mail
- seek feedback, direct marketing or surveys
- investigate any complaints
You have a right not to provide information that can identify you. If, however, you withhold your personal information, it may not be possible for us to provide you with our products and services, or alternatively, may affect the adequacy or appropriateness of advice or services provided.
4. Disclosure of government related identifiers:
Accounting HQ will not adopt, use or disclose government agency identifiers, for example, tax file numbers, as our primary means of identifying you unless it is required or authorised by or under an Australian law or a court/tribunal order.
5. Sensitive information:
Some of the personal information is “sensitive information” as defined by the Privacy Act. Sensitive information includes health information, information about your race, ethnic origin, political opinion, religion, trade union or other professional or trade association membership, sexual preference(s) and criminal record. We will only collect this information as permitted under the Privacy Act.
Sensitive information will be used and disclosed only for the purpose for which it was provided or a directly related secondary purpose, unless you agree otherwise, or where certain other limited circumstances apply (e.g. where required by law).
6. Unsolicited personal information:
If AccountingHQ receives unsolicited personal information that we know could have been collected from you, we will afford it the same privacy protection as if we had solicited this personal information.
If this occurs, we will determine if you have given your consent and the information is necessary for us to provide our services, or whether the collection is required or authorised by or under an Australian law or a court/tribunal order. If it is, then the information will be dealt with in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles as if the information had been solicited.
If it is determined that you have not consented to the information being disclosed to us and that there is no requirement at law for us to collect that information, we will destroy or de-identify the information as soon as practicable, provided it is lawful and reasonable to do so.
7. Validity of personal information:
AccountingHQ endeavors at all times, that the personal information we collect, hold, use or disclose is up to date, accurate and complete. We will take reasonable steps to correct and update personal information where required.
If you become aware, or believe, that any personal information we hold is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, please contact us immediately in order to advise us of any changes to the personal information we hold about you.
All requests for correction to personal information should be submitted in writing, we will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe with confirmation of the update to these details.
8. Security of personal information:
AccountingHQ takes the security of your personal information very seriously and is committed to ensuring that the information you provide to us is stored securely.
We have implemented significant safeguard measures and precautions to protect the personal information we hold (both electronic and physical) from such risks as misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify any personal information no longer required.
Our employees are required to respect the confidentiality of personal information and the privacy of individuals, and privacy and data protection training is undertaken.
9. Retention of personal information:
We will retain your personal information only as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, as required by law and the Australian Privacy Principles, or in accordance with our documentation retention policies.
10. Website and Cookies:
When you visit any part of our website, we may collect statistical data about that visit (e.g. what you looked at, the way in which you moved around the site, etc) which is not personally identifiable. We use this information for statistical purposes and to improve our website. We generally only collect personal information from our website when it is provided voluntarily by you in the provided contact/subscriber forms.
You are not required to provide personal information via our websites, however you may choose to do so in order to receive communications on our services, apply for an employment position or receive invitations to events. Information collected via our digital marketing activities is treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Cookies:
We may from time to time use cookies on our websites. Cookies are very small files which a website uses to identify you when you come back to the site and to store details about your use of the site.
Cookies are not malicious programs that access or damage your computer. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies but you can choose to reject cookies by changing your browser settings. However, this may prevent you from taking full advantage of our websites. Our websites may from time to time use cookies to analyse website traffic and help us provide a better visitor experience.
11. Third party sites:
Our websites may from time to time have links to other websites not owned or controlled by us. These links are meant for your convenience only. Links to third party websites do not constitute sponsorship or endorsement or approval of these websites. Please be aware that AccountingHQ is not responsible for the privacy practices of other such websites. We encourage our users to be aware, when they leave our website, to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personal identifiable information.
12. Social media platforms:
You may wish to participate in the various social media platforms hosted by us and which we make available to you. These platforms are designed to facilitate and share content. We cannot be held responsible if you publicly share personal information on these sites that is subsequently used, misused or otherwise appropriated by another party/entity.
13. Access to personal information:
It’s important that you make sure the personal information we hold about you is accurate, up to date and complete. If any of your details change or if you believe that any personal information AccountingHQ has collected about you is inaccurate you can contact us in writing and we will take reasonable steps to correct it in accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act.
You can request access to your personal information that we hold about you, to make a request please contact us for more details.
We may charge reasonable costs for providing you access to your personal information.
14. Email Policy:
The information contained in our email communication is confidential and may be legally privileged.
It is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and others authorised to receive it.
If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender and note that any disclosures, copying, distribution or taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.
AccountingHQ is neither liable for the proper and complete transmission of the information contained in this communication nor for any delay in its receipt.
You may not rely on electronically transmitted advice or opinion unless it is subsequently confirmed by way of facsimile or letter signed by a partner or authorised signatory of AccountingHQ.
All email that is sent from/to AccountingHQ is scanned for the presence of computer viruses, security issues and inappropriate content. However, it is the recipient's responsibility to check any attachments for viruses before use.
15. Changes to Privacy Policy:
Please be aware that this policy may be updated as and when required, for example, to take into account new laws, changes to our operations and practices, changes in the business environment and technology. We may modify this Policy at any time, in our sole discretion and all modifications will be effective immediately upon our posting of the modifications on our websites. Please check back from time to time to review our Privacy Policy -This policy was last updated April 2020.
16. Complaints about privacy:
If you have any complaints about our privacy practices, please feel free to send in the details of your complaint to info@accountinghq.com.au.
We take all complaints very seriously and will respond to you in in accordance with our complaints policy upon receiving written notice of your complaint.
Want to know more?
If you would like access to your personal information, or have any questions about privacy-related issues please feel free to contact us to further discuss this matter.