Your privacy is important to us
This statement summarises Saward Dawson’s policy on how we use and manage personal information provided to or collected by us.
Saward Dawson is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act, is compliant with the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 and the confidentiality requirements of APES 110.
Saward Dawson may, from time to time, review and update this Privacy Policy to take account of new laws and technology, changes to Saward Dawson’s operations and practices and to make sure it remains appropriate to the changing legal environment.
This privacy policy assumes that you are resident in Australia. If you are resident in the UK or Europe, please contact us for more information regarding how we treat your personal information.
The type of information Saward Dawson may collect and hold includes (but is not limited to):
- an individual’s identity and contact details,
- date of birth, tax file numbers, bank account details,
- information on minors,
- financial information,
- information required by taxation law,
- sensitive information,
- credit information,
- employee record information,
- photographs.
Sensitive information can include information related to:
- racial or ethnic origin,
- political opinions or associations,
- religious or philosophical beliefs,
- trade union membership or associations,
- sexual orientation or practices,
- criminal record,
- health or genetic information,
- some aspects of biometric information, including signatures.
Personal Information you provide:
Saward Dawson will generally collect personal information held about an individual by way of phone calls, forms, meetings, documents etc. You do have the right to seek to deal with us anonymously or using a pseudonym, but in almost every circumstance it will not be practicable for us to deal with you or provide any services to you except for the most general responses to general enquiries, unless you identify yourself.
Personal information provided by other organisation:
On occasion, we may receive information about you from third party service providers (e.g. your solicitor). If we receive personal information about you from another source, we will determine whether the Act would have allowed us to collect the information from you directly, and if not, we will destroy or de-identify that information.
How will Saward Dawson use the personal information you provide?
Saward Dawson will use personal information it collects from you for the primary purpose of collection, and for such other secondary purposes that are related to the primary purpose of collection and reasonably expected, or to which you have consented.
In relation to direct marketing, Saward Dawson will use your personal information for direct marketing where you have provided that information, and you are likely to expect direct marketing: only then you will be sent direct marketing containing an opt out. If we use your personal information obtained from elsewhere we will still send you direct marketing information where you have consented and which will also contain an opt out.
Who might Saward Dawson disclose personal information to?
Saward Dawson may disclose personal information, including sensitive information, held about an individual to:
- government departments, example: ATO, ACNC, ASIC,
- Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand Quality Control,
- Russell Bedford International Quality Control,
- banking and financial institutions,
- superannuation authorities,
- government and statutory bodies,
- auditors,
- people providing services to Saward Dawson, and
- anyone you authorise Saward Dawson to disclose information to.
Sending information overseas:
Saward Dawson will not send personal information about an individual outside Australia without:
- obtaining the consent of the individual (in some cases this consent will be implied); or
- otherwise complying with the Australian Privacy Principles or other applicable privacy legislation.
Management and security of personal information
Saward Dawson’s staff are required to respect the confidentiality of personal information and the privacy of individuals.
Saward Dawson has in place steps to protect the personal information Saward Dawson holds from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification, interference or disclosure by use of various methods including locked storage of paper records and passworded access rights to computerised records.
We have a data breach response plan, which we would follow in the unlikely event of a privacy or data breach.
Saward Dawson has implemented appropriate industry standard techniques, technological and organisational measures to protect against loss, misuse and/or alteration of the information under our control. These measures include (but are not limited to):
- Physical security such as building security, restricted access to firm premises,
- Staff training,
- Confidentiality clauses in employment agreements,
- Computer, internet and email policy,
- Server encryption and site monitoring,
- Computer firewalls & intrusion detection,
- Dual factor authentication,
- Computer password authentication,
- IT reviews,
- Offsite data backup,
- Bound by the Rules of Ethical Conduct of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ).
Updating personal information
Saward Dawson endeavours to ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate, complete and up-to-date. A person may seek to update their personal information held by Saward Dawson by contacting the organisation at any time.
Saward Dawson may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. Although no fee will be charged for accessing your personal information or making a correction, Saward Dawson may charge a fee to retrieve and copy any material. If the information sought is extensive, Saward Dawson will advise the likely cost in advance.
How long will Saward Dawson keep my information?
Under our destruction and de-identification policies, your personal information that is no longer required will be de-identified or destroyed. In many circumstances, however it will be kept for marketing purposes, unless you have notified us you no longer wish to be contacted.
Enquiries and privacy complaints
If you would like further information about the way Saward Dawson manages the personal information it holds, please contact us.
If you have any concerns, complaints or you think there has been a breach of privacy, then please contact us. If we then have not dealt satisfactorily with your concerns, we will meet with you to discuss further. If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint within 30 days from this meeting then you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner via:
- email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
- tel: 1300 363 992
- fax: +61 2 9284 9666
