Privacy Policy & Collection Notice

The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)(the Act) allows for ‘personal information’, including ‘sensitive information’ (which are defined in the Act) about you to be collected, used and disclosed provided we have provided you with notice and in certain circumstances also obtained your consent.  In this Privacy Policy and, where appropriate, a reference to ‘personal information’ includes ‘sensitive information’.

We may (from time to time) update, revise, amend or replace this Privacy Policy by posting any changes to it on our website or by giving you any other form of notification.

This Privacy Policy is available on our website, at our office and may also be made available to you at any property inspection or when we first communicate with you by email.

What personal information do we collect?

We collect names, phone numbers and email addresses of potential clients, along with details about their property requirements, properties they may already own, and their personal circumstances in relation to purchasing and/or selling property.

We collect copies of client identification documents upon engagement.

How we collect personal information from you

We will collect personal information from you in the following circumstances:

Buyers Agency

• if you are a prospective or current client and you want us to act as your buyers agent, then we will collect personal information from you in order to identify you; and
• subject to the other provisions of this Privacy Policy, we may also collect personal information from you when we are required to act on your behalf during the purchasing process.

Vendor Advocacy

• if you are a prospective or current vendor and you want us to act as your vendor’s advocate, then we will collect personal information from you in order to identify you and the property;  and
• subject to the other provisions of this Privacy Policy, we may also collect personal information from you when we are required to act on your behalf during the sale process.

How we collect personal information from other sources

We can collect personal information about you from other sources in any manner permitted by the Act.  We will only collect personal information from other sources where it is reasonably necessary for us to do so in relation to, or in connection with, any services we are supplying in connection with our real estate agency business.  Examples of such sources of personal information include:

• from your agents, other owners, insurers and underwriters, contractors, legal, financial and other advisors in relation to or in connection with any tenancy, lease or contract for sale of the property;
• from public registers including those managed by the NSW Land & Property Information;
• from publicly available information;
• from property valuers or related service providers; and
• from our other service providers including any third party that has been authorised to supply us with personal information.

When the law authorises or requires collection of personal information

These are laws that may require us to collect and disclose your personal information.  For example, we may be required to collect and disclose your personal information pursuant to the Property Occupations Act 2014 including any regulation under that law.

How your personal information may be used

We may collect and disclose your personal information for the following purposes including:

Vendor Advocacy

• to identify and/or verify the identity of any prospective or actual vendor for any property;
• to liaise with your selling agent, negotiate and manage the sale of any property (including to provide non-legal assistance with the exchange of the contracts for the sale of property as well as the preparation of any required statements of account);
• to liaise and exchange information with the vendor, purchaser (including any prospective purchaser) as well with their respective agents, contractors, legal, financial and other advisors in relation to or in connection with the sale of the property;
• to ensure the safety and security of vendors and existing occupiers and of each of their property in connection with auctions and the inspection of any property by prospective purchasers;
• to comply with any applicable law in connection with the sale of the property;
• to confirm whether the vendor or purchaser is registered for GST purposes;
• to tell you about any other property that we are selling or any other service that we provide, unless you tell us not to (this is referred to as direct marketing);

Buyers Agency

• to identify and/or verify the identity of any prospective purchaser;
• to liaise with selling agents for the procurement of prospective properties that might match your requirements;
• to liaise with the selling agent of a prospective purchase, negotiate and manage the purchase of any property (including to provide non-legal assistance with the exchange of the contracts for the purchase of property as well as the preparation of any required due diligence reports);
• to liaise and exchange information with the vendor as well with their respective agents, contractors, legal, financial and other advisors in relation to or in connection with the purchase of a property;
• to liaise and exchange information with your contractors, legal, financial and other advisors in relation to or in connection with the purchase of a property;
• to ensure the safety and security of vendors and existing occupiers and of each of their property in connection with auctions and the inspection of any property by prospective purchasers;
• to comply with any applicable law in connection with the sale of the property;
• to confirm whether the vendor or purchaser is registered for GST purposes;
• to tell you about any other property that we are selling or any other service that we provide, unless you tell us not to (this is referred to as direct marketing);

Generally

• to allow us to run our business efficiently and to perform administrative and operational tasks;
• to comply with any dispute resolution or other legal process;
• to act on behalf of clients in accordance with any agency agreement and to comply with our obligations under that agreement;
• in order to update our records and your contact details;
• to operate controlled money accounts;
• if we enter into or propose to enter into any agreement or arrangement with any party for the purpose of, or in connection with, the acquisition of our business (including any part of our business that includes personal information), then we may provide that party (including its legal, financial and other professional advisers) with personal information in relation to or in connection with those arrangements; and
• any other purpose to which you have consented.

You can tell us at any time if you no longer wish to receive direct marketing information or offers from us. We will process your request as soon as reasonably practicable after receipt of the request.

How we share your personal information

Sharing personal information with third parties

We may seek and use personal information about you from, and use or disclose personal information about you to, third parties in relation to or in connection with the potential or actual rental of a property, the sale and purchase of a property or other business or administrative functions for the real estate and/or strata agency. These third parties may include:

• your representatives, attorneys, lawyers, settlement agents, accountants, brokers;
• any conjunction, co-listing, buyers’ or other property agents that acts on your behalf in connection with the rental, leasing, sale and purchase of property;
• auctioneers;
• your financier including any mortgage brokers that may be assisting you with any existing mortgage loan or application in relation to the sale or purchase of property;
• valuers, surveyors, insurers, re-insurers, claim assessors and investigators;
• financial institutions including deposit taking institutions;
• if you are a tenant, including any prospective tenant, your referees, including your employer or other individuals to confirm your identity and/or other details about you in any rental application that you submit;
• organisations in and associated with debt collecting;
• law enforcement agencies;
• government and/or regulatory bodies including (without limitation) the NSW Land and Property Management Authority, Australian Taxation Office, the NSW Office of State Revenue. In  many cases, these organisations may share information with foreign authorities;
• mailing houses and telemarketing agencies that assist us to communicate with you;
• if we enter into, or propose to enter into, any agreement or arrangement with any party for the purpose of, or in connection with, the acquisition of our business (including any part of our business that includes personal information), that party (including its legal, financial and other professional advisers) to provide personal information in relation to or in connection with those arrangements; and
• service providers including IT and data consultants, agents, contractors and advisers that assist us to conduct our business.

Sharing personal information outside of Australia

We may store information about you in the cloud or other types of networked or electronic storage.  As electronic or networked storage can be accessed from various countries through an internet connection it is not always practical to know in which country personal information about you may be held.

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that any overseas organisation that receives your personal information will comply with the Act.

If you do not provide personal information

If you do not provide your personal information to us, it may not be possible to provide you with the service that you have requested or applied for, for example:

• if personal information is not disclosed by a vendor in connection with the sale of their property, we will not be able to verify that they are the owner of the property and/or represent them and engage with prospective sales agents;
• if personal information is not disclosed by a prospective purchaser, then we may not be able to follow their instructions when making offers;
• if personal information is not disclosed by a prospective purchaser prior to an auction, then we will not be able to register them as a bidder and bid on their behalf;
• to let you know about other services we provide that might be suitable for your needs (unless you opt out of this by telling us that you do not wish to receive such information).

Personal information about other people

If you give us personal information about any other person in relation to, or in connection with, the rental/lease, purchase or sale of any property:

• we are entitled to assume that you have sought their consent to the disclosure of such personal information to us;
• we have collected their personal information for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy;
• we may exchange their personal information with other organisations for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy;
• we will handle their personal information in the same way as set out in this Privacy Policy and they can:
  • access or request a copy of this Privacy Policy; or
  • access the personal information we hold about them.

Anonymity and pseudonymity

We are not always able to deal with people who do not wish to identify themselves. This will be particularly the case when we are proposing to, or we do, act for a vendor or a landlord in relation to either the sale or purchase of any property.

However, where possible, we can provide information of a general nature such as, for example, we can respond to general telephone call from unidentified individuals. Of course, if an individual makes an enquiry by email or other electronic or written methods then there is every possibility that the mode of communication may identify you.

Information security

We take reasonable steps to protect all information which we hold (including any personal or sensitive information) from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Marketing and opt-out

We may also use the information, including personal information (excluding sensitive information), provided by you for marketing and research purposes, to analyse and improve products, services and benefits and to inform you of products, services and benefits provided by us or our related entities which we consider may be of value or interest to you, unless you tell us (see the marketing opt-out below), or have previously told us not to. We will not use your sensitive information for these purposes without your consent.

Accessing your Personal Information

Unless we are entitled to withhold access to your personal information (there are various reasons why this may be the case), you have the right to request access to any personal information held by us which relates to you.  We may charge a reasonable fee where access to personal information is provided.  Any requests for access to your personal information should be made in writing to the Privacy Officer (details specified below).  You also have the right to request the correction of any personal information which relates to you that is inaccurate, incomplete, irrelevant, misleading or out-of-date.

If you require any further information about our management of personal information or have any queries or complaints, you should contact:

The Privacy Officer

Property Pursuit Advisors Pty Ltd

Great George Level, 251 Given Tce Paddington Queensland 4064

Phone: (07) 3177 3399

Email: [email protected]

 Complaints

If you consider that there has been a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles, you are entitled to complain to Property Pursuit (see the Contacting Us section for more information).

We will acknowledge receipt of a complaint within 2 business days.

We will investigate the complaint and attempt to resolve it within 20 business days after the complaint was received.  Where it is anticipated that this timeframe is not achievable, we will contact you to provide an estimate of how long it will take to investigate and respond to the complaint.

If you consider that we have not adequately dealt with a complaint, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on the below details:

Officer of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)

GPO Box 5218

SYDNEY  NSW  2001

1300 363 992

Online Enquiries

Review

This policy is to be reviewed as follows:

• Annually as a minimum.
• Following an information security incident.
• Following significant changes to our systems.
• Following changes to the relevant State and Commonwealth legislation

Reviews are to examine the appropriateness of the policy taking into consideration corporate, system and compliance requirement changes since the last review was undertaken.