About this policy
This policy explains how Nesh Legal Group and the firms within it ("we", "us", "our") handle personal information. We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), and by our professional obligations of confidentiality as legal practitioners.
By using this website or our services, you agree to your personal information being handled as described here.
What we collect
We collect personal information that is reasonably necessary to provide legal services and to run our practice. Depending on your matter, this may include:
- your name, address, phone number and email address
- identification documents, where we are required to verify your identity
- information about your legal matter, including financial, property, family and business details
- information about other people involved in your matter, such as family members, beneficiaries or other parties
- billing and payment details
Some of this may be sensitive information (for example, health or family information). We only collect sensitive information with your consent or where the law allows it.
How we collect it
We usually collect personal information directly from you: in person, by phone, by email, or through the enquiry and booking forms on this website. We may also collect it from third parties where that is necessary for your matter, such as other parties, their lawyers, courts and tribunals, government agencies, land registries, banks, real estate agents and other professionals you ask us to deal with.
This website
This website uses Google Analytics to understand how it is used, such as which pages are visited and how visitors find us. Google Analytics uses cookies and similar technologies to collect anonymised usage information, including your approximate location, device and browser details, and your IP address. The information is processed by Google, which may store it outside Australia. We do not use it to identify you or link it to your enquiry. You can opt out by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on or by blocking cookies in your browser settings. This website does not use advertising trackers.
When you send an enquiry or request a consultation through the website, the details you enter are emailed securely to our office through Microsoft 365. To prevent spam and abuse, the website keeps a one-way scrambled (hashed) version of your IP address for up to one hour; it is not linked to your enquiry and cannot be read back as your IP address.
Our web host keeps standard server logs (such as IP address, browser type and pages requested) for security and maintenance.
If you follow a link to another website, such as one of our firms' own websites or Google Maps, that site's own privacy policy applies.
How we use your information
We use personal information to:
- respond to your enquiry and decide whether we can act for you (including checking for conflicts of interest)
- provide legal services and manage your matter
- meet our legal, professional and regulatory obligations, including identity verification and trust account record-keeping
- bill for our services and manage our accounts
- tell you about legal developments or our services, where you have agreed to this. You can opt out at any time
Who we disclose it to
We keep client information confidential. We only disclose personal information where it is needed for your matter or the running of our practice, where you have consented, or where the law requires or permits it. This may include:
- other parties, their lawyers, barristers, courts, tribunals and government bodies involved in your matter
- other firms within Nesh Legal Group, where they assist with your matter
- service providers who support our practice, such as IT, data storage, document management, mailing and practice management providers, who are bound by confidentiality obligations
- regulators, auditors and insurers, where required
Some of our service providers (for example, cloud email and data storage) may store information outside Australia. Where that happens, we take reasonable steps to make sure the information is protected to a standard consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles.
Storage and security
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Files are kept securely in electronic and paper form. We keep client records for the periods required by law and our professional obligations, then destroy or de-identify them securely.
No transmission over the internet is completely secure, so please consider this before sending us sensitive information by email or through the website.
Accessing and correcting your information
You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete. Please contact our Privacy Officer in writing. We may need to verify your identity first. There is no charge to make a request, but we may charge a reasonable fee for providing access where the request is substantial. If we refuse access (for example, where legal professional privilege or another legal exception applies), we will tell you why.
Complaints
If you are concerned about how we have handled your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer and we will respond within a reasonable time, usually 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992.
Contact our Privacy Officer
Privacy Officer, Nesh Legal Group
Post: 342 Main Street, Mornington, VIC 3931
Phone: (03) 5975 7611
Email: info@neshlegal.com.au
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is always published on this page.