Privacy Policy
The Law Society of Tasmania (the Society) deals with information privacy in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) including the National Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act. It also complies with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) which imposes restrictions on sending emails.
This Privacy Policy sets out the Society’s policies in relation to management of personal information.
In this privacy policy, “personal information” includes information or opinions about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion.
Collection
The Society collects personal information for the purposes of fulfilling its functions and responsibilities under, and to facilitate compliance with, the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Tas) and associated regulations, to administer member services and to provide other services for legal practitioners and the public.
Consequences of not providing information
Failure to provide information, or providing incomplete or misleading information, may prevent the Society from processing any application you may make to, or request of, the Society.
Use and Disclosure
The Society will use and disclose personal information only for the purposes for which it is collected or otherwise in accordance with privacy law, including:
- processing registration of legal practitioners;
- providing legal practitioners with information relevant to the legal profession;
- maintaining membership records;
- providing information on services and benefits available to members;
- conducting research relevant to members, legal practitioners or the provision of legal services;
- establishing and operating continuing professional development programs;
- providing information to parties associated with the Law Society, including our professional advisors, contractors, sponsors, professional indemnity insurers and practising certificate funders;
- allowing commercial use of mailing list information in a controlled manner by entities proposing mail-outs relevant to legal practitioners;
- providing information to organisations which regulate or represent the legal profession, such as the Legal Profession Board of Tasmania, the Law Council of Australia, interstate and overseas Law Societies, Bars and regulators;
- providing information as authorised or required by law; and
- to fulfil functions under the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Tas).
Where practicable, the Society implements measures to require organisations to whom disclosure is made to comply with privacy law and other confidentiality measures.
The Society may publish a list of legal practitioners to whom it has issued current practising certificates including limited personal information such as name, address and contact information. Membership of the Society, specialist accreditation and other relevant qualifications may also be disclosed.
If you do not want your personal information to be disclosed
If you do not want your personal information to be disclosed (in general or for specific purposes) you should advise the Society in writing. The Society will endeavour to accommodate your request provided that the disclosure is not required by law.
If your personal information is not disclosed the Society might not provide certain services or benefits to you.
Opting out
You will generally be given the opportunity to “opt out” from receiving communications from the Society or from third parties that send communications to you in accordance with this policy. For example, you will be given the option to unsubscribe from e-newsletters and other marketing or promotional material. You may “opt out” from receiving these communications by clicking on an unsubscribe link at the end of an electronic message. You can also contact the Society using the contact details below to unsubscribe to receiving electronic messages.
Storage and Security of personal information
The Society takes reasonable precautions to protect the personal information it holds from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure including by means of firewalls, pass word access and anti-virus software.
If the Society determines that personal information is no longer needed for any purpose, the Society will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify that personal information.
Privacy Policy Application to the Society Website
Internet transmission of information
Please be aware, no transmission of information over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure and we do not warrant the security of any information transmitted to us over the internet.
Cookies
The Society makes use of cookies on the internet. A cookie is a text-only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser on the hard disk of a user’s computer so that the website can remember that user. Without cookies, websites and their servers have no memory. This means that every time a user opens a new webpage on a website, the server where that webpage is stored will treat the user as new and require logon and password. In short, a cookie facilitates a user’s passage through a website.
Linked websites
This Privacy Policy does not apply to linked websites.
Access, corrections and further information
Subject to some exceptions in privacy legislation, you have the right to request access to your personal information held by the Society. Any request for access to your personal information should be made in writing to the Society using the contact details set out below.
If you make a request, the Society will provide you with a copy of the relevant personal information or reasons where we are required by law not to provide your personal information. We may ask you to verify your identity before providing you with a copy.
The Society may charge you a reasonable fee to cover the costs of meeting your request.
You also have the right to request the correction of any personal information about you that is inaccurate or out of date. Any correction requests should be made in writing using the contact details set out below.
If you require any further information about the Society’s management of personal information or have any queries or complaints, you should contact the Privacy Officer at, the Law Society of Tasmania, 28 Murray Street, Hobart, Tasmania, 7000 on (03) 6234 4133 or at info@lst.org.au