Privacy Policy

What kinds of personal information do we collect from you?

The types of personal information we collect about you includes:

• Name
• Address
• Email address
• Telephone and facsimile numbers
• Personal history and details
• Employment information

From time to time we may also collect sensitive information from you. (This may include health information or membership details of professional or trade associations or political parties.) If we do collect sensitive information from you, we will not do so without first obtaining your consent.

We collect personal information about you in the following ways:

• Directly from you when you provide it to us in person, by email, by telephone, by facsimile, through our website, or by any other means. This may occur when you engage our services, contact us with a query or submit a job application, among other things.
• From third parties, for example, your authorised representatives, other professional advisors, and government and regulatory bodies.

You do not have to provide us with your personal information. However, if you do not provide us with certain information, we may not be able to provide you with the effective legal or other services that you seek.

How do we use and disclose your personal information?

We will use or disclose your personal information for the main purposes of:

• providing you with legal advice or other agreed services;
• maintaining contact with you;
• conducting our business (for example, our internal accounting or business management processes); and
• providing you with information from time to time which we think may be of interest to you, for example, by keeping you informed of legal developments or events, such as seminars or forums that we hold, which may be of interest to you.

We will only use or disclose your personal information for another purpose if:

• you have consented to the use or disclosure;
• the use or disclosure is permitted or required under an Australian law or a court or tribunal order; or
• you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose the information to provide you with the services you have requested.

If we disclose your personal information to third parties, we will only do so on a confidential basis and in accordance with our legal and professional obligations. These third parties, who may assist us in providing our services to you and in managing our business, may include, for example:

• our accounting or auditing service providers;
• photocopying and archive service providers;
• expert or external legal counsel we may engage on your behalf;
• government regulatory bodies or public registers (such as the Australian Securities and Investment Commission or IP Australia);
• other service providers, such as legal process servers, mail houses, event organisers and investigators; and
• law enforcement bodies and courts of law.

We do not sell, rent or otherwise trade in personal information about you.

Occasionally, the personal information you provide us may be disclosed to third parties outside Australia that are necessary to conduct our business and provide you with the services you request. These are likely to include parties who provide us with financial, administrative, IT and other services, for example, overseas service agents.

The privacy laws in other countries might not be the same as in Australia. However, where we do provide your personal information to third parties overseas, Hamdan El Madi is committed to ensuring that the recipients are bound by confidentiality obligations and that your personal information is handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Must you receive our marketing and promotional materials?

From time to time, we may contact you about and/or we may send you marketing materials, such as firm information, newsletters, focus papers on topics you may be interested in, invitations to seminars or events we are hosting, offers to participate in surveys and other publications or resources. (This may include by post, email, telephone, Twitter or other means.)

If you do not wish to receive any information or communications of this kind, you can unsubscribe from our contact list:

• in relation to email – by clicking the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of each email you receive (if any), or by contacting us through the avenues listed below in the ‘Contact Us’ section and informing us that you wish to be removed from our contact list;
• in relation to any other marketing materials – by contacting us through the avenues listed below in the ‘Contact Us’ section and informing us that you wish to be removed from our contact list.

Security of your personal information

We store personal information in hard copy and electronic format. We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold from:

• misuse, interference and loss; and
• unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Records containing personal information are accessible to employees of Hamdan El Madi to enable them to perform their duties. Hamdan El Madi’s employees are subject to confidentiality and privacy requirements.

Do we use cookies?

When you visit our website or download information, our Internet Service Provider (ISP) makes a record of your visit and records information such as your internet address, your domain name (if applicable), the date and time, the document pages that you download and links from other sites that you have followed to reach our website.

Your internet browser will store a small message called a cookie, which is sent by our web server. Cookies can be used to monitor visits to our website and website traffic patterns. This information is anonymous and is only used for statistical purposes and we do not make use of cookies to store or record personal information.

From time to time, we may also disclose this non-personal information to Google Analytics for statistical purposes and for the purposes of tracking and understanding our website traffic, so that we can continue to improve and enhance our website.

If you wish to browse our website without using the cookie option, you can turn it off and this will not affect your use of our website. Refer to the help menu within your Internet browser or contact your ISP for information on changing the appropriate settings of your browser.

Links to other websites

This website may contain links to other websites that may be of interest to you. The websites to which we provide links are not subject to this Privacy Policy and we are not responsible or liable for the content and activities of these linked sites. You should check the other websites for details about their privacy policies.

How can you access and/or correct your personal information?

While we take reasonable steps to make sure that the personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date, we do so on the basis that the personal information that we receive about you is both accurate and complete. Please advise us of any changes or corrections to your personal information.

If you wish to access and/or correct the personal information we hold about you, please send us a written request (signed by you or your guardian or power of attorney):

• by post to: Level 13, 111 Elizabeth St, Sydney NSW 2000;
• by email to: info@hamdanelmadi.com, and including in the subject line the title:
  • “Privacy – Access to personal information request”; or
  • “Privacy – Correction of personal information request.

We may seek further information from you to verify your identity and/or clarify details of any request made.

We will endeavour to deal with your request as soon as is reasonably practicable.

We may refuse you access to the personal information we hold about you where required by law. If we refuse access to your personal information, we will provide you with reasons for our refusal (unless it would be unreasonable for us to do so) and measures which you can take to complain about any refusal.

There is no charge for requesting access to the personal information we hold about you.

How can you make a complaint?

We are committed to treating seriously all complaints made by any person concerning the privacy of any personal information we hold about them.

Any complaint which you may have relating to the privacy of any personal information held about you by Hamdan El Madi, must be made in writing and signed by you, your guardian or your power of attorney. Complaints should be sent:

• by email to: info@hamdanelmadi.com, and using the title “Privacy Complaint” in the subject line; or
• by post to: Level 13, 111 Elizabeth St, Sydney NSW 2000.

We will endeavour to deal with your complaint as soon as is reasonably practicable.

If, after receiving our response, you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Variation of the Privacy Policy

We may vary this Privacy Policy from time to time. This will be done by way of an update to our website to include any changes to this Privacy Policy. By continuing to use the website, use our services or provide us with your personal information, you acknowledge that you have read and accept these changes.

Contact Us

If you have any further questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or the privacy of your personal information collected by Hamdan El Madi, please contact us:

• by email to: info@hamdanelmadi.com, and using the title “Privacy Complaint” in the subject line; or
• by post to: Level 13, 111 Elizabeth St, Sydney NSW 2000.