Privacy policy
Last updated 14 May 2024
Last updated 14 May 2024
Justice Connect (ABN 54 206 789 276) (‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’) is committed to protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of any personal information we collect. We value honesty and transparency and want you to know what we’ll do with your personal information.
We collect, use, disclose and otherwise handle your personal information or sensitive information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) which are contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).
You indicate that you accept the terms of this Privacy Policy (as amended from time to time) by accessing our website, services or otherwise providing us with your personal information. Please regularly review our Privacy Policy so that you are aware of changes.
The types of personal information or sensitive information we collect about you will depend on the type of dealings you have with us. We have set out in the table below what we collect and in what circumstances.
| If you are… | We may collect the following personal information |
| seeking legal assistance or non-legal assistance (for example, social work) |
To assess your eligibility for assistance:
To undertake a conflict check:
|
| a service referring a client to us | your name, organisation, contact number, email address and any other information that may be relevant to your referral of a client to us |
| a legal practitioner providing legal assistance to our clients |
your name, organisation/firm name, contact number, email address and any other information that may be relevant to your engagement with our clients |
| family or a friend or an individual supporting a client |
your name, contact number, email address, other relevant details information for conflict checking purposes and arranging appointments |
| a subscriber to a Justice Connect publication |
your name, organisation (if relevant), contact number, email address and details about the information you access in our publications |
| donating to Justice Connect |
your name, email address, the amount and frequency of your donation and payment details, which includes debit/credit card number, expiry date, ccv, or any such other payment information (which we cannot access as these details are stored securely by our online payment gateway controlled by a third party) and if you choose, your address, organisation, and contact number |
| attending a professional development or training program or attending another Justice Connect event |
your name, organisation (if relevant), contact number, email address, image (by taking a photo or recording the training or event) and payment details, which includes debit/credit card number, expiry date, ccv, or any such other payment information (which we cannot access as these details are stored securely by our online payment gateway controlled by a third party) and any dietary and accessibility requirements |
| participating in our surveys |
your name, organisation, contact number, email address, your survey responses and information about the help or assistance we provided Generally, you can participate in our surveys anonymously or confidentially. We will tell you if you are participating on an anonymous basis (completely de-identified) or confidential basis (only identifiable by a small number of people). |
| participating in user testing or co-design workshops for Justice Connect |
your name, organisation (if relevant), contact number, address, email address, image (by taking a photo or recording the workshop or event), date of birth, gender, if you are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, language(s) spoken, if you are a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, your country of birth, your health status including mental health status and any disability as well as payment details (if relevant) which includes PayID or name, BSB and Account Number |
| using a Justice Connect web application |
we will request that you tell us your name, organisation (if relevant), contact number, email address and details of the web application that you used, so that we can advise you if there is a change to the web application (for example, the application becomes outdated or incorrect due to legislative change) |
| sending us an enquiry |
your name, organisation (if relevant) contact number, email address, information about your circumstances and details of your query |
| interacting with us on social media |
your name (including username), image, together with any details that you provide to us directly or indirectly through social media messages or posts or tags. |
| making a complaint or provide feedback |
your name, organisation (if relevant), contact number, email address, the details of your complaint, the details of the service you received (if any), information collected in any investigation of the matter and details of the resolution of the complaint |
| applying for a role (paid or unpaid) at Justice Connect, joining our talent pool or expressing interest in a role |
the information you include in your application, including your cover letter, resume, contact details and referee reports, qualifications, which we do not store on our system but are stored on our secure third party online recruitment platform (read our collection statement here) |
The Privacy Act defines ‘sensitive information’ as information relating to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political, professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, health information, genetic information, sexual orientation or practices and criminal record.
We may collect your sensitive information when we have your consent and when the collection is reasonably necessary for us to carry out one or more of our functions or activities.
Example of when we collect sensitive information
We require clients to meet our eligibility criteria before we can provide them with a service (legal and non-legal). The personal circumstance of an individual is relevant to assessing whether that person falls within our eligibility criteria. This means we often need to collect sensitive information to assess whether they are eligible for our services. This might include for example, information about whether you have a mental illness, a disability or are a person experiencing drug dependence.
We also need to collect sensitive information when it relates to your legal matter and our delivery of services (legal and non-legal) to you. This might include for example, information about your criminal record or determining whether you have any additional needs, such as an interpreter.
In some circumstances, where it is possible, we allow you the option of not identifying yourself, or of using a pseudonym, when dealing with us (for example, when viewing our website or making general phone queries or participating in our ‘anonymous’ surveys).
Donations may also be made anonymously, but in this case, we would not be able to issue a tax-deductible receipt.
As a legal service we have ethical obligations. This means it is generally not possible for us to provide services to our clients or deal with other individuals in an anonymous way.
We collect personal information in a number of ways, including:
through our websites (for example, if you choose to donate to us online through our secure payment gateway) or our intake platform for individuals (located here) or our intake platform for not-for-profits (located here)
when you apply for a role (paid or unpaid) with us, including via our secure third-party online recruitment platform
when you correspond with us (for example by making an enquiry via email or telephone or providing us with instructions)
from hard copy forms
in person (for example, at job interviews and where we meet with you to take instructions)
through our user testing or co-design workshops
from referring third parties (for example, legal practitioners providing you with assistance)
from other organisations working in collaboration with us such as organisations using the Pro Bono Portal, homeless services and hospitals
via social media
at events and forums including any training we provide, and
from third parties such as the police, various courts (such as the Federal Court Registry), Legal Aid, Centrelink or registries based in Australia.
The main purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information are set out below.
assessing whether you meet our eligibility criteria
determining whether you have any additional needs, such as an interpreter or accessibility requirements
providing legal and non-legal assistance (e.g. social work) to eligible clients
referring clients to external lawyers where the lawyer has agreed to help
carrying out law reform and policy work (for example, undertaking an internal analysis of law reform opportunities)
conducting research and statistical analysis relevant to our activities
promoting us and our activities, including through events and forums
posting or publishing images of individuals who attend our events online or in-person
preparing client stories for use in advocacy work and in promotional activities (including publications) (you will not be individually identified without your consent)
providing legal information or resources
running professional development programs for lawyers
running community training programs (legal and non-legal)
outreach activities, including community-based activities and online campaigns to promote our services
carrying out research relevant to our work
evaluating our products and services
designing, developing and improving products and services, including digital solutions powered by artificial intelligence
seeking funding and donations
organising fundraising events
reporting to funding providers
thanking donors for their support
recruiting employees, contractors and volunteers
processing payments
answering queries and resolving complaints
evaluating our work and reporting internally and externally
communicating with you about assistance, services, or products you’ve accessed through us
Direct marketing is the promotion of goods and services directly to you including through social media, emails, SMS, phone calls and the post. We will only send you direct marketing materials if you would reasonably expect to receive them (such as new resources or service offerings that might be of interest to you) or you have provided us with your consent. If it is impractical to gain your consent, we will always provide a simple means for you to request not to receive the material (‘opt out’), see below.
You can opt out of receiving marketing communications from us by:
advising us if you receive a marketing call (or a direct message on social media) that you no longer wish to receive these calls (or messages)
using the settings of each social media platform to control the content you receive
using the unsubscribe facility that we include in our commercial electronic messages (such as email and SMS) to opt out of receiving those messages
contacting us by email at privacy@justiceconnect.org.au, by phone on (03) 8636 4400, by facsimile (03) 8638 4455 or by sending a letter to Publications, Justice Connect, PO Box 16013, Collins Street West, Melbourne, 8007.
When you access our websites, we or our third-party service providers may use “cookies”.
We may also gather your IP address as part of our business activities and to assist with any operational difficulties or support issues with our services. This information does not identify you personally.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small data files stored in your device’s memory that do not, of themselves, identify individuals personally but do identify devices.
What cookies do we use and why?
Cookies help us to provide customised services and information. For example, to allow us to:
maintain the continuity of your browsing session;
remember your details and preferences when you return;
use Google Analytics and HotJar to collect information such as demographics and interests, visits to our websites, length of visit and pages viewed and interaction with YouTube videos you access from our site;
use Laravel to collect temporary, anonymised information such as session storage; and
tailor our advertising through advertising networks such as Google Ads and Meta Audience Network on other websites, or on social media platforms such as Meta or LinkedIn.
We generally use cookies on our websites for the following purposes:
Where necessary: These cookies are necessary for the basic functions of the website, and the website will not work in its intended way without them. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.
Functionality: These cookies help to perform certain functionalities. For example, recognising a user that has visited the website before, or remembering any preferences previously selected, such as preferred language or location.
Analytics: These cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Performance: These cookies are used to understand and analyse the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for visitors.
Advertisement: These cookies are used to provide visitors with customised advertisements based on the pages they have visited before and analyse the effectiveness of the ad campaign.
How can you control your cookie preferences?
You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie and this will provide you with an opportunity to either accept or reject it in each instance. Please note that if you do this, it may affect some of the functions on our websites.
Third party cookies
When you visit our website, you may receive cookies that are set by third parties. For example, you may receive a cookie set by Google Analytics or HotJar.
We do not control the setting of these third-party cookies, so we suggest you might wish to check the third-party website for more information about their use of cookies and how to manage them.
The nature of the services provided by us means that it is often necessary for us to disclose your personal information to third parties. We will usually let you know who we will disclose your personal information to when we collect the personal information from you (unless there are practical reasons for not informing you).
Typical third parties we might need to disclose personal information or sensitive information to include:
government agencies (for example Centrelink, Fines Victoria) when we are advocating on behalf of our clients
the legal providers that give legal assistance to our clients
other community legal service providers when referring you to the provider (with your consent) or for file review and audit purposes
other support services when referring you to the provider (with your consent)
our funding providers (with your consent) however, we are more likely to disclose certain demographic data of help-seekers (particularly age, location, disability and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status) than information that identifies an individual
financial institutions for payment processing
to researchers who are conducting surveys or other work on our behalf
referees whose details are provided to us by job applicant
our contracted service providers which include:
‒ information technology service providers
‒ conference, function and training organisers
‒ marketing, communications and research agencies
‒ freight and courier services
‒ printers and distributors of direct marketing material
‒ storage providers for archiving files
‒ external business advisers (such as consultants supporting our business, recruitment advisors, auditors and lawyers)
a court or tribunal (for obtaining copies of documents relevant to your matter)
government departments in order to measure Justice Connect’s impact, noting only de-identified data is used for this purpose, unless we have obtained your consent or an exception under law applies.
We may disclose or store your personal information to our contracted information technology service providers that are hosted offshore or in cloud via Amazon Web Services (AWS). You agree that we may disclose your personal information in this manner, notwithstanding that privacy laws in such countries may differ. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that any overseas recipients of your personal information will abide by the Australian Privacy Principles.
We hold personal information in both hard copy and electronic formats. Paper files are stored in lockable cabinets onsite. They may also be archived in boxes and stored offsite in secure facilities.
If you are a client, service user or supplier we will return any of your original documents that we have to you when your matter has been finalised. Copies of your documents will remain on your file with us and will generally be kept for at least 7 years after the date that your file has been closed.
The security of your personal information is important to us and when storing and handling your personal information, we use a secure server using the latest SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption technology to process any financial transactions.
The steps we take to ensure the personal information we collect and hold is protected from misuse, interference and loss, as well as unauthorised access, modification or disclosure include:
website protection measures (such as encryption, firewalls and anti-virus software)
access restrictions to our computer systems requiring multi-factor identification (such as login and password protection)
restricted access to our office premises and files containing personal information, and
staff training and implementation of workplace policies and procedures that cover access, storage and security of information.
While we strive to protect the personal information and privacy of users of our website, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure and any information that you disclose online is disclosed at your own risk. If you are concerned about sending your information over the internet, you can contact us by telephone or post (details under ‘Contact’).
Links to third party websites that are not operated or controlled by us are provided for your convenience. We are not responsible for the privacy or security practices of those websites. Third party websites should have their own privacy and security policies, which we encourage you to read before supplying any personal information to them.
You may request access to your personal information, and we will endeavour to assist you with your request. We may however charge a fee to cover our reasonable costs of locating, retrieving, sending (including posting) the personal information to you.
We will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information if we are satisfied that, having regard to the purpose we hold your information, that it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant, or misleading. If we have provided your personal information to third parties, we will also notify them of the correction if you ask us to do so, unless it is impracticable or unlawful.
If your personal information changes, we would appreciate you notifying us as soon as practicable, and we will ensure our records are corrected to be current and up to date. Requests to update your personal information should be made to us by email, post or phone using the details provided under the ‘Contact’ heading below. Note that we will need to verify your identity before processing your request. We will endeavour to respond to your request within 30 days.
If we do not agree with your request to access or correct your information, we will provide you with written reasons for our decision and information about the ways that you can make a complaint.
If you have any questions or feedback about this policy or the way in which we handle personal information you can contact us on the details below. You can also request a hard copy of this policy using the details below.
Privacy Officer
Justice Connect
Mail: PO Box 16013, Collins Street West, Melbourne, 8007
Email: privacy@justiceconnect.org.au
Telephone: +61 3 8636 4400
Facsimile: +61 3 8638 4455
If you have a complaint about how we have collected or handled your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer using the details provided under the heading ‘Contact.’
If you have a privacy complaint, you can get in touch with us via phone or email.
We will endeavour to respond to your complaint within 30 days of receipt of your complaint (while complex cases may take longer to resolve, we will keep you updated on the progress of your complaint).
If you are unhappy with our response, you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (see details below) or, in some instances, other regulatory bodies, such as the Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner or the NSW Health Complaints Commissioner.
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner Online:
www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/contact-us
Phone: 1300 363 992 (Australia) or + 61 2 9284 9749 (International)
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Fax: +61 2 9284 9666
Post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001