Privacy Policy
Vicki Philipoff Settlements Pty Ltd ACN 085 689 470 as trustee for the V Philipoff Family Discretionary Trust No 2 trading as Vicki Philipoff Settlements ABN 11 105 947 750 (referred to in this Privacy Policy as “we”, “our” and “us”) is a Settlement Agency located in Western Australia, licensed pursuant to the Settlement Agents Act 1981 (WA).
The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) may impose obligations upon us regarding the collection, use, disclosure and storage of the personal information of individuals and we may be required to comply with the National Privacy Principles.
Settlement agents are reporting entities under the Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act). As a result, the Privacy Act applies to personal information collected or handled in connection with those obligations.
This Privacy Policy explains:
- what kind of personal information we hold; and
- why and how we collect, hold, use and disclose that personal information.
We collect personal information during the course of carrying on our business. Without this personal information we would be unable to conduct our business or provide services to you.
The personal information we collect includes any information relating to the provision of our services, such as (but not limited to) the following:
- name, occupation, date of birth, gender, marital status, residential address, postal address, contact telephone number, facsimile number, email address.
- bank account and other financial details and information
- identification information (for example driver’s license, passport details birth certificate, Medicare card)
- the address of the property you are buying or selling or providing as security to a lender regarding any transaction in respect of which we act on your behalf;
- your interests in the services we provide;
- details regarding your correspondence or dealings with us or our clients; and
- details so as to comply with any applicable law (such as the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006(Cth)), such as information from you as to source of funds for your transaction
We will only collect personal information if the information is necessary for one or more of our functions or activities, to comply with legal obligations or as otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy.
We collect personal information in several ways, including when you:
- engage us to act as your settlement agent
- provide documents or identification
- complete forms or provide information during a transaction
- communicate with us by phone, email or in writing
- Anti money laundering / counter terrorism financing service providers.
We may also collect personal information from third parties involved in a transaction, including:
- real estate agents
- banks or lenders
- government agencies
- identity verification providers such as InfoTrack, Scantek, or others
- PEXA, the electronic settlement platform used to complete property settlements
- other settlement agents or legal representatives
We may use your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected (and for all related purposes) which include but are not limited to:
- providing our services;
- managing our internal administrative operations, including all legal and financial matters which may be related to the conduct or the operation of our business;
- evaluating our services and our performance;
- for research purposes;
- in tailoring the way in which we deal with prospective or future clients; and
- in compliance with any applicable law (such as the Settlement Agents Act 1981 (WA) and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth)).
- arranging and completing settlement transactions
- communicating with you and other parties involved in a transaction
- verifying identity
- preparing and lodging documents
- managing trust account transactions
- complying with legal and regulatory obligations
- managing our business operations
If your personal information is provided to us by someone other than you, we will inform you that we have obtained your personal information unless we consider that you know or you would expect us to have obtained the information.
We may disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected (and for all related purposes) where reasonably necessary to complete a transaction or comply with legal requirements which include but are not limited to:
- banks or financial institutions
- government authorities (such as Landgate)
- PEXA, the electronic settlement platform used for property settlements
- real estate agents
- other settlement agents
- legal practitioners
- identity verification providers [insert provider name]
- technology service providers assisting us in delivering our services
- Anti money laundering / counter terrorism financing service providers.
- Any party involved in any transaction in respect of which we act on your behalf;
- Any party who purports to represent you in any transaction in respect of which we act on your behalf;
- Any party who you purport to represent in any transaction in respect of which we act on their behalf;
- Any party we engage or employ to assist or advise us in providing any of our services (including any of our legal, financial, administrative or other advisers);
- Any party including any government department, body, authority or any court or tribunal if we are required or permitted to do so by law or in compliance with any of our professional obligations; and
- Any party with your consent.
- We may also disclose personal information where required or authorised by law.
When you authorise us to act on your behalf you also consent and authorise us to collect, use, disclose and deal with your personal information to enable us to provide services to you (including for all related purposes) and for any purpose disclosed in this Privacy Policy or in any agreement between you and us or in any way which is permitted by law. This continues until such time as you in writing instruct us to cease using your personal information (except if we are by law permitted to continue to use your personal information in which case we shall continue to do so).
We treat information obtained while acting for a client as confidential.
Information will not be disclosed unless:
- the client has authorised the disclosure, or
- disclosure is required or permitted by law.
We will take reasonable steps to protect all personal information which we hold from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We may retain all personal information which we are required to retain for all legal and financial purposes (this may include details to enable us to verify transactions and clients).
These measures may include:
- secure electronic systems
- password protection
- restricted staff access to information
- secure storage of physical records
- secure destruction or de‑identification of information when no longer required
We also only engage service providers that have security measures for information they collect on our behalf, that meets the requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles.
We retain personal information for the period required by law and professional obligations.
When personal information is no longer required, it will be securely destroyed or de‑identified. If we receive unsolicited personal information which is not received for the purposes above, it will be securely destroyed.
We may collect your personal information so that we may provide you with information in respect of the services we offer and to provide people who refer business to us with information regarding our services and our performance to our clients in providing those services.
When you visit our website, we may collect your email address, your IP address, the date and time of your visit, the pages you viewed and any information you downloaded.
You may request access at any time to any of the personal information we hold about you. We may charge you a fee where access is provided and we may refuse to provide access if we are permitted to do so by law.
If you advise us that the personal information we hold about you is not accurate, complete or up to date then we may upon being advised in writing by you take reasonable steps to correct the personal information we hold so that it is accurate, complete and up to date.
You may also request that we correct personal information if it is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.
Requests can be made using the contact details below.
If you have a query or complaint about any of the matters referred to in this Privacy Policy please contact one of our privacy officers:
Rianna Davies
Licensee
rianna@vickiphilipoff.com.au
We may in our sole discretion vary this Privacy Policy from time to time so you may wish to contact us if you require clarification of our Privacy Policy at any time in the future.
We will investigate the complaint and respond within a reasonable timeframe.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Further information regarding the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) may be found at the Federal Privacy Commissioner’s website which is located at http://www.privacy.gov.au
