The Queensland Law Society Incorporated (ABN 33 423 389 441) is a regulator of the legal profession in Queensland, with statutory functions under the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) (LPA) and related legislation, as well as being a professional membership organisation for solicitors.
It is because of these two functions that we have obligations in relation to how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (PA) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), as well as under the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) (IPA) and the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs).
Why have I received or been referred to this notice?
This notice has been given to you, or you have been referred to it, because we need to collect your personal information and there are some things you should be aware of before you provide your personal information to us.
What is personal information?
The PA and IPA define what personal information means, but in summary it is any information or an opinion about an individual who is reasonably capable of being identified from that information or opinion. It does not include information which has been de-identified.
What personal information are you collecting about me?
If you have followed a link to this notice from an online or electronic form or have been provided with a copy of this notice with a paper form, the personal information we want to collect from you is listed on that form. This may include where we have asked you to confirm whether personal information that we may already hold about you is correct.
If we have referred you to this notice in another context, such as a telephone call, the personal information we are seeking will have been explained to you.
Some examples of the kinds of personal information we usually ask for are described in the Table below.
If you do not understand what personal information is being requested, please contact us as provided below .
Why are you collecting my personal information?
Usually, the purpose we are collecting personal information, and the reason it is being collected, will be apparent from the relevant form or context.
If we are collecting personal information on a form because it is authorised or required by a law, such as the LPA or Professional Standards Act 2004 (Qld), that law will be noted on the relevant form. In other contexts, we will tell you if it is being collected under a law if it is reasonable for us to do so in the circumstances.
There may be more than one reason that we are collecting your personal information and those additional reasons will be noted on the form or otherwise explained to you at the time of collection. Some examples of why we need your personal information are described in the Table below . Where the personal information is optional for a given purpose, this will also be noted on the form.
If you do not understand why we are asking for your personal information please contact us as provided below.
What if I don’t provide you with my personal information?
Without your personal information we may not be able to process your application or request, answer your enquiry or deal with your complaint, perform our statutory functions or provide you with goods or services.
For example, we may not be able to process your application to renew your practising certificate or your registration to attend a CPD event.
Which third parties do you usually disclose personal information to?
We disclose personal information to:
- relevant staff and members of the Society, including the Council or committees
- our related bodies corporate, such as Lexon Insurance Pte Ltd in relation to professional indemnity insurance
- providers of other insurance products to our members
- providers of finance to our members (members seeking finance must make application directly to the provider)
- our suppliers and advisers
- for events, presenters, attendees & our event sponsors
- other legal professional bodies, such as the Law Council of Australia,
to allow us to carry out our statutory and membership functions (including updating our records and for research) and to provide information about and to deliver products and services, such as CPD events and legal practice resources.
For personal information of the kind collected from solicitors and those applying to become solicitors, we may disclose that personal information to other legal profession regulators, such as the Supreme Court of Queensland, Legal Services Commission and, where applicable, their interstate counterparts, as well as law enforcement agencies like ASIC in accordance with our statutory functions.
We maintain a publicly searchable register of solicitors as required by legislation.
Will you use or disclose my personal information for direct marketing?
We may use some personal information to provide you with information about our products and services and to make you aware of upcoming events. We primarily send this information to our members. We may also disclose personal information of members to our suppliers for this purpose, such as our Member Benefits partners.
In any such communication, you will be given the opportunity of being removed from the applicable marketing mailing list. You can also do so in advance by logging on to your member account or contacting us on 1300 367 757.
There will be some communications that you cannot opt out of, such as statutory notices or, if you are a member, notices such as the notice of our AGM, as these are not marketing communications.
We do not use personal information which is sensitive information (as defined in the PA) for direct marketing.
Will you disclose my personal information overseas?
We do not generally disclose personal information outside Australia, however, it may be stored or used by us on servers located overseas without disclosure to third parties and with appropriate security measures in place, so that we can perform our statutory and other functions or provide you with goods or services.
Table – Examples of personal information collection
Type of collection | Personal information we may collect
| Why we collect it
|
Application to renew a practising certificate | Your name and employment details, qualifications and other matters as required under applicable legislation
| So that we can be satisfied of your identity and eligibility for renewal under the applicable legislation, process that application and publish certain details in our public register. Some details will also be published on our publicly searchable register of solicitors as required by legislation
|
To register for an online CPD event | Your name, contact details and payment information | So that we can process your registration and payment and determine if you are entitled to a membership discount and allow you access to the online event, including providing your details as appropriate to presenters, attendees & our event sponsors
|
Where can I find out more?
Our Privacy Policy is available or you can contact us as provided below and ask us to send you a copy.
Our Privacy Policy also explains our access, correction and complaints procedures, including where to find information about your rights under chapter 3 of the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld).
Lexon Insurance Pte Ltd maintains its own privacy policy which can be accessed here https://www.lexoninsurance.com.au/Home/Privacy.
Our wholly owned incorporated legal practice, QLS Solicitor Support Pty Ltd, also maintains its own privacy policy, which may be obtained by contacting the QLS Ethics and Practice Centre on ethics@qld.com.au.
How to contact us
The Privacy Officer
Queensland Law Society
GPO Box 1785
Brisbane QLD 4001