Privacy Policy

Russo Lawyers & Associates | ABN 98 858 479 737 | Level 19, 263 William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 | samuel@russolaw.com.au | (03) 7040 9825

1. About this policy

Russo Lawyers & Associates (we, us, our) is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals who visit our website and contact us for legal services. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, store and protect personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in Schedule 1 of that Act.

By using russolaw.com.au (Website) or by engaging us for legal services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

2. What personal information we collect

We may collect the following categories of personal information:

• Contact and identity information: name, phone number, email address and postal address.
• Matter information: details about your legal matter (including the nature of charges or proceedings, court dates and other information you provide when contacting us or engaging our services).
• Technical information: IP address, browser type, pages visited on our website, and device information, collected automatically through server logs and analytics tools.
• Sensitive information: where you voluntarily provide health information, criminal history or other sensitive information as part of your legal matter, we collect and handle that information in accordance with APP 3.3 and only where reasonably necessary for our functions.

3. How we use personal information

We use personal information to:

• respond to your enquiry and provide legal services;
• manage your matter (including correspondence with courts, prosecution, opposing parties and other persons as required);
• comply with our legal and professional obligations as a law practice (including the legal profession rules and regulations applicable in our jurisdiction);
• communicate with you about your matter and about our services;
• improve our website and services using de-identified or aggregated data; and
• meet our other legal obligations.

4. Disclosure of personal information

We may disclose personal information to:

• courts, tribunals, regulators and law enforcement agencies in connection with legal proceedings or as required or authorised by law;
• opposing parties, prosecutors, expert witnesses and other professionals engaged in connection with your matter;
• barristers and other lawyers we engage on your behalf;
• service providers who assist us with practice management, document storage, file transfer, email, website hosting, analytics and similar functions, where those providers are bound by confidentiality and data-handling obligations; and
• any other person to whom you have authorised disclosure.

We do not sell, rent or trade personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

5. Direct marketing

Where we are permitted by law to do so, we may send you marketing communications about our services. Marketing communications sent by electronic means are sent in accordance with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) and only to recipients who have consented (expressly or by inference) to receive them. Each electronic marketing message will identify us as the sender and include a functional unsubscribe facility. You can opt out of marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link, replying STOP to an SMS, or contacting us using the details in clause 10.

6. Cross-border disclosure

Some of our service providers (for example, cloud hosting, email and practice management providers) may store or process information outside Australia. Before we disclose personal information overseas, we take the reasonable steps required by APP 8 to ensure the overseas recipient handles your personal information in a way that is consistent with the APPs.

7. Storage, security and retention

We take reasonable steps required by APP 11 to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. Those steps include physical, technical and administrative safeguards (such as access controls, password protection, secure cloud services and confidentiality obligations on our staff and contractors).

We retain personal information only for as long as we reasonably need it for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, or as otherwise required or permitted by law (including legal profession record-keeping obligations, tax and audit requirements, and our professional indemnity insurance arrangements). When we no longer need personal information, we will take reasonable steps to destroy it or de-identify it.

8. Notifiable data breaches

We have a data breach response plan. If we have reasonable grounds to believe that an eligible data breach has occurred, in line with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme in Part IIIC of the Privacy Act, we will notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and any affected individuals as soon as practicable.

9. Accessing and correcting your personal information

You have the right to ask for access to personal information we hold about you, and to ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. To make a request, please contact Samuel Russo, Principal Lawyer, using the details in clause 10. We will respond within a reasonable period (usually within 30 days) and we may need to verify your identity before providing access. We will tell you if there is a reason we are unable to provide access or make a correction.

10. Complaints

If you believe we have handled your personal information in a way that does not comply with the APPs or this Privacy Policy, please contact Samuel Russo to make a complaint. We will respond within a reasonable period (usually within 30 days). If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:

• Website: www.oaic.gov.au
• Phone: 1300 363 992
• Post: GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001

11. Cookies and analytics

Our website may use cookies and similar tracking technologies to improve user experience and collect usage statistics. Analytics data is collected in aggregated and de-identified form. Most internet browsers allow you to delete or block cookies, or to receive a warning before a cookie is stored. If you disable cookies, some parts of the website may not function as intended.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The current version will always be available at russolaw.com.au/privacy.

13. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us via the contact details set out on this Website.

This Privacy Policy does not form part of any client engagement agreement. For information about how we handle client confidentiality and legal professional privilege, see your costs agreement or engagement letter.

Contact: Samuel Russo | samuel@russolaw.com.au | (03) 7040 9825