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Privacy Policy

Scammell & Co. respects your right to privacy and as such are committed to complying with the Privacy Act 1988 (“the Act”), including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) which are contained in schedule 1 of the Act. To view the Act or APPs please refer to the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

This Privacy Policy contains important information on how Scammell & Co. collects and manages your personal information.

This policy herein also refers to Scammell & Co. as “we”, “us” or “our”.

What we do

Scammell & Co. provides legal advice and associated services through the engagement of our barristers, solicitors, conveyancers and external consultants.

Types of personal information collected

To provide effective, lawful and ethical legal advice and services, and to communicate in a professional, informative and timely manner, it may be necessary for us to collect personal information from potential or existing clients including (but not limited to):

  • Name, address and other contact details
  • Date of birth
  • Gender, nationality, residency status, relationship status
  • Email address
  • Occupation and name of employer
  • Other personal information to provide our clients with specific advice and services relevant to their individual needs

Depending on the nature of our client’s matter it may also be necessary to collect what the APP describes as ‘sensitive information’ such as:

  • Health or medical records
  • Racial or ethnic origins
  • Political opinions or affiliations
  • Professional or trade associations
  • Religious beliefs or affiliations
  • Philosophical beliefs
  • Sexual orientation or practices
  • Criminal record
  • Biometric information or templates

How we collect personal information

We collect personal information in one or more ways depending on the nature of the legal matter, individual needs, and unique situation of the potential or existing client. These may include:

  • A website enquiry
  • A telephone, fax, email or postal enquiry
  • Directly from a person when they meet with us
  • Subscription to a publication or other marketing initiative

We may also obtain information about other people (in relation to specific matters) from our clients or third-party sources such as employers, or from publicly available records. In this case, the person or organization providing this information must ensure they have permission or authority to provide us with personal information pertaining to that individual.

Use and disclosure – General

Our priority is to use the personal information collected to provide the legal advice and services that our potential or existing clients engage us in. 

We have a professional duty to maintain the confidentiality of our clients’ personal information, and we will not disclose a person’s information to third-parties (with the exception of marketing initiatives and credit reporting – see below) without their consent, or we are under a legal obligation to do so.

For example, we may need to provide information to a Court, to a Regulatory Authority, or an external barrister or consultant engaged by us. Any contractors engaged by us are bound by obligations of confidentiality and may only access information necessary to provide the services we require of them.

Use and disclosure – Marketing

The collection of personal information described above may be used to send you marketing communications.

For example, at the completion of your matter Scammell & Co may send you an SMS or email inviting you to review us on Google. A third-party provider manages this process on our behalf. This company guarantees that your data is stored on a secure server in Australia and is not used for any other purpose. Requests to review us are not compulsory and recipients may opt-out of receiving further requests at any time.

We may also use personal information we hold about clients, employees of clients, or other contacts to send them our publications, other information which we believe may be of interest to them, or invitations to events. Once again, recipients of such marketing information or material have the right to opt-out from receiving further marketing communications by contacting us via phone, or in writing via fax, email or post. 

Use and disclosure – Credit Reporting

We may disclose your credit information to credit reporting agencies where the Privacy Act permits us to do so, and in accordance with, and as permitted by the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2014. For example, if you fail to meet your payment obligations in relation to credit extended to you by us.

Information storage and security

All reasonable steps are taken to ensure your personal information is stored securely. We maintain physical security measures over our offices, and access to our computer systems is limited to user identifiers and regularly updated passwords.

We are required to keep personal information for a minimum of 7 years upon the closure of a matter, however this extends to 15 years in the case of Family Law matters involving children. Files pertaining to Wills are kept for 50 years after signing and Estates 35 years.

How do I access or update my personal information?

You may request access to or updates to your personal information (subject to our duty of confidentiality to a client, or if legal professional privilege applies) at any time. All enquiries and requests can be made to our Privacy Officer in writing via post, fax or email, or by telephoning our Port Adelaide Head Office.

Privacy Officer
Scammell & Co.
PO Box 3066
Port Adelaide SA 5015
Tel: (08) 8447 4466
Fax: (08) 8341 1566
Email: ptadel@scammell.com.au