Privacy Policy

Our commitment

North West Financial Services (Qld) Pty Ltd is committed to providing you with the highest levels of client service. We recognise that your privacy is very important to you. Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 sets out a number of Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). Our aim is to both support and ensure that we comply with these principles. Further information on privacy in Australia may be obtained by visiting the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at http://www.oaic.gov.au.

This Privacy Policy discloses the purpose, and how the personal information you provide to us and our representatives, is collected, used, held, disclosed and disseminated.

We encourage you to check our website regularly for any updates to our Privacy Policy.

Your personal information

As a financial service provider, North West Financial Services (Qld) Pty Ltd is subject to certain legislative and regulatory requirements under s961B of the Corporations Act and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. These require us to obtain personal information about you including:

  • your name, contact details, date of birth, tax file number
  • information regarding your dependents and family commitments
  • your occupation, and employment history
  • your financial needs and objectives;
  • your assets, liabilities, income, expenses insurances, and social security entitlements

How we collect personal information

North West Financial Services (Qld) Pty Ltd collects personal information directly from you or from third parties once authorisation has been provided by you. You have the right to refuse us authorisation to collect such information from a third party.

How we use your personal information

Primarily, your personal information is used in order to provide advice to you. We may also use the information that is related to the primary purpose and it is reasonable for you to expect the information to be disclosed.

From time to time, we may provide you with direct marketing material. If, at any time, you do not wish to receive this information any further, you may contact us with this request. You will be given the opportunity to “opt out” from receiving communications from us or from third parties that send communications to you. You may “opt out” from receiving these communications, such as newsletters, emails and other marketing and promotional materials, by clicking on an unsubscribe link at the end of an email. We maintain details of the source of your personal information used for direct marketing and you have the right to request these details. We will endeavour to meet any requests within 2 weeks. We maintain a Register for those individuals not wanting direct marketing material.

When we may disclose your personal information

In line with modern business practices common to many financial institutions and to meet your specific needs we may disclose your personal information to the following organisations:

  • superannuation fund trustees, insurance providers, fund managers and other product providers in order to manage or administer your product or service;
  • compliance consultants;
  • paraplanning contractors or temporary staff to handle workloads during peak periods;
  • mailing houses;
  • insurance reference bureaus and loss adjusters
  • your professional advisers, including your solicitor or accountant as authorised by you;
  • information technology service providers;
  • another authorised representative of North West Financial Services (Qld) Pty Ltd if necessary;
  • a potential purchaser/organisation involved in the proposed sale of our business for the purpose of due diligence, corporate re-organisation and transfer or all or part of the assets of our business.  Disclosure will be made in confidence and it will be a condition of that disclosure that no personal information will be used or disclosed by them;
  • a new owner of our business that will require the transfer of your personal information;
  • government and regulatory authorities, as required or authorised by law;

Our employees and the outsourcing companies/contractors are obliged to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by North West Financial Services (Qld) Pty Ltd.

The Corporations Act has provided the Australian Securities and Investments Commission with the authority to inspect certain personal information that is kept on our files about you.

We collect information about you for the purpose of reporting to AUSTRAC under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006.

How we store and secure your personal information

We keep your personal information in your client files or electronically. These files are accessible to authorised personnel only and are appropriately secured and subject to confidentiality requirements.

Personal information is treated as confidential information and sensitive information is treated as highly confidential.

It is a legislative requirement that we keep all personal information and records for a period of 7 years. Should you cease to be a client of ours, we will maintain your personal information on or off site in a secure manner for 7 years. After this, the information will be destroyed.

Ensure your personal information is correct

North West Financial Services (Qld) Pty Ltd takes all reasonable precautions to ensure that the personal information we collect, use and disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date. To ensure we can maintain this level of accuracy and completeness, we recommend that you:

  • inform us of any errors in your personal information; and
  • update us with any changes to your personal information as soon as possible.

If you provide inaccurate or incomplete information we may not be able to provide you with the products or services you are seeking.

Unsolicited personal information

We don't usually collect unsolicited personal information. Where we receive unsolicited personal information, we'll determine whether or not it would have been permissible to collect that personal information if it had been solicited. If we determine that collection would not have been permissible, to the extent permitted by law, we'll destroy or de-identify that personal information as soon as practicable.

Access to your personal information

You have a right to access your personal information, subject to certain exceptions allowed by law. We ask that you provide your request for access in writing (for security reasons) and we will provide you with access to that personal information. Access to the requested personal information may include:

  • providing you with copies;
  • providing you with the opportunity for inspection; or
  • providing you with a summary.

If charges are applicable in providing access to you, we will disclose these charges to you prior to providing you with the information.

Some exceptions exist where we will not provide you with access to your personal information if:

  • providing access would pose a serious threat to the life or health of a person;
  • providing access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others;
  • the request for access is frivolous or vexatious;
  • the information is related to existing or anticipated legal proceedings between us and would not be discoverable in those proceedings;
  • providing access would reveal our intentions in relation to negotiations with you in such a way as to prejudice those negotiations;
  • providing access would be unlawful;
  • denying access is required or authorised by or under law;
  • providing access would be likely to prejudice certain operations by or on behalf of an enforcement body or an enforcement body requests that access not be provided on the grounds of national security.

Should we refuse you access to your personal information, we will provide you with a written explanation for that refusal.

Using government identifiers

Although in certain circumstances we are required to collect government identifiers such as your tax file number, Medicare number or pension card number, we do not use or disclose this information other than when required or authorised by law or unless you have voluntarily consented to disclose this information to any third party.

Dealing with us anonymously or using a pseudonym

You have the option to deal with us by not identifying yourself or by using a pseudonym where it is lawful and practicable to do so. For example, if you telephone requesting our postal address.

Your sensitive information

Without your consent we will not collect information about you that reveals your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs or afflations, membership of professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, details of health, disability, sexual orientation, or criminal record. Should we ever undertake direct marketing, we will only use or disclose your sensitive information with your consent.

This is subject to some exceptions including when:

  • collection is required by law; and
  • the information is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim.

Our website

North West Financial Services (Qld) Pty Ltd’s website may provide links to third party websites. The use of your information by these third party sites is not within our control and we cannot accept responsibility for the conduct of these organisations. Other websites are not subject to our privacy standards. You will need to contact or review those websites directly to ascertain their privacy policies.

You may wish to contact us via the contact link or register with us to receive newsletters and other information. By doing so, your name and email address will be collected and stored on our database. We take care to ensure that the personal information you give us on our website is protected. For example, our website has electronic security systems in place, including the use of firewalls and data encryption.

If you do not wish to receive any further information from us, or you wish to update your registration details, please email your request to info@nwfs.com.au. We will endeavour to meet your request within 5 working days.

Our Website utilises cookies to provide you with a better user experience. Cookies also allow us to identify your browser while you are using our site – they do not identify you. If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can instruct your web browser to refuse them.

Complaints resolutions

Please contact our Privacy Officer if you wish to complain about any breach or potential breach of your privacy rights. We will refer your complaint to our Privacy Officer who will investigate the issue and determine the steps we will undertake to resolve your complaint. We will contact you if we require any additional information from you and will notify you in writing of the determination of our Privacy Officer. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you are entitled to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au.

You may contact the Privacy Officer on 1300 881 223 or by writing to the Privacy Officer at North West Financial Services (Qld) Pty Ltd, PO Box 2094, Keperra Qld 4054.