• For Solicitors
• For the Community
• About the Law Society
• Resource center

Law Society of New South Wales Privacy Policy

The Law Society of New South Wales (Law Society) deals with information privacy in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the National Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act. It also complies with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) which imposes restrictions on sending emails.

This Privacy Policy sets out the Law Society's policies in relation to management of personal information.

Collection

The Law Society collects personal information for the purposes of fulfilling its functions and responsibilities under, and to facilitate compliance with, the Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW) and associated regulations, to administer member services and to provide other services for legal practitioners and the public.

Consequences of not providing information

Failure to provide information, or providing incomplete or misleading information, may prevent us from processing your application or request.

Use and Disclosure

The Law Society will use and disclose personal information only for the purposes for which it is collected or in accordance with the Privacy Act, including:

• providing legal practitioners with information relevant to the legal profession;
• maintaining membership and regulatory records;
• providing information on programs, services and benefits available to Members, legal practitioners and members of the public;
• communicating regarding an enquiry, request for information or use of our services;
• conducting research relevant to Members, legal practitioners or the provision of legal services;
• providing information to subsidiaries of the Law Society, the College of Law, our professional advisors and contractors, and professional indemnity insurers and practising certificate funders;
• allowing use of personal information in a controlled manner by entities distributing information relevant to Members or legal practitioners;
• providing information to organisations which regulate or represent the legal profession, such as the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner, the Law Council of Australia, Regional Law Societies and overseas regulators; and
• providing information as authorised or required by law.

It may be necessary for the Law Society to send personal information overseas for any of these purposes.

Where practicable we implement measures to require organisations to whom disclosure is made to comply with the Privacy Act and other confidentiality measures.

The Law Society may publish a list of legal practitioners to whom it has issued current Practising Certificates including limited personal information such as name, address and contact information. Whether a legal practitioner is a Member of the Law Society is a matter of public record and is disclosed on the web site, as well as to the public upon request or if the Law Society believes it is necessary or appropriate to do so. Specialist Accreditation and other relevant qualifications may also be disclosed.

If you do not want your personal information to be disclosed

If you do not want your personal information to be disclosed (for instance, you want to have your name excluded from commercial mailing lists) you should advise the Law Society Registry in writing. We will accommodate your request provided that the disclosure is not required by law.

Storage and security of personal information

The Law Society takes reasonable precautions to protect the personal information it holds from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Privacy Policy application to the Law Society website

Internet transmission of information

Where appropriate the Law Society uses secure transmission facilities. However, no transmission of information over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure and we do not warrant the security of any information transmitted to us over the Internet.

Cookies

The Law Society makes use of cookies on the Internet. A cookie is a text-only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser on the hard disk of a user's computer so that the website can remember that user. Without cookies, websites and their servers have no memory. This means that every time a user opens a new webpage on a website, the server where that webpage is stored will treat the user as new and require logon and password. In short, a cookie facilitates a user's passage through a website.

Linked websites

This Privacy Policy does not apply to linked websites.

Access, Corrections and Further information

You have the right to request access to any personal information held by the Law Society which relates to you, unless the Law Society is permitted by law to withhold that information. Any requests for access to your personal information should be made to the Law Society General Counsel in writing. You also have the right to request the correction of any personal information which relates to you and is inaccurate. Any corrections should be advised to the Law Society Registry in writing.

If you require any further information about the Law Society’s management of personal information or have any queries or complaints, you should contact:

General Counsel
Corporate Legal Services
The Law Society of New South Wales
170 Phillip Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000

Phone: (02) 9926 0333
Fax: (02) 9231 5809
Email: CorpLegal@lawsociety.com.au