Collection of personal information

BFS Partners collects and holds personal information from clients, customers, employees, contractors and other individuals. We collect and hold this information when it is necessary for business purposes.

The main types of personal information BFS Partners collects and holds relate to the contact details and organisational roles of our clients, suppliers and other business contacts. Typically, this information includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and job titles. In the course of providing professional services to our clients, we may collect and hold more detailed personal information (for instance financial details if we are engaged to perform financial services, or credit information).

We collect most information directly from individuals when we deal with them. The personal information we collect may be provided in forms filled out by individuals, face to face meetings, email messages, telephone conversations or by third parties. If you contact us, we may keep a record of that contact.

Because of the nature of our business, it is generally impracticable for us to deal with individuals on an anonymous basis or through the use of a pseudonym, although sometimes this is possible (for example, when seeking staff or client feedback generally).

Use of personal information

The main purposes for which we collect, hold and use personal information are:

• to provide our services;
• to respond to an individual’s request;
• to maintain contact with clients;
• to keep clients and other contacts informed of the services we offer and industry developments that may be of interest to them, and to notify them of service offerings, seminars and other events we are holding;
• for general management and reporting purposes, such as invoicing and account management;
• for recruitment purposes;
• for purposes related to the employment of our personnel and providing internal services to our staff; and
• other purposes related to our business.

If you choose not to provide us with personal information, we may be unable to do such things.

If we collect, hold or use personal information in ways other than as stated in this policy, we will ensure we do so pursuant to the requirements of the Privacy Act.

Employee records are not generally subject to the Privacy Act and therefore this policy may not apply to the handling of information about employees by BFS Partners. For information about our practices relating to employee information, please contact us directly.

Disclosure of personal information

BFS Partners does not routinely disclose personal information to other organisations unless:

• use or disclosure is permitted by this policy;
• we believe it is necessary to provide you with a product or service which you have requested (or, in the case of a partner, employee or contractor of BFS Partners, it is necessary for maintaining or related to your role at BFS Partners);
• to protect the rights, property or personal safety of any member of the public or a customer of BFS Partners or the interests of BFS Partners;
• some or all of the assets or operations of BFS Partners are or may be transferred to another party as part of the sale of some or all of BFS Partners’ business;
• you give your consent; or such disclosure is otherwise required or permitted by law, regulation, rule or professional standard.
• such disclosure is otherwise required or permitted by law, regulation, rule or professional standard.

We may also share non-personal, de-identified and aggregated information for research or promotional purposes. Except as set out in this policy, we do not sell to or trade personal information with third parties.

BFS Partners uses a range of service providers to help us maximise the quality and efficiency of our services and our business operations (including internal business requirements, such as recruitment and human capital requirements). This means that individuals and organisations outside of BFS Partners will sometimes have access to personal information held by BFS Partners and may collect or use it from or on behalf of BFS Partners. This may include, but is not limited to, independent contractors and consultants, travel service providers, mail houses, off-site security storage providers, information technology providers, event managers, credit managers and debt collecting agencies. We require our service providers to adhere to our privacy guidelines and not to keep, use or disclose personal information we provide to them for any unauthorised purposes.

If BFS Partners’ staff obtain products or services offered by a third party pursuant to an agreement or arrangement between that third party and BFS Partners, such as a credit card provider, we may provide your personal information to that third party, including information that relates to your use of such services.

Privacy on our Web Sites

This policy also applies to any personal information we collect via our websites, including bfspartners.com.au. In addition to personal information you provide to us directly (such as where you make a request or complete a registration form), BFS Partners may also collect personal information from you via its websites.

Cookies may be used on some areas of our websites. A cookie is a small software application which allows a website to recognise a previous user and to observe how a user navigates within a website. Cookies are used as a standard by many websites. BFS Partners uses cookies to improve the navigational experience of visitors to our websites and to make them easier to use.

If you are concerned about cookies, most browsers recognise when a cookie is offered and permit you to opt out of receiving it. If you are not sure whether your browser has this capability, you should check with the software manufacturer or your internet service provider. In most cases, you can refuse a cookie and still fully navigate the BFS Partners websites.

In order to properly manage our websites and applications, we may log certain statistics about the users of the facilities, for example the users’ domains and browser types. None of this information specifically identifies an individual and it is used solely to ensure that our websites and applications present the best possible navigational experience for users.

Whenever a registered member (such as a BFS Partners alumnus) logs in to our websites or applications, they will be identified by their user name and password. The information we collect about members’ use of our websites may be used for measuring use and performance and in assisting to resolve any technical difficulties.

Because BFS Partners wants your user experience to be as informative and resourceful as possible, we provide a number of links to websites operated by third parties. BFS Partners is not responsible for the privacy practices or policies of those sites. We encourage you to review each website’s privacy policy, especially if you intend to disclose any personal information via that site. A link to another non-BFS Partners website is not an express or implied endorsement, promotion or warranty of the products or services offered by or accessible through that site or advertised on that site.

Security of Personal information

Depending on the purpose for which we have collected personal information (for example, registration for a BFS Partners event or a request for particular information or material), we may store some of the information electronically in BFS Partners’ customer relationship management system. Some or all of this personal information may be available to partners and authorised staff of BFS Partners for use in accordance with this policy.

BFS Partners will endeavour to take all reasonable steps to keep secure any information which we hold about you, whether electronically or in hard-copy, and to keep this information accurate and up to date. We also require our employees and data processors to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by BFS Partners.

BFS Partners aims to achieve industry best practice in the security of personal information which it holds. It is our policy not to retain personal information once there is no longer a legal or business need for us to do so.

Access to information

We will provide access to personal information upon request by an individual, except in the limited circumstances in which it is permitted for us to withhold this information (for instance, where granting access would infringe another person’s privacy).

When you make a request to access personal information, we will require you to provide some form of identification (such as a driver’s licence or passport) so we can verify that you are the person to whom the information relates. In some cases, we may also request an administrative fee to cover the cost of access.

Corrections and Concerns

If you believe that information we hold about you is incorrect or out of date, or if you have concerns about how we are handling your personal information, please contact us and we will try to resolve those concerns.

If you wish to have your personal information deleted, please let us know and we will take reasonable steps to delete it (unless we need to keep it for legal, auditing or internal risk management reasons).

If BFS Partners becomes aware of any ongoing concerns or problems concerning our privacy practices, we will take these issues seriously and work to address these concerns. If you have any further queries relating to our privacy policy, or you have a problem or complaint, please contact our Privacy Officer. If you are not satisfied with our handling of your problem or complaint you may make a complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner.

Effect of Policy

BFS Partners operates in a dynamic business environment and we aim to review this policy annually to keep it current. BFS Partners may update this privacy policy at any time by publishing an updated version on this website. The amended policy will apply between us whether or not we have given you specific notice of any change.

This policy was updated on 1st January 2022.