Privacy Statement
First National Moss Vale has held a position of trust and respect in real estate practice for many years. This trust and respect has been earned by complying with the highest standards of ethics and professionalism throughout all areas in which we service client and customer needs. Retaining it requires that we must always conduct our business in line with client and customer expectations and in accordance with statutory changes. At First National Moss Vale (“Foxgrove Pty Ltd”, “the company”, “us”, “we”, “our”) we are committed to safeguarding your privacy by ensuring that information is protected in a way that observes our own corporate values. As well as complying with the requirements of the National Privacy Principles of the Privacy Act (C’th) (1998), as amended (the “Act”).
This Policy sets out the minimum procedures for safeguarding your privacy.
Scope of Statement This statement applies to Foxgrove Pty Ltd T/A First National Moss Vale ABN 85 095 508 937 Most organizations in Australia must comply with the 10 National Privacy Principles of the Act. The Objective of the Privacy Act is to set a standard for protecting the privacy of all individuals. The National Privacy Principles are the requirements explained in the detailed section of this statement as follows. Privacy and Company’s Corporate Relationship First National Moss Vale is a private company and is a member of the First National Group of Independent Real Estate Agents Limited and the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales. The Company is a Licensed Real Estate Agent under the provisions of the Real Estate and Business Agents Act. First National Moss Vale offers a range of real estate services including the marketing and negotiation of the sale or leasing of residential, rural and commercial property and the management of residential, industrial, commercial and retail property and sales of development projects. The Company has referral relationships with other agents, banks, finance brokers, conveyancers, solicitors, financial advisors, valuers, insurers, tradespeople, maintenance and cleaning contractors in order to carry out its business. Your personal information includes details such as name, date of birth, contact details (such as phone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses). Sensitive Information Sensitive information is a subset of personal information and by its “sensitive” nature may have potential to be used to discriminate against someone. Therefore the recording of it has stricter requirements than other types of personal information. Examples of sensitive information include but are not limited to personal information or opinions on your health, criminal records, sexual preferences, religion, political views etc. Sensitive information can only be recorded if it is relevant to do so and with your consent. Generally, sensitive information is not considered relevant to the assessment of tenancy applications or to the provision of most real estate services or contracts.
- First National Moss Vale’s Privacy Principles Collection of Personal Information (National Privacy Principle 1) Where you have requested a service, First National Moss Vale collects your personal information where it is necessary primarily to identify you or your business entity and to assess and establish the service/s you have requested.
- Your Rights and the Disclosure of Personal Information you may wish to not give personal information about yourself that may be requested by us to supply our services. However, without that information we may not be able to carry out our duties to our Principles (Property Owners) and or provide the services you requested.
- Use of Information (National Privacy Principle 2) First National Moss Vale collects your personal information and uses the information to provide services requested by you. We may use your personal information for related purposes, such as credit agency reference and tenancy references in accordance with National Privacy Principles. Your personal information may also be used to complete internal business functions such as auditing, management reporting, research, product development and planning.
- Disclosure of Information (National Privacy Principle 3) In providing services First National Moss Vale may disclose your personal information to organizations that carry out functions on our behalf or on behalf of Principles (Property Owners/Clients/Customers). This may include but not be limited to sales consultants, property managers, tradespeople, maintenance and cleaning contractors, pest controllers, service providers (water, electricity, sewerage and waste disposal, telephone, etc.), conveyancers and other services providers we may use in the provision of secondary services. This includes external auditors, computer and information technology service providers for computer, internet, network distribution and related functions. Although First National Moss Vale undertakes its best endeavours to ensure your personal information is safeguarded in a manner consistent with its privacy policy and only used to carry out functions on its behalf we cannot accept liability for any misuse of your personal information by those organizations or individuals. First National Moss Vale may also use and disclose your personal information to complete business functions within First National Moss Vale such as internal auditing, performance reporting, research, product development and planning. Marketing In accordance with National Privacy Principles First National Moss Vale may also use and disclose your personal information with the First National Group of Independent Real Estate Agents to send direct marketing material about other products and services that may be of interest to you. If you do not want to receive information about these products and services at any time tell us by calling our office on 4869 1222. This does not preclude you from being provided with information about terms and conditions, statements and other information specific to your existing accounts or services.
- Data Quality (National Privacy Principle 4) First National Moss Vale must ensure your personal information collected, used or disclosed is, at all times, accurate, complete and up to date. You should advise us immediately when you become aware that any information we hold about you is incorrect or out of date. We undertake to amend our records as soon as practical after it is advised subject to the validity of the request being confirmed.
- Data Security (National Privacy Principle 5) First National Moss Vale will take all responsible steps to protect the personal information it holds from misuse and loss from unauthorized access modification and disclosure. Your information may be stored in paper or electronic format. Security measures implemented with respect to our IT systems will take account of internal and external recommendations, general industry practice and technological development in the provision of IT security services. First National Moss Vale’s IT security measures include state of the art firewall technology, encryption of internet and phone services and will provide unique user identification and password codes to your accounts as new services come on line. When using our internet services we may use “cookies” to ascertain product preferences and tailor future visits to the site to suit them. Most web browsers can be configured to not accept cookies, however the site functionality may be restricted as a result. Other than statistical information we do not collect information about you through our website other than where you provide it.
- Openness to First Nationals Moss Vale’s Practices (National Privacy Principle 6) First National Moss Vale has developed a policy and an internal Operations Manual that describes our information handling practices. Information in this statement gives you an overview into how we manage your personal information and your rights under the “Act”.
- Access (National Privacy Principle 7) You are entitled to access personal information we may hold about you. The type of information that you may request is your personal information as well as comments, opinions and file notes that First National Moss Vale holds about you. We will process your request within a reasonable time, generally seven days for a simple request. However additional time may be needed depending on the nature of the request. There is no fee for lodging a request for personal information and proof of identity will be a prerequisite to the acceptance of any application. However, First National Moss Vale reserves the right to recover reasonable costs associated with processing the request. You will be advised of the cost, if any, before we proceed. First National Moss Vale is not required to provide you with access to your information in some cases, i.e. where the law allows us to deny access. If we deny you access to your information you will be advised the reason why. A request to access your personal information must be directed to our Office Manager. Correction You may ask First National Moss Vale to correct personal information we hold about you at any time. The company undertakes to correct the information within a reasonable time provided it is satisfied as to the validity of the request being confirmed. If the validity of the request cannot be confirmed by First National Moss Vale you will be advised that we have not acted on it and the reason why. If First National Moss Vale disagrees with your request to correct information it holds, you have the right to request a statement be held with that information noting your disagreement.
- Identifiers (National Privacy Principle 7) Identifiers are unique numbers that a Commonwealth Government agency has assigned to you. These include Medicare and Tax File Numbers and an organization must not use government identifiers as its own identifiers for individuals. First National Moss Vale is sometimes required to collect identifiers such as Driver’s License Number, Passport Number or Credit Card details for the purposes of identification and the security of the properties under our management. You may choose not to provide these details but we may then not be able to provide you with the service you request.
- Anonymity (National Privacy Principle 9) In complying with the National Privacy Principles First National Moss Vale will allow its customers and clients to interact anonymously wherever it is lawful and practical to do so.
- Trans Border (overseas) Data Flow (National Privacy Principle 10) Should you request a transaction or service where personal information may be transferred to another country, your information may be transferred to a country that does not have the same privacy laws as Australia. This may occur in instances where you are negotiating or entering into an agreement directly or indirectly with a non-resident owner, vendor or purchaser and your personal details may be divulged.
- Sensitive Information (National Privacy Principle 11) If it is necessary to record sensitive information (such as health related information), we must obtain your specific consent to collect that information. Sensitive information is not generally required for most of the services we provide. You are entitled to access any information we record. Information Required for Statutory Compliance Purposes In addition to questions that First National Moss Vale may ask to ensure general statutory compliance there may be special circumstances where the company or its agents are required to seek additional information about you. An example of this could by way of an application on your behalf to the Foreign Investment Review Board. First National Moss Vale may also be required to pass on personal information to Statutory Authorities under the provisions of various Commonwealth and State Government Acts, ie Australian Bureau of Statistics, Valuer Generals Office, Australian Taxation Office etc. Further Information or Questions This Privacy Policy may change from time to time; all changes will be updated on this document. Our company has trained its staff in accordance with the National Privacy Principles and has adopted procedures to ensure our compliance. However should you have any questions or require further information please direct your enquiries to our Office Manager in the first instance. Our Office Manager will also provide you with contact details for the Privacy Commissioner.
