Privacy Policy

Arts Law Centre of Australia (ABN 71 002 706 256) (Arts Law) is an independent national community legal centre for the arts. We provide free or low cost specialised legal advice, education, and resources to Australian artists and arts organisations across all art forms on a wide range of arts related legal and business matters. In this Privacy Policy we, us and our are references to Arts Law.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the requirements under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Privacy Act.

This Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, use, hold and disclose your Personal Information.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time by posting the updated Privacy Policy on our website or by other written notification to you. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will take effect upon the earlier of the updated Privacy Policy being published on our website or notification to you.

By visiting our website, using our applications, products or services, or otherwise interacting with us, you consent to the collection, retention, use, and disclosure of your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and any other arrangements that may apply between us.

If we are not able to collect, handle, use and disclose Personal Information about you as set out in this Privacy Policy, we may not be able to provide you with our services or with access to our website, applications, products or services.

We collect Personal Information from several sources in connection with the day-to-day management of our organisation and our commercial relationships, either directly from you in person, over the phone or electronically, or from current and future clients, colleagues, and publicly available sources. Where possible, we will only collect Personal Information about you directly from you.

In this Privacy Policy, Personal Information and Sensitive Information have the same meaning as in the Privacy Act. Personal Information includes information or an opinion, whether true or not, about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

Sensitive Information is personal information that includes information or an opinion about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions or associations, religious or philosophical beliefs, or health information.

The types of Personal Information we may collect includes:

  • your name;
  • your date of birth;
  • your contact details (including email address);
  • your occupation;
  • your payment details;
  • your employment related information including employment history, education, qualifications and references;
  • government identifiers, passports or other identification documents if we prepare a will for you;
  • details of the products and services we provide to you or that you have enquired about, including information regarding your legal issues;
  • gender;
  • information about any related person or organisation to which your enquiry relates; and
  • information about your reliance on social security benefits and average income.

Subject to your express consent, the types of Sensitive Information we may collect includes:

  • information about your religious beliefs, racial or ethnic origin (including whether you identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander), criminal record, or membership of a professional association or trade union;
  • information about legal your matters;
  • any health information including specific accessibility requirements you may have that are relevant to Arts Law’s provision of services to you.

For the avoidance of doubt, we only collect such Personal Information and Sensitive Information which is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, one or more of the functions and activities of Arts Law, unless an exception under the Privacy Act applies (e.g. as required or authorised by law).

We may collect Personal Information either directly from you or from third parties. Personal Information may also be collected when you:

  • submit a Legal Query Form or contact us via the general enquiries page on our website;
  • upload files as part of your Legal Query Form;
  • provide Personal Information when using our legal support services online;
  • subscribe to Arts Law;
  • donate to Arts Law;
  • contact us via Arts Law Online including our social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn;
  • sign-up for Arts Law newsletters including the art+LAW e-newsletter;
  • contact us through the National Relay Service;
  • communicate with us through correspondence, chats, email, or when you share information with us over the telephone or in person; or
  • purchase our products (such as templates) or services.

Arts Law may collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

  • assess your eligibility for our services;
  • provide legal services to you;
  • respond to information requests, answer enquiries and resolve complaints;
  • consider suitability of prospective employees and management of employee records;
  • provide information and communications relevant to your use of our services, including support and administrative messages, reminders, updates, security alerts, and information requested by you;
  • inform you of products, services, and benefits provided by Arts Law, which Arts Law considers may be of value or interest to you;
  • contact subscribers about Arts Law publications or events;
  • operate, administer, protect, maintain, improve, upgrade, and optimise our website, applications, products or services, and your experience with us;
  • internal business operation reasons, including the gathering of statistics, internal reporting and planning;
  • research purposes to analyse and improve products, services, and benefits;
  • marketing and advertising activities;
  • publication on our website and our annual report including, for example, recognition as Arts Law Allies;
  • assessment against a means test to establish qualification for entitlements to discounted Arts Law service fees;
  • establish whether you require subscription to Arts Law to access some or all of Arts Law’s services;
  • avoid conflicts of interest in our provision of services;
  • compliance with legal obligations; or
  • any other purpose disclosed to you at the time your Personal Information is collected or to which you consent, or where required by law. This may include for a secondary purpose that is related to a purpose for which we collected it, and for which you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose your Personal Information.

You have the option of remaining anonymous or using a pseudonym when dealing with us in relation to a particular matter.

We may disclose Personal Information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy to:

  • our employees, officers, agents, contractors, board members, and related bodies of Arts Law;
  • third party suppliers who help us deliver, administer and support our functions and activities, including those:
    • hosting our servers and website;
    • conducting research, surveys and data analysis;
    • providing IT services;
    • processing data, and providing storage and back-up services; and
    • providing legal, accounting, and auditing services.
  • specific third parties authorised by you to receive Personal Information held by us; or
  • other persons, including government agencies, courts, regulatory bodies, and law enforcement agencies, or as required, authorised, or permitted by law.

Where we use such third parties, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that those parties also comply with the requirements under the Privacy Act and this Privacy Policy.

We store information electronically and in hardcopy. We will take reasonable steps in the circumstances to protect your Personal Information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification, interference, or disclosure.

We maintain a secure IT system, and where appropriate, we will use secure transmission facilities and ensure physical security of hardcopy records.

There are inherent risks in transmitting Personal Information across the internet, including the risk that Personal Information sent to or from a website may be intercepted, corrupted, or modified by third parties. As a result, we do not warrant the security of any Personal Information transmitted to us over the internet.

Our employees and volunteers are required to respect the confidentiality of Personal Information and the privacy of individuals.

Where we no longer require your Personal Information, we will that reasonable steps to ensure it is deleted, destroyed or de-identified.

We collect general information from your device when you use our website. This might include your geo-location, IP address, device identifier, the browser, and operating system you are using, details of where that IP address has come from, the pages accessed on our website, and the next website visited. We use cookies to monitor visitor traffic, enable content, and gather analytic and usage data on our website.

A cookie is a small text file stored on your browser’s software when you access this website that allows our website to “remember you” when you return. Cookies and tools are used to identify generic preferences and behavioural patterns of how our website and online resources are being used. These cookies and tools may also be used to record your Personal Information. For instance, we may use and combine information collected using cookies and tools with information we already have about you to create user profiles. These user profiles may be used to maintain, secure and improve our website, enhance your experience when using our website, display and deliver relevant information and advertising (including direct marketing and targeted ads on third party websites and social media sites) and understand the effectiveness of our marketing and advertising.

You may change your browser settings to disable cookies or to notify you when you receive a new cookie. However, if you choose to disable cookies you may not be able to access the full range of services on our website or may experience reduced functionality.

There may be circumstances, where you provide your Personal Information to us and we may be required to share this information with overseas recipients.

We will take reasonable steps in the circumstances to ensure that any overseas recipient we deal with will protect your Personal Information in a way that is substantially similar to or consistent with the way in which the relevant APPs protects such Personal Information, or we will notify you and seek your consent prior to disclosing your Personal Information outside Australia.

Please be aware, that where you provide consent there is a risk the overseas recipient will not be subject to the same principles as under the APPs or Privacy Act. You may also be unable to bring a claim against the overseas entity, and that overseas recipient may have mandatory or permitted disclosures under the laws in their jurisdiction.

If you do not wish to receive information about our products, services and/or benefits then you can opt-out by emailing or calling us via the details listed below. If you are receiving email communications from us offering products, services, or benefits, there will be a mechanism to opt-out contained in each of those emails.

Our website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy procedures or the content of those websites. When visiting other websites, you should review the privacy statements or policies of those websites.

Subject to certain exceptions in the Privacy Act, you can request access to or correct your Personal Information held by Arts Law. We will require you to verify your identity and to specify the Personal Information you require. Any requests for access to or correction of your Personal Information should be made in writing via the contact details below. If a fee is charged for providing for access to your Personal Information, you will be advised of the likely cost in advance.

If you wish to make a complaint about how we have handled your Personal Information, or if you are concerned that we may have breached this Privacy Policy, please contact the Privacy Contact Officer via the details below. Please clearly describe your complaint and include your name, email address, and telephone number so that we are able to respond to your complaint or query. We will acknowledge your complaint and respond to you regarding your complaint within a reasonable period of time.

The Privacy Contact Officer

GPO Box 2508

SYDNEY NSW 2001

Email: [email protected]

Ph: 02 9356 2566

Last updated: January 2023