How we handle your information.

What personal information we collect

We may collect the following types of personal information:

• Full name and contact details (phone number, email, address)
• Date of birth, occupation, and identification documents where required for verification or matter-specific purposes
• Information relevant to your legal matter (e.g. court documents, contracts, financial records)
• Information you submit via our website, email, phone, social media, or other means

Where necessary for your matter, we may also collect sensitive information (such as health information or criminal history) with your consent or where authorised by law.

How we collect personal information

We typically collect information:

• Directly from you (via online forms, phone calls, emails, meetings)
• From publicly available sources (such as public registers, court records, or company searches) where relevant to your matter
• From third parties (such as barristers, medical providers, government agencies, or other parties involved in your matter)

We will always aim to collect information from you directly where practical.

How we use your personal information

We use your information to:

• Provide legal services
• Communicate with you and respond to your enquiries
• Conduct conflict checks
• Meet our legal, professional, and regulatory obligations
• Improve our website and service delivery

We may also use your information to send you updates or legal insights, but only with your consent (which you may withdraw at any time).

Disclosure of personal information

We may share your information with:

• Courts and tribunals
• Barristers, consultants, or other legal professionals assisting your matter
• Other law firms if you engage new representation and instruct us to transfer your file
• Regulatory bodies, where legally required
• Our professional indemnity insurers, where legally required
• IT or cloud service providers (e.g. email hosts or document storage platforms)
• Other parties where you have authorised the disclosure

All reasonable steps are taken to ensure any third-party providers adhere to privacy obligations.

Storage and security of personal information

We store your information in physical files and electronic systems (including cloud storage). We take reasonable steps to:

• Protect it from unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure
• Secure our internal systems with appropriate technical safeguards

We retain client files in accordance with our professional obligations, typically 7 years after the matter concludes, or longer where required by law.

Where information is no longer required by law or for our business functions, we securely destroy or de-identify it.

Access and correction

You have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, and to request corrections if it is inaccurate, out of date, or incomplete. To make a request, please contact us using the details below.

We may require identity verification before granting access and may charge a reasonable fee for providing access (where applicable).

Website use and cookies

When you visit our website, we may collect certain information (such as your IP address, browser type, and pages visited) for analytics purposes using cookies or similar technologies.

This information does not personally identify you and is used to improve our site performance and user experience.

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings.

Overseas disclosure

Some of our service providers (such as our website hosting, email, and cloud storage platforms) may store data on servers located outside Australia, including in the United States. We take reasonable steps to ensure any overseas providers handle information in accordance with Australian privacy standards.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy has been breached, please contact us. We take privacy concerns seriously and will respond promptly.

If you're not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au.

For complaints specifically about legal services, you may also contact the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner at lsbc.vic.gov.au.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this policy, or wish to access or correct your personal information, please contact us:

Updates to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified via our website. The latest version will always be available at sperolaw.com.au/privacy-policy.