Governance Advisory Services Privacy Policy

Governance Advisory Services has elected to abide by the National Privacy Principles established under the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act,  demonstrating our commitment to respecting the privacy of our clients.

Why personal information is collected?
We may collect personal information for a variety of reasons during the course of our consulting assignments or in the conduct of our recruitment business. We acknowledge and understand the nature and sensitivity of such personal information and are committed to protecting your privacy.

Collection of Information Policies
We will only collect, maintain and use Personal Information about you if it is necessary for us to adequately provide to you the services you have requested.

We will not collect any personal information about you except when you have knowingly provided that information to us or authorised a third party to provide that information to us.

Generally collection of your personal information will be effected in either face to face interviews, over the telephone, e-mail or mail. From time to time additional and/or updated personal information may be collected through one or more of those methods.

Failure to provide the personal information required in order to provide to you the services you have requested, may expose you to higher risks in respect of the recommendations made to you and may affect the adequacy or appropriateness of advice we give to you.

Information Use & Disclosure Policies
We will not use or disclose Personal Information collected by us for any purpose other than the pruposes for which it was provided or secondary related purposes in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure. If however it is required to use the information for an additional but related purpose, we will obtain your consent to do so.

We may be required by law to release your personal information to the Australian Taxation Office and other government entities and must co-operate fully.

Marketing to you
We may use the personal information collected from you for the purpose of providing you with direct marketing material such as articles that may be of interest to you. However you may, by contacting us by any of the methods detailed below, request not to receive such information and we will give effect to that request. Please allow 2 weeks for your request to be actioned.

Document Storage & Security Policies & Practices
Your personal information is generally held in your client file. Information may also be held in a computer database.

We will at all times seek to ensure that the personal information collected and held by us is protected from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. At all times your personal information is treated as confidential and any sensitive information is treated as highly confidential.

In the event you cease to be a client of Governance Advisory Services any personal information which we hold about you will be maintained in a secure off site storage facility for a period of 7 years in order to comply with legislative and professional requirements, following which time the information will be destroyed.

Access to your Information
We undertake to provide you with access to your information provided your request is reasonable and provided we are not precluded from foing so by any law or proceedings, legal or otherwise. Access would be by either copies of the information requested, allowing you to inspect the information or providing you with an accurate summary of the information held.

In the event we refuse you access to your personal information, we will provide you with an explanation for that refusal. We will endeavour to respond to any request for access within 14-30 days depending on the complexity of the information and/or the request. If your request is urgent please indicate this clearly.

Correction of your Personal Information
We will endeavour to ensure that the personal information about you which we hold is up to date and accurate. Please contact us in the event that you become aware, or believe, that any Personal Information that we hold about you is inaccurate or outdated.

We will endeavour to respond to any request for access within 14-30 days depending on the complexity of the information and/or the request. If your request is urgent please indicate this clearly.

Making a Privacy Complaint
If you wish to complain about any breach or potential breach of this privacy policy or the National Privacy Principles, you should contact us by any of the methods detailed below and request that your complaint be directed to the Privacy Officer. Your complaint will be considered within 7 days and responded to. It is our intention to use our best endeavours to resolve any complaint to your satisfaction, however, if you are unhappy with our response, you are entitled to contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner who may investigate your complaint further.