This privacy policy sets out how CVA Property Consultants Pty Ltd (ACN 064 086 960) (“we”) treat the privacy of customers and others with whom we interact.

In this privacy policy, the term “personal information” has the meaning in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and under that legislation includes information about an identifiable individual, including names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, driver’s licence details, credit information and history, banking details, income details, other financial details, passport numbers, employment details and history, rental history, information about properties you currently own or desire, and if and where applicable, includes information that constitutes “sensitive information”. Personal information also includes opinions about individuals.

  1. Collection and Storage of Personal Information and Data

    We may collect personal information (such as the above types of information) about individuals. Our approach is to collect personal information directly from the individual concerned unless it is impracticable or unreasonable to do so. In most circumstances we do not collect sensitive information.

    For example, we collect personal information in circumstances including:

    1. During conversations with our staff;
    2. When as a prospective tenant you complete a tenancy application
    3. When you make a credit application;
    4. When you enter into a finance agreement;
    5. When you pay for goods or services with credit cards;
    6. To administer rights and obligations in accordance with owners corporation legislation;
    7. When you telephone us or visit our website and make an enquiry to which a later response is requested and to do so requires your contact details;
    8. When you make a property enquiry, either in person or on the telephone;
    9. When you enter into a contract for a property sale or purchase;
    10. When you enter into an agreement to lease a property;
    11. When we conduct credit checks through credit reporting bodies, various public domain databases, when we make enquiries through centrelink or titles office;
    12. When you ask to be included on a marketing distribution list; and
    13. When evaluating job applicants and personnel, including their contact details, employment history and educational qualifications. This may include “sensitive information” as defined in the privacy act. Further details about our privacy policy and practices for job applicants will be available at the time of application.

    We may use ‘cookies’ to collect data (typically not personal information) relating to your general internet usage. This data may include IP-addresses, browser versions, number of visits and similar such data relating to your navigation of the internet and our site. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies help us to improve our site and to deliver a better and more tailored service, for instance by storing information about your preferences and allowing us to recognise you when you return to our site.

    You may refuse to accept cookies by activating settings on your internet browser. However, please note that if your select such settings you may be unable to access certain parts of our site.

    We hold personal information in our own secure databases and in secure hard copy files on our premises.

    If you do not provide us with the personal information we request or require, we may not be able to provide our services to you or may not be able to do so to the same standards.

  2. Anonymity / Pseudonimity

    Where practicable, customers and others have the right to interact with us anonymously or using a pseudonym. Circumstances where it is not practicable, however, include where personal information is required to complete a credit card or account transaction.

  3. Use of Personal Information

    We may use personal information for the purpose of marketing but only where such use complies with the Privacy Law and the Australian Privacy Principles in particular.

    We use the personal information collected from you for the purpose it was provided or collected, including in the following ways;

    1. To facilitate the purposes set out in section (1) of this policy, such as to collate transactions involving real estate and/or owners corporations;
    2. To contact potential vendors and purchasers for real estate;
    3. To assess a client’s risk level in conducting a proposed transaction;
    4. To assess tenancy applications and suitability of a prospective tenants;
    5. To pay clients for their sales;
    6. To otherwise respond to enquiries received from you;
    7. To process, confirm, fulfil and update you about your enquiries and to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us and or in our roles in connection with owners corporations;
    8. To perform authorized financial transactions with you;
    9. To communicate with you and provide you with information (whether by email, post or other means) about our products or services, where you have requested or consented to receiving this from us or where this provision is otherwise permitted under the Australian Privacy Principles;
    10. To notify you about changes to our goods and services;
    11. To market to you, with your consent (implied or express);
    12. To allow you to participate in interactive features of our service, when you choose to do so;
    13. To receive and address feedback or complaints from you;
    14. To protect our legal interests and fulfil our regulatory obligations (if and to the extent necessary); and
    15. Where otherwise permitted or required at law.

    All our customers and others with whom we interact have the option to opt-out of receiving marketing communications from us. If you do not wish to continue to receive electronic marketing communications from us and/or selected third parties you should opt-out by clicking on the "unsubscribe" link in any email communications that we might send you.

  4. Disclosure of Personal Information

    We may disclose your personal information to any of our related group companies. They will only use it for the same purposes that we may under this policy. We may provide personal information to third parties outside our group companies for limited purposes, such as to help us in providing goods and services to customers and clients.

    Those persons and business may include:

    1. Organisations who carry out credit, fraud and other security checks;
    2. Organisations who undertake marketing on our behalf;
    3. Couriers and delivery business (where we arrange to deliver goods to you or persons you have requested us to send deliveries to); and
    4. Third party software providers who store details of customer account for us or who provide other IT services.

    We may also disclose your personal information to third parties outside our group of companies:

    1. Where we have your express permission to do so;
    2. Where it can reasonably be inferred from the circumstances that you consent to the disclosure to the third parties (e.g. when entering into a contract of sale regarding land);
    3. If substantially all of our assets were acquired by a third party, in which case personal information which we hold about our customers may be one of the transferred assets (subject to the same constraints on use and disclosure as under this policy); and
    4. If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal information in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms and conditions; or to protect our rights, property, or safety or that of our customers . This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

    We limit the information we provide to third parties to the information they need to help us provide or facilitate the provision of goods and services to you. We deal with third parties that are required to meet the privacy standards required by law in handling your personal information, and use your personal information only for the purposes that we gave it to them.

    We do not disclose personal information to businesses located outside Australia.

  5. Security of Personal Information

    We take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information, including internal and external security, restricting access to personal information to those who have a need to know, maintain technologica products to prevent unauthorised computer access and regularly reviewing our technology to maintain security.

    We treat website and credit card security seriously and endeavour to provide a secure, safe platform through which to conduct transactions.

  6. Questions and Concerns and Access to/ Correction or Updating of your Personal Information

    You have a right to access the personal information we hold about you, with some exceptions, to find out the information held and/or to correct it. To obtain a copy of the personal information we hold about you, please write to us at:

    The Privacy Officer
    CVA Property Consultants,
    18-20 Russell Street MELBOURNE,
    VIC 3000

    Or by email to mailto:[email protected]

    Please provide sufficient detail about the information in question to help us locate it. We will then use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine if there is a problem and take the necessary corrective action within a reasonable time.

    We may not be able to provide you with access to information in some situations including where doing so may create a serious threat to life or the health of any individual, where it may constitute an unreasonable intrusion into the privacy of another, where your request is in our opinion frivolous or vexatious or where otherwise we are permitted at law not to provide same.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

We may modify, alter or otherwise update this privacy policy at any time. We will post revisions on our website. We encourage you to review this policy from time to time.

Last update: August 2021