Privacy Policy

At Wealth & Retirement Solutions Pty Ltd, we understand that the privacy of your information is important to you, and we respect the confidentiality of the information that you provide to us. Protecting your information is an important part of maintaining trust between us and our clients and by handling information in a secure manner we build strong business relationships.

This document provides information and details about how we manage the personal information that we collect, hold, use and disclose about individuals.

The Privacy Policy applies to all organisations within the Licensee and all subsidiary companies. We are bound by the Privacy Act and we manage and protect your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles.

We collect, hold, use, and disclose personal information so we can provide you with financial and product advice and service relevant to your needs. We may also collect, use and disclose your information for related purposes such as:

• Complying with our legal obligations to verify your identity
• Assisting with your questions and complaints
• Arranging for services to be provided by third parties
• Internal operations, such as record keeping, data analytics, auditing or training
• Promotion of other products and services that may be of interest to you

We collect, use, hold and sometimes disclose personal information in order to administer and manage our business operations. This information is afforded the same standard of care as that of our clients.

We ask people for a range of personal information to assist us in providing appropriate advice.

The information we collect could include (but is not limited to) your name, date of birth, contact details, financial information, employment details, residency, and citizenship status. We may also collect the personal information of your family members where it is relevant to the advice being provided.

We may also collect sensitive information about your medical history and health and lifestyle.  We only disclose this information where it is necessary to assist you in applying for financial products or when required by law.

In most instances, we collect personal information directly from that person when they:

• complete a financial product application form,
• verify your identity via your driver’s licence or passport
• complete data collection documentation,
• interact with an online interactive tool, such as a budget planner or electronic fact finder,
• provide documentation to us, or
• when you communicate with us in person, over the telephone, fax, email, internet or by using other electronic devices.

 

 

Wherever practicable, we will collect information from you personally.  We may also need to collect information from external sources, such as:

• other financial advisers,
• mortgage brokers or other credit representative,
• lawyers, accountants, or health professionals
• product and service providers

You have the right not to provide personal information. However, your adviser may decline to provide advice if they feel they have insufficient information to proceed.

You can request access to personal information we hold. In situations like this, we will need to verify your identity to our satisfaction and determine the reason for requesting the information.

We will update your personal information if you contact us. In most cases, you can update your personal information over the phone, by contacting your adviser or broker or electronically.

The information we hold will be used for the provision of products and services to you.  Occasionally, we may need to share this with other entities both within and outside of the Licensee. This will vary according to the product or service involved, but could include:

• regulators such as AUSTRAC, ASIC, APRA or the ATO
• any person acting on your behalf, including your financial adviser, solicitor, accountant, executor, administrator, trustee, guardian, or attorney
• financial product and service providers, lenders and credit providers including financial planning software providers and paraplanners
• for corporate superannuation members, your employer or your employer’s financial adviser
• other organisations within the Licensee including related bodies corporate and advice firms we have authorised,
• companies involved in the payments system including financial institutions, merchants, and payment organisations
• organisations who assist us with certain business functions, such as auditors, compliance consultants, direct marketing, debt recovery and information and communication technology support
• our solicitors, our insurers, courts, tribunals and dispute resolution organisations
• other organisations who provide us with products and services so that they may provide their products and services to you or contact you on our behalf
• organisations authorised by law to seek such information, such as law enforcement agencies, Australian and International Governments and regulatory authorities).

We may also disclose your information to a third party where you have given your consent or where you would reasonably expect us to disclose your information to that third party.

We may be required to disclose your Tax File Number (TFN) to the Australian Taxation Office, or a superannuation or retirement income product provider.  Likewise, we may need to disclose your Medicare number to Centrelink in order to assess your social security eligibility.

We may disclose your personal information to service providers who operate outside Australia.  These are Australian based companies that have locations in countries such as the Philippines and India, whose services we access to prepare financial advice documents on our behalf.

All reasonable steps will be taken to ensure that offshore service providers comply with the Privacy Act.

Personal information is stored in the ‘cloud’ or on servers which may be based overseas.

We strive to ensure that the personal information that you provide to us is stored safely and securely.

We have a range of practices and policies in place to protect personal information we hold, including:

• the use of passwords when accessing our systems
• informing our staff of possible scams or suspicious emails,
• employing physical and electronic means, including cyber security software and access controls,
• providing secure storage for physical records and securing paper files in locked cabinets and physical access restrictions.

After a period of seven years, when personal information is no longer required, we take steps to de-identify or destroy the information in a secure manner.

If you have any queries or are concerned about how your personal information has been collected, used, or disclosed and you wish to make a complaint, please contact the Privacy Officer on the information below:

Mail            PO Box 57, SPRING HILL QLD 4004

Phone         07 3319 4888

Email          info@wrs.net.au

Website      www.wealthandretirement.com.au

 

If you are not fully satisfied with our response, you can contact Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) by the following:

Mail             GPO box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001

Phone         1300 363 992

Email          enquiries@oaic.gov.au

Online         www.oaic.gov.au