Privacy Policy
Your Right to Privacy
Cybele Accounting & Bookkeeping respects your privacy and is committed to treating the personal information we collect in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the subsequent 2012 and 2016 amendments (Mandatory Data Breach Notification).
This policy outlines the obligations Cybele Accounting & Bookkeeping has in managing the personal information we hold about our clients, potential clients, contractors and others. This includes information such as your name, email address, identification number, or any other type of information that can reasonably identify an individual, either directly or indirectly. This policy is not intended to, nor can it, replace the provisions Acts themselves.
Personal information we collect
As a provider of accounting & bookkeeping services it may be necessary, and in some cases be a legislative and regulatory requirement, for us to collect and hold detailed personal information.
In general, the main types of personal information we collect and hold includes (but is not limited to):
- Names
- Dates of Birth
- Tax File Numbers
- Contact details
- Employment details and employment history
- Details of your financial circumstances, including bank account details, your assets and liabilities (both actual and potential), income, expenditure, insurance cover and superannuation
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.
Keeping personal information up to date
We endeavour to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Changes inevitably are required and unfortunately errors do occur from time to time. You should contact us immediately in order to advise us of any changes to the personal information we hold about you.
How we use your personal information
Cybele Accounting & Bookkeeping acknowledge that your personal information is highly confidential and to this end the information collected by us will only be used for the purpose in which it was collected unless you have consented to it being used for another purpose or if the secondary purpose for which the information is being used or disclosed is related to the primary purpose and you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure. This may include to:
- provide you with products and services during the usual course of our business activities;
- administer our business activities (including invoicing, account management and recruitment);
- manage, research and develop our products and services;
- provide you with information about our products and services, invite you to events or distribute articles or publications;
- communicate with you by a variety of measures including, but not limited to, by telephone, email, SMS or mail; and
- investigate any complaints.
You have a right not to provide information that can identify you. If, however, you withhold your personal information, it may not be possible for us to provide you with our products and services, or alternatively, may affect the adequacy or appropriateness of advice or services provided.
If there is a change of control in our business or a sale or transfer of business assets, we reserve the right to transfer to the extent permissible at law our user databases, together with any personal information and non-personal information contained in those databases.
Retention of your personal information
We will retain your personal information only as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, as required by law and the Australian Privacy Principles, or in accordance with our documentation retention policies.
How we collect your personal information
Cybele Accounting & Bookkeeping may collect personal information from you in a variety of ways, including when you interact with us electronically or in person. This includes, but is not limited to, when you provide feedback, when you provide information about your personal or business affairs, and social media platforms.
We may also receive personal information from third parties and where this is the case, we will protect it as set out in this Privacy Policy. You have a right to refuse us authorisation to collect information from a third party.
Sometimes you may provide us with someone else’s personal information, e.g. other members of your family group. You must not provide that information to us unless you have their consent to do so. You should also take reasonable steps to inform them of the matters set out in this Privacy Policy.
Disclosure of personal information
In providing our services we may need to disclose personal information to a third party. This will be done to the extent that it is permitted by law and set out in this Policy.
Examples of the types of third parties we may disclose personal information to include:
- companies or individuals contracted to assist us in providing services or who perform functions on our behalf (such as mailing houses, specialist consultants, barristers and solicitors, contractors or temporary employees to handle peak period workloads, information technology service providers, superannuation fund trustees, insurance providers, fund managers, market research organisations and other product providers)
- courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities, as required or authorised by law and in accordance with the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants
- auditors or compliance officers, as required by Law or Professional Associations
- anyone else to whom you consent, such as banks, accountants and other financial institutions.
Where you engage us to attend to your tax affairs we will assume (unless you advise otherwise) that you have specifically authorised us to deal directly with the Australian Tax Office (the “ATO”) regarding day-to-day type matters. If, in the course of our dealing with this body, it requests information regarding you that we believe is outside of the scope of our authority, e.g. Tax Office audit, we will request your specific authority before complying with the relevant request.
If we are required by law to disclose information about you or your organisation, we must co-operate fully. However, where it is possible and lawful for us to do so, we will advise you that the information has been disclosed.
Sensitive information
Some of the personal information is “sensitive information” as defined by the Privacy Act. Sensitive information includes health information, information about your race, ethnic origin, political opinion, religion, trade union or other professional or trade association membership, sexual preference(s) and criminal record. We will only collect this information as permitted under the Privacy Act.
Sensitive information will be used and disclosed only for the purpose for which it was provided or a directly related secondary purpose, unless you agree otherwise, or where certain other limited circumstances apply (e.g. where required by law).
Unsolicited personal information
There may be times when we receive personal information that we do not solicit. If this occurs, we will determine if you have given your consent and the information is necessary for us to provide our services, or whether the collection is required or authorised by or under an Australian law or a court/tribunal order. If it is, then the information will be dealt with in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles as if the information had been solicited.
If it is determined that you have not consented to the information being disclosed to us and that there is no requirement at law for us to collect that information, we will destroy or de-identify the information as soon as practicable, provided it is lawful and reasonable to do so.
Security of your personal information
Cybele Accounting & Bookkeeping is committed to ensuring that the information you provide to us is stored securely. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure information and protect it from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.
Our employees are required to respect the confidentiality of personal information and the privacy of individuals, and privacy and data protection training is undertaken. As part of that training, all employees are required to read this policy and understand their obligations in regard to personal information.
Each year all employees are required to acknowledge that they have complied with all aspects of this policy and kept themselves abreast of any changes to this policy.
Where we employ data processors to process personal information on our behalf, we only do so on the basis that such data processors comply with the requirements under the Australian Privacy Act and have adequate technical measures in place to protect personal information against unauthorised use, loss and theft.
The transmission and exchange of information made by you is done so at your own risk. We cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us, or receive from us. Although we take measures to safeguard against unauthorised disclosures of information, we cannot assure you that personal information that we collect will not be disclosed in a manner that is inconsistent with this Privacy Policy.
Hosting
The hosting facilities for our website are situated in Australia.
You acknowledge that personal data that you submit for publication through our website or services may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use (or misuse) of such personal data by others.
There will be circumstances in which the disclosure of the information is required or authorised by Australian law or a court/tribunal order, or the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, as part of their quality review program or where you have given your direct consent to disclose it.
Access to your personal information
You may request details of personal information that we hold about you in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). If you would like a copy of the information which we hold about you or believe that any information we hold on you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, please email us at
admin@bookkeepercybele.com.au
We will require you to verify your identity and to specify what information you require.
We reserve the right to refuse to provide you with information that we hold about you, in certain circumstances set out in the Privacy Act or any other applicable law. If access is denied we will explain the reason why it is denied.
We endeavour to respond to your request for details of personal information we hold, however you should anticipate that it may take some time to process your request as there may be a need to access the information from our archives.
We endeavour to provide you with details of personal information we hold free of charge, however we reserve the right to charge you a fee for providing you with the information. If we propose to charge a fee, we will advise you in advance.
Social media platforms
You may wish to participate in the various social media platforms hosted by us and which we make available to you. These platforms are designed to facilitate and share content. We cannot be held responsible if you publicly share personal information on these sites that is subsequently used, misused or otherwise appropriated by another party/entity.
Changes to Privacy Policy
Please be aware that this policy may be updated as and when required, for example, to take into account new laws, changes to our operations and practices, changes in the business environment and technology. We may modify this Policy at any time, in our sole discretion and all modifications will be effective immediately upon our posting of the modifications on our websites. Please check back from time to time to review our Privacy Policy.
This policy was last updated August 2022
Complaints about privacy
If you have any complaints about our privacy practices, please feel free to send in details of your complaints to admin@bookkeepercybele.com.au. We take complaints very seriously and will respond shortly after receiving written notice of your complaint.