Our commitment

Financial Force is committed to protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of the information entrusted to us. We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and adopt the National Privacy Principles (NPP) set out in that Act. We respect your privacy and are committed to collecting, using and protecting any personal information provided by you in accordance with our obligations under the NPP.

Collection of information

At Financial Force, the purpose for collecting personal information is to facilitate financial planning and the delivery of appropriate financial services and/or products. At or before the time we collect information from you we endeavour to take reasonable steps to inform you why we are collecting that information, who other than us (if at all) that information may be disclosed to and what the repercussions are if you do not provide the requested personal information to us.

Your personal information is collected by us on an ongoing basis. It may be collected via an application form, telephone, fax or e-mail from you or another party such as a financial planner, accountant, fund manager or other source.

Our website may collect general information of a statistical nature including the number of visitors visiting the site, the time, duration and pages visited. This helps us to understand the priorities of our users so that we can improve the service, products and information we offer. General information is also collected by us on an ongoing basis from other sources as a result of our information requirements for the services we offer.

Use and disclosure

We are required to obtain and hold detailed information that personally identifies you and/or contains information (which may be sensitive information) or opinion about you. In addition, in order for us to provide you with the comprehensive financial planning service we are required to collect personal information from you necessary to develop an appropriate financial plan for you. To do this, we may need to collect the following types of personal information:

• details to ascertain your financial objectives and needs
• details to determine you risk profile and investment preferences;
• details of your current financial circumstances including assets and liabilities, income and expenditures etc
• details about your employment history, family structure (i.e. dependents and spouses), commitments and social security eligibility;
• details about your current health and medical history where relevant for risk insurance purposes.

The personal details we request are used only for providing services to you. They will not be passed on to third parties other than in the performance of the service clients have engaged us to perform. We will not publish, sell, trade, loan, rent, disclose or re-use the information you give us without your express consent.

Data quality

Financial Force is required take reasonable steps to make sure that the personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up‑to‑date. If we believe that personal information provided by our clients or third parties is not up-to-date, complete and accurate, we reserve the right to make any necessary and reasonable enquiries regarding that information, with the client’s consent.

Data security

Financial Force will take all reasonable measures to protect personal information that we hold from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Your personal information is retained by us for as long as the information is required to provide you with our services or as required by law. We will destroy or de-identify your personal information when it is no longer required by us or by law.

How we manage your personal information

At Financial Force we will not disclose any personal information to a third party except as permitted by law, and/or nominated by you and in accordance with the Privacy Act and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. All arrangements between Financial Force and third parties are entered on the condition that they adopt and adhere to our Privacy Policy.

Access and correction

You may have access to the personal information Financial Force hold on your behalf on request, except in circumstances where access may be denied under the Privacy Act or as required by law.

Should you wish to review or access any item of the personal information we hold please contact us. Before providing any information we will require proof of identity and/or authorisation. Financial Force reserves the right to charge a fee for searching for and providing access to your information. Should you require information which has been archived it may not be immediately available. In the event that a client is refused access to their personal information, Financial Force will provide you with an explanation for that refusal.

We will take steps to ensure that the information we hold about you is accurate when we use or disclose it. If you think that we hold information about you that is incorrect in any way, please contact us.

Identifiers

In some circumstances we are required to collect, or inadvertently collect, government identifiers, for example, your tax file number or social security number. We will not use or disclose this information other than when required to do so by law, or when expressly consented to by you.

We do not adopt an identifier that has been assigned to you as a means of directly identifying you as a client of Financial Force.

Anonymity

Wherever it is lawful and practicable, you have the option of not identifying yourself when dealing with Financial Force.

Sensitive information

We will not collect sensitive information about you without your express consent or unless required to do so by law. Sensitive information includes information or an opinion about an individual’s:

• racial or ethnic origin; or
• political opinions; or
• membership of a political association; or
•  religious beliefs or affiliations; or
• philosophical beliefs; or
• membership of a professional or trade association; or
•  membership of a trade union; or
• sexual preferences or practices; or
• criminal record;

that is also personal information; or

• health information about an individual

Enquiries or Complaints

Should you wish to make an enquiry or complaint in regard to our collection, use or management of your personal information under this Privacy Policy or a breach or potential breach of the National Privacy Principles, please contact our office in writing or via e-mail to:

The Privacy Officer
Financial Force Pty Ltd

PO Box 12026 GEORGE ST P/O
BRISBANE QLD 4001

We aim to resolve all complaints quickly and fairly. If after 30 days we cannot satisfactorily resolve your concerns or if you are unhappy with our response, you may contact the Privacy Commissioner by phoning 1300 363 992 or complain in writing to:

Director, Compliance
Office of the Australia Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001

Notification of changes to our privacy policy

Financial Force reserves the right to review or amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. The current version of our Privacy Policy can be accessed on our website www.financialforce.com.au.