Privacy and Confidentiality


NQWLS is committed to protecting and upholding your right to privacy and confidentiality in the way we collect, store and use information about you, your needs and the services we provide you.

We collect and manage personal information in line with State and Federal privacy legislation. This notice outlines the ways that we collect, manage, use and disclose personal information about you.


Collection of personal information

To provide legal assistance we need to collect some personal information about you and others. If you do not provide the information we request, we may not be able to assist you.  We collect personal information about:

  • clients or potential clients

  • visitors to our website

  • people who are assisting clients or potential clients or who are on the other side of a dispute with a clients or potential client and

  • other people we come into contact with.


Personal information may include:

  • names and dates of birth or death

  • addresses (postal, street & email)

  • telephone & fax numbers

  • demographic information such as age, gender and income

  • information relating to referrals made to or from the Centre

  • information collected from you or others as a result of your access to our services

  • other information that we are required to collect by our funders or others (eg statutory bodies) or to provide services.


Personal information may be collected in a number of different ways including:

  • directly from you or via third parties

  • verbally or in writing

  • electronically by email or web-based forms

  • by our internet service provider or information technology contractors who may monitor email traffic or for system maintenance purposes only.

Use of your personal information

Personal information may be used to:

  • provide services

  • administer and manage those services

  • develop, enhance and evaluate our services.

We consider that you would expect us to use your personal information in these ways. We may also send you promotional materials about our services. If you no longer wish to receive such material, please contact the Centre. We will not use your personal information for other purposes.

Disclosure of your personal information

Parties who we may disclose your personal information to include:

  • our workers (staff and volunteers, including Committee members) who sign confidentiality agreements

  • your authorised representatives

  • external lawyers or barristers we may work with to provide you with a service

  • courts, tribunals, commissions and similar, to file material or respond to court matters or legal process.

We may provide personal information to outreach services and other organisations who may be able to assist you.

De-identified information may be provided to our funders to ensure you are receiving a quality service.

In some instances, we may be required or authorised by law to disclose information without your express consent such as to fulfil legal and/or contractual obligations.

We may also be required to provide information to our insurers if a claim is made against the Centre.

Security of your personal information

We are committed to protecting your personal information from misuse or loss, and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure, and will take reasonable steps to do so.

Your information is held securely in our storage areas and/or electronically in our databases and servers.

Changes to your personal information

To help us provide you with a service and keep our records up-to-date, please tell us when your contact details change, or if you become aware that information we are holding is no longer accurate.

Disposal and destruction of your personal information

We retain all documents for a minimum period of 7 years. If we no longer need or are no longer required to hold your personal information, we may destroy or permanently de-identify that information, without further notice to you.

How to access your personal information

You can request access to your personal information held by the Centre by making a request to our Principal Solicitor.

Use of our website

When browsing or searching our website, our server automatically collects navigational data to help us improve our website content.

One way that navigational data is collected is by placing “cookies” in your browser file on your hard drive. Cookies do not capture or track personal information and cannot identify you as an individual. You can modify your browser to prevent this happening if you wish.

You are advised that there may be security risks by you transmitting information across the internet. Your data and information may not be secure.

Changes to this notice

From time to time, it may be necessary for us to review or amend our privacy notice. Any changes will be advised by posting an updated version on our website.