Benwest supports and abides by the following ten National Privacy Principles ("NPPs") outlined in the Act and is committed to implementing and promoting a privacy policy which will ensure the privacy and security of your personal information. The following section summarises our policies on the management of your personal information.
1. Collecting personal information about you
Benwest will not collect or monitor any personal information about you without your consent. The only personal information we collect is what you tell us about yourself.
2. Using and disclosing your personal information
Benwest is committed to safeguarding your personal privacy. We recognise that you have a right to control how your personal information is collected and used. We know that providing personal information is an act of trust and we take that seriously. Unless you directly give us consent to do otherwise.
We may contact you by mail, telephone or at your email address, which you provide to us in order to:
- Provide you with information which may be of interest about updates, new Benwest products and other matters which may interest you; and
- To send you a newsletter.
If you are receiving communications from Benwest and do not wish to receive this information any longer, you may
remove your name from our list either by telephoning us on (02) 9659 4599, emailing us at benwest@benwest.com, or
you may also write to us. Please address your correspondence to:
The Compliance Manager, PO Box 7618, Baulkham Hills BC NSW 2153.
Please allow 2 weeks for your request to be actioned.
3. Data quality of your personal information
Benwest will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is used and/or disclosed in an accurate, complete and up-to-date manner. We rely upon the accuracy of the initial information that you have provided to your financial adviser to give the best advice that we can. As your personal information changes, we request that you provide any such changes to your financial adviser.
4. Storage and security of your personal information
Benwest will also endeavour to take all reasonable steps to keep secure any information that we hold about you and to protect it from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Our employees and data processors are obliged to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by Benwest. We will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your personal information if it is no longer needed for any purpose for which the information was originally intended.
5. Openness
You are entitled to know what sort of personal information we hold, for what purposes and how we collect, hold, use and disclose that information.
You may at any time request access to your personal information and we will (subject to the certain exceptions) provide you with access to that information either by providing you with copies of the information requested, allowing you to inspect the information requested or providing you with an accurate summary of the information held.
6. Access to and correction of your personal information
In the event that you become aware, or believe, that any personal information which we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or outdated, you may contact us and provide to us evidence of the inaccuracy or incompleteness or outdatedness. We will, if we agree that the information requires correcting, take all reasonable steps to correct the information.
7. Client identifiers
Benwest does not use as a client identifier any number, code or other form of identifier used by any agency or other external entity (e.g. your tax file number if collected).
8. Anonymity
You have the option of not identifying yourself when entering transactions with Benwest wherever it is lawful and practicable. In most circumstances however, it would not be practicable to not identify yourself when transacting any business with Benwest or any of its authorised representatives.
9. Trans-border data flows
Benwest will only transfer personal information about you to someone who is in a foreign country if:
- We reasonably believe that the recipient of the information is subject to a law, binding scheme or contract which effectively upholds principles for fair handling of the information that are substantially similar to the National Privacy Principles; or
- You consent to the transfer; or
- The transfer is necessary for the conclusion or performance of a contract between you and the organisation, or for the implementation of pre-contractual measures taken in response to your request.
10. Sensitive information
Benwest will not collect sensitive information about you unless:
- You have consented; or
- The collection is required by law; or
- The collection is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your life or health, in the case that you were physically or legally incapable of giving consent or cannot communicate consent to the collection; or
- The collection is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal or equitable claim.
If you wish to obtain more information about the NPPs or is you are dissatisfied with any area of our Privacy Policy, you may contact the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner via its website at www.privacy.gov.au.