McManus & Co Lawyers Pty Ltd
30 June 2026
Our Policy
1. McManus & Co Lawyers Pty Ltd (McManus & Co Lawyers) is an Australian business which provides legal and other related services.
2. The Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) (APPs) govern the way in which we handle your personal information (being information or an opinion about an individual which is capable of identifying that individual).
3. This privacy policy sets out how we handle and protect the personal information of our clients, contractors and suppliers (or potential clients, employees, contractors and suppliers), users of our website, and other individuals we deal with (on our own or on our clients’ behalf) in the course of providing our services, in accordance with the APPs.
4. This policy does not address our client confidentiality obligations, which are described in our terms of engagement.
5. In this policy, all references to:
(a) ‘us’, ‘we’ and ‘our’ are references to McManus & Co Lawyers; and
(b) ‘you’ and ‘your’ are references to the individuals listed in paragraph 3 above.
6. We may, at any time, at our discretion and without notice, amend this policy by publishing an updated version on our website. We recommend you check our website regularly to ensure you are aware of our current privacy policy.
7. We understand that privacy is important to you. If you have any questions regarding this policy, please contact us using the details provided in the ‘Privacy Queries, Requests and Complaints’ section below.
The Kind of Personal Information We Collect and Hold
8. We collect and hold personal information about you which enables us to provide you with our professional services, act on our clients’ behalf, or otherwise do business with or employ you.
9. The type of personal information we collect and hold about you may include:
(a) your name and contact details (such as your phone number, postal address, email address and business contact details);
(b) your age and gender;
(c) your occupation, position description and professional background (such as your expertise and professional qualifications);
(d) a record of any correspondence or communication we have with you;
(e) if you are a client or potential client, any additional information which relates to you that you have either provided to us directly or instructed us to obtain from a third party;
(f) if you are a contractor, supplier or employee (or potential contractor, supplier or employee), any other information which we believe is reasonably necessary to assess whether to do business with or employ you, and to continue working with you; and
(g) if you use our website, details of your visit (including traffic data, location data, and blogs or resources accessed) and any information you provide when registering for an event, service or other communication.
10. Often, such personal information is collected when it is provided by you directly. However, personal information will sometimes be provided to us by a third party. In those circumstances, we will, if reasonable, notify you of that fact and inform you of the purpose for which we will use your personal information.
11. In addition to the above, and if you provide personal information to us directly, we may also collect some sensitive information about you, such as information about your racial or ethnic origin, political opinion or religious belief, membership of a political association or trade union, sexual orientation or criminal record. We will only collect sensitive information about you which is disclosed to us by a third party if we are authorised to do so under the Privacy Act.
12. If you provide us with personal information (including sensitive information) about another individual, you must first obtain their consent to do so, based on this privacy policy.
Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
13. We may use your personal information in the course of providing our legal and related services and otherwise conducting our business. This might include using your information to:
• formally engage you as a client;
• provide you with legal advice;
• send you invoices;
• act on our clients’ behalf or provide them with legal services;
• send you communications relating to publications, legal or industry updates, events or seminars;
• market or improve our services; or
• engage you as an employee, contractor or supplier.
14. The circumstances and ways in which we may disclose your personal information to third parties include:
• disclosures to our service providers who we engage from time to time to operate our business (for example, our information technology, administrative and accounting service providers);
• disclosures to service providers engaged by you who we may be working alongside on a particular project or matter;
• disclosures to other persons and bodies where such disclosures relate to the provision of our services to our clients (for example, to courts and tribunals, government and regulatory agencies or law enforcement agencies);
• any other disclosures to which you provide your consent; or
• any other disclosures which are permitted or required under the Privacy Act or any other law.
Overseas Disclosure
15. The disclosures described above may involve your personal information being sent to overseas recipients in certain circumstances (for example, to any of our service providers who are located overseas). Countries in which such third parties may reside include the United States of America, though this may change from time to time. You agree that we may disclose your personal information in this manner, notwithstanding that privacy laws in such countries may differ. We will only disclose your personal information overseas in accordance with the APPs and take reasonable steps to ensure that any overseas recipients comply with the APPs.
Use of Personal Information for Marketing Purposes
16. We may also use your personal information to promote and market our services and business to you, including through electronic methods such as email and SMS.
17. If you do not want us to promote and market our services to you, please let us know using the contact details provided in the ‘Privacy Queries, Requests and Complaints’ section below.
Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools
18. We may use artificial intelligence tools (AI Tools) in our business operations and in the provision of our legal services. They are no substitute for legal judgment which is exercised in all our legal work. We will only use AI Tools where we consider it appropriate, having regard to the nature of the task and our obligations to you.
19. We may use AI Tools for the following purposes:
• to support, improve and optimise our services and operations;
• to automate certain processes and communications, including administrative or routine tasks such as note-taking;
• to enhance your experience with our services; and
• for quality assurance purposes.
20. Where we use AI Tools, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is handled with due care and in accordance with applicable privacy laws.
21. We will not input your personal information into any publicly available AI tool. To the extent we do input your personal information into an AI Tool, access will be restricted to individuals within McManus & Co Lawyers, and your information will not be used to train or improve any external AI model or dataset.
Security of Personal Information
25. We understand the importance of maintaining the security of your personal information. Accordingly, we use what we believe to be reasonable security measures to prevent unauthorised use of, or access to, personal information stored within our physical premises and our electronic file management and other IT systems.
26. Notwithstanding the above, the internet is not a completely secure environment. You should be aware that personal information sent via the internet can be accessed, tampered with or used in an unauthorised manner by third parties.
Cookies
27. From time to time, our website may make limited use of cookies. Cookies are used to produce statistics about the use of our website, to allow us to design it better, improve its functionality and to enhance our service to you.
28. Internet browsers are usually set to receive cookies. If you do not wish to receive cookies from our website, or wish to customise your cookie settings, you should change the settings in your browser.
Privacy Queries, Requests and Complaints
29. Under the APPs, you have a right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.
30. In most circumstances where we receive such a request, we will provide you with access to, or correct, your personal information. A fee may be charged for such access. If we deny you access to, or refuse to correct, your personal information, we will provide you with our reasons for this decision.
31. If you would like to seek access to or correction of your personal information, have any queries regarding this privacy policy or the way in which we handle your personal information, or have any concerns or would like to lodge a complaint, you can contact us:
• by phone: (03) 9318 4188; or
• by email: info@mcmanuslawyers.com.au
32. If you are not satisfied with our response to your concern or complaint, you may also lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):
• by phone: 1300 363 992; or
• online at: www.oaic.gov.au