WMC Accounting Privacy Policy

At WMC Accounting we understand the privacy of your personal details is of the utmost importance and this policy sets out the rules we will abide by when dealing with personal information we collect in the course of our business. WMC is committed to handling personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principals (APPs) detailed in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

This policy describes for clients, potential clients and employees of our clients how WMC collects and handles personal information covered by the Privacy Act. It is not devised to cover categories of personal information not included in the Privacy Act.

Relevant legislation

The services WMC Accounting provide are governed by legislation including:

• Tax Agent Services Act 2009
• Tax Agent Services Regulation 2009
• Tax Practitioners Board Code of Professional Conduct
• Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth)
• Corporations Act 2001
• Bi-laws of CPA Australia
• Bi-laws of Chartered Accountants Australian & New Zealand

What are you likely to be asked for?

To provide the highest quality personalised service we collect a range of personal information. The primary purpose of collecting this information is for providing professional advice. Information we may require includes: 

• Personal identification details including your name, date of birth and gender
• Personal details about your spouse and/or dependants
• Your contact details including your postal and residential addresses, telephone number and email 
• Government issues identifiers including your Tax File Number(TFN) & Australian Business Number (ABN)
• Details of employment and related history
• Banking details including investments and shareholdings
• Superannuation details
• Insurance details
• Private health cover information

Under certain circumstances it may also be necessary for WMC to collect sensitive information to provide tailored advice. This may include but is not limited to health information, professional qualifications or memberships.

To provide our professional services and to effectively manage our business relationships WMC Accounting collects personal and sensitive information about individual, persons associated with or employed by our clients.

Should you choose not to provide this information it may limit the services that WMC Accounting can provide. It is generally not practical to remain anonymous when receiving accountancy advice as the information provided is specific to your accountancy needs.

How we hold and collect personal information

The personal information WMC Accounting collects from you will depend on how you interact with us. In most cases, we will collect your personal information directly from you. This could be whilst making a booking (over the phone), face to face, through our website, or written/email correspondence.

In some situations, we may collect information from an authorised third party including but not limited to your employer where they are the client, your solicitor, third party service providers, banks, financial institutions, industrial regulatory bodies, insurance companies or from your personal representative.

WMC Accounting may also collect your personal information from a third party in situations:

• Where we are required or authorised under Australian law court/tribunal
• You consented to the collection of information
• It is impracticable to obtain the information from you

We may also collect personal information that is publicly available.

WMC Accounting utilises up-to-date techniques and processes, which meet current government requirements to protect personal information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, medication and disclosure. This includes but is not limited to:

• Physical measures such as alarmed and monitored offices with access passes for staff only
• Secure storage of physical files and technology
• Security measures such as passwords, restriction of accesses, firewalls, encryption and digital certificates to protect electronic information
• Maintaining up-to-date computer and network security system including regular security updates/patches

We store data on physical servers that are securely backed up with data encryption. We also use the services of cloud based third party providers to deliver our services to you. We conduct due diligence in selecting providers to ensure a high level of data security. In using third party services, we rely on the privacy and security policies adopted by such third parties and where possible, ensure companies comply with Australian privacy laws or equivalent laws. When you interact with us, you agree to accept the privacy and security policies of our providers such Microsoft, Nimbus Portal Solutions, Docusign and cloud accounting software providers. In the event third parties suffer a data breach, you agree not to hold us liable on their behalf. Third party providers are required to notify all users of data breaches they incur. We will communicate knowledge of third party data breaches as we are notified but we do not accept responsibility on their behalf. In using third party providers, we ensure that data is stored with secure passwords, multi-factor authentication, SSL certificates, 256 bit data encryption and additional layers of security adopted by them. When you are given access to these services, you are responsible for maintaining your secure logins and passwords to access these services. We do not accept responsibility for data breaches as a result of your failure to maintain secure passwords. 

Where such providers have secure data centres located in Australia, we opt to store data in Australia. Where this option is not available, data is securely stored overseas. WMC may process, store or back up your personal information on servers that are located overseas. Common locations for servers are the United States, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, the Philippines, India and New Zealand.

For a list of third party providers we use, please refer to the home page in our secure client portal.

Use and disclosure of personal information

WMC Accounting generally uses personal and sensitive information to provide specified professional services, and make you aware of recent business-related developments that may be of relevance or interest. Generally, WMC Accounting obtains your consent in writing or implied, prior to disclosing your personal information to a third party. However, in some circumstances we may use and disclose your personal and sensitive information where:

• It is required or permitted by Law
• Permitted by this policy
• It is necessary to provide the professional advice you have requested

The types of third parties who we may disclose personal information to include:

• Government or regulatory bodies or agency's
• Our service providers
• Our professional advisors
• Your financial planning institution

By giving WMC Accounting your personal information you are consenting to the above disclosure. We will take all reasonable steps to notify you of the information used, collected and disclosed at all times.

Individuals may request personal information that WMC Accounting holds about them at any time. We will pass on this information except in circumstances where granting access would infringe on another person's privacy.

You will be required to provide some form of identification to verify that you are the person the information pertains to.

Website and cookies

This policy applies to personal information collected via http://www.wmcaccounting.com.au/.

In principle, you can visit our website without leaving any personal data. We only collect personal data that you give voluntarily Eg:

• If you sign up to our monthly newsletter
• When you create a WMC Accounting client login
• When you contact us through the website
• When you use our Complimentary Resources and Templates

WMC Accounting use cookies and other similar technologies which often include an anonymous unique identifier. A "cookie" is technology that allows our web site to store information in your browser used only by our site while you are using it. They serve to help us track users' preferred locations, web traffic and languages. Each web site can send its own cookies to your browser if your computer software allows it. We may receive information from you from our cookies.

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. Google Analytics used cookies to analyse your use of the website. Google Analytics will use the data to analyse your use of the site to create reports on website activity. We use this data to monitor user traffic and to determine what our users are interested in for the purpose of developing meaningful website content for our users. 

You may alter your web browser configurations to decline cookies and therefore deliver no information if you choose not to have your information stored. If you require further information in relation to cookies, please contact us on the details advised below.

Our website also contains links to other external websites. It is the responsibility of the user to make their own decision about the accuracy and reliability of information contained in external websites. WMC Accounting is not responsible for information contained in these links or the privacy practices of those sites.

Secure client portal users

When you become a client of WMC Accounting, you will be invited to setup a login code and secure password to access your secure client portal. The portal is used to securely transmit and store electronic communication and documents we send you in providing taxation and accounting services to you. This will enable you to access your accounting information at any time. You will also have the ability to share your personal information with other parties such as your spouse, business partners, your bank manager etc. We cannot provide access to other parties to your secure client folder. This feature is controlled by you. You agree to be responsible for maintaining access permissions you grant to third parties via the portal. Notifications are sent to the main email contact associated with your entity, whether individual or another entity. Please notify is in writing if your email address needs to be updated.

You can read about Nimbus Portal Solutions on their website.

Employees and potential employees

When recruiting and employing staff, we collect personal information such as your name, address details, telephone numbers, email address and other information specific to employment activities. This can include, but is not limited to previous work experience, education, references, tax file number, date of birth and superannuation details.

All employees and contractors are contractually bound by our confidentiality policy in place on how personal information is treated.

Keeping your information up-to-date

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold about you is accurate. This may include asking you to confirm your details from time to time to maintain this accuracy.

If you believe your information is not correct, please contact us as soon as possible to update and correct your information.

Anonymity and sensitive information

We will not collect sensitive information without your consent, unless required by law. We will notify you as soon as practical should we require or collect sensitive information about you.

Destroying personal information

Any personal information we hold will be maintained in order to comply with legislative and professional requirements, after which time the information will be securely destroyed. Where the information is paper based, it will be shredded or securely destroyed and if held electronically, it will be deleted from our on-site and off-site storage systems.

Changes to this policy

If you wish to bring to our attention any breach or potential breach of this privacy policy. Please contact our Privacy Officer with the information provided below. Your complaint will be considered and responded to within seven working days. It is our intention to resolve any issues to your satisfaction, however, if you are unhappy with the outcome you are entitled to contact the office of the Australian Information Commissioner ("OAIC") who may investigate your complaint further.

Contact details:

The Privacy Officer
72-76 Ryrie Street
GEELONG Victoria 3220

PH: (03) 5222 3200
EMAIL: [email protected]

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