The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)(the Act) allows for ‘personal information’, including ‘sensitive information’ (which are defined in the Act) about you to be collected, used and disclosed provided we have provided you with notice and in certain circumstances also obtained your consent. In this Privacy Policy and, where appropriate, a reference to ‘personal information’ includes ‘sensitive information’.
We may (from time to time) update, revise, amend or replace this Privacy Policy by posting any changes to it on our website or by giving you any other form of notification.
This Privacy Policy is available on our website, at our office and may also be made available to you at any property inspection or when we first communicate with you by email.
What personal information do we collect?
- Full name
- Site identification
- Address
- Contact details
- Personal and business references
- Financial statements
How we collect personal information from you
We will collect personal information from you in the following circumstances:
Business Sales
- to identify and/or verify the identity of any prospective or actual vendor for any business we list as the sales agent;
- to advertise, market and promote the sale of any business;
- to negotiate and manage the sale of any business (including to provide non legal assistance with the exchange of the contract for the sale of business and the preparation of any required statements of account);
- to liaise and exchange information with the vendor, purchaser (including any prospective purchaser) as well with their respective agents, contractors, legal, financial and other advisors in relation to or in connection with the sale of the business;
- to ensure the safety and security of vendors and existing occupiers and of each of their business in connection with the inspection of any business premises by prospective purchasers;
- to comply with any applicable law in connection with the sale of the business;
- to confirm whether the vendor or purchaser is registered for GST purposes;
- to tell an individual about any other business that we are selling or any other service that we provide, unless that individual tells us not to (this is referred to as direct marketing).
How we collect personal information from other sources
We can collect personal information about you from other sources in any manner permitted by the Act. We will only collect personal information from other sources where it is reasonably necessary for us to do so in relation to, or in connection with, any services we are supplying in connection with our real estate and/or strata agency business. Examples of such sources of personal information include:
- from your agents, other owners, insurers and underwriters, contractors, legal, financial and other advisors in relation to or in connection with any tenancy, lease or contract for sale of the property;
- from public registers including those managed by the NSW Land & Property Information;
- from publicly available information;
- from property valuers or related service providers; and
- from our other service providers including any third party that has been authorised to supply us with personal information.
When the law authorises or requires collection of personal information
There are laws that may require us to collect and disclose your personal information. For example, we may be required to collect and disclose your personal information pursuant to the Property, Stock and Business Agents Act 2002 (NSW), including any regulation under that law.
How your personal information may be used
We may collect and disclose your personal information for the following purposes including:
Business Sales
- to identify and/or verify the identity of any prospective or actual vendor for any business;
- to advertise, market and promote the sale of any business;
- to negotiate and manage the sale of any business; (including to provide non-legal assistance with the exchange of the contracts for the sale of business; as well as the preparation of any required statements of account);
- to liaise and exchange information with the vendor, purchaser (including any prospective purchaser) as well with their respective agents, contractors, legal, financial and other advisors in relation to or in connection with the sale of the business;
- to ensure the safety and security of vendors and existing occupiers and of each of their property in connection with the inspection of any business premises by prospective purchasers;
- to comply with any applicable law in connection with the sale of the business;
- to confirm whether the vendor or purchaser is registered for GST purposes;
- to tell you about any other business; that we are selling or any other service that we provide, unless you tell us not to (this is referred to as direct marketing);
Automated Decision Making
- to be used in the operation of ADM (e.g. computer programs) to make various decisions that may impact our services, including but not limited to client’s rights under an arrangement and access to a significant service or support;
Generally
- to allow us to run our business efficiently and to perform administrative and operational tasks;
- to comply with any dispute resolution or other legal process;
- to act on behalf of clients in accordance with any agency agreement and to comply with our obligations under that agreement;
- in order to update our records and your contact details;
- if we enter into or propose to enter into any agreement or arrangement with any party for the purpose of, or in connection with, the acquisition of our business (including any part of our business that includes personal information), then we may provide that party (including its legal, financial and other professional advisers) with personal information in relation to or in connection with those arrangements; and
- any other purpose to which you have consented.
You can tell us at any time if you no longer wish to receive direct marketing information or offers from us. We will process your request as soon as reasonably practicable after receipt of the request.
How we share your personal information
Sharing personal information with third parties
We may seek and use personal information about you from, and use or disclose personal information about you to, third parties in relation to or in connection with the potential or actual rental of a property, the sale and purchase of a property or other business or administrative functions for the real estate and/or strata agency. These third parties may include:
- any conjunction, co-listing, buyers’ or other property agents that acts on your behalf in connection with the rental, leasing, sale and purchase of pr business;
- your financier including any mortgage brokers that may be assisting you with any existing mortgage loan or application in relation to the sale or purchase of business;;
- valuers, surveyors, insurers, re-insurers, claim assessors and investigators;
- financial institutions including deposit taking institutions;
- if you are a tenant, your referees, including your employer or other individuals to confirm your identity and/or other details about you ;
- organisations in and associated with debt collecting;
- law enforcement agencies;
- government and/or regulatory bodies including (without limitation) the NSW Land and Property Management Authority, Australian Taxation Office, the NSW Office of State Revenue. In many cases, these organisations may share information with foreign authorities;
- mailing houses and telemarketing agencies that assist us to communicate with you;
- if we enter into, or propose to enter into, any agreement or arrangement with any party for the purpose of, or in connection with, the acquisition of our business (including any part of our business that includes personal information), that party (including its legal, financial and other professional advisers) to provide personal information in relation to or in connection with those arrangements; and
- service providers including IT and data consultants, agents, contractors and advisers that assist us to conduct our business.
Sharing personal information with related companies
We may share personal information about you with our related companies for any of the purposes described above
Sharing personal information outside of Australia
We may store information about you in cloud or other types of networked or electronic storage. As electronic or networked storage can be accessed from various countries through an internet connection it is not always practical to know in which country personal information about you may be held
We will take reasonable steps to ensure that any overseas organisation that receives your personal information will comply with the Act.
If you do not provide personal information
If you do not provide your personal information to us, it may not be possible to provide you with the service that you have requested or applied for, for example:
- if personal information is not disclosed by a prospective purchaser by way of completing our Confidentiality Agreement, then we may not be able to provide specific information relating to the business;
- if personal information is not disclosed by a prospective purchaser at an inspection, then we may not be able to admit them into the inspection;
- to let you know about other services we provide that might be suitable for your needs (unless you opt out of this by telling us that you do not wish to receive such information).
Personal information about other people
If you give us personal information about any other person in relation to, or in connection with, the sale of any business
- we are entitled to assume that you have sought their consent to the disclosure of such personal information to us;
- we have collected their personal information for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy;
- we may exchange their personal information with other organisations for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy;
- we will handle their personal information in the same way as set out in this Privacy Policy and they can:
- access or request a copy of this Privacy Policy; or
- access the personal information we hold about them.
Anonymity and pseudonymity
In business sales, as brokers we regularly receive a high volume of enquiries that do not proceed. Many potential buyers choose not to complete a confidentiality agreement (CA), and as a result no confidential or commercially sensitive information is disclosed.
Our business broking operations have systems and procedures in place to protect confidential client information, including staff details, financial records and commercial databases. The Confidentiality Agreement (CA) is very important to us. Personal information is collected, stored and used in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles, with secure systems, controlled access and confidentiality obligations in place.
In preparation for the AUSTRAC anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing reforms commencing 1 July 2026, All staff have recently completed mandatory training (NSW Fair Trading requirement) through the Australian College of Professional to ensure ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements.
Please understand without a CA and a phone call confirming a buyer is qualified our company policy is to not supply information or communicate or share private information.
However, where possible, we should provide information of a general nature such as, for example, we can respond to general telephone and related enquiries about a business sale to unidentified individuals and we generally should not be requesting the individual to identify themselves for this purpose. Of course, if an individual makes an enquiry by email or other electronic or written methods then there is every possibility that the mode of communication may identify them.
Information security
We take reasonable steps to protect all information which we hold (including any personal or sensitive information) from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Marketing and opt-out
We may also use the information, including personal information (excluding sensitive information), provided by you for marketing and research purposes, to analyse and improve products, services and benefits and to inform you of products, services and benefits provided by us, our related entities, suppliers or sponsors which we consider may be of value or interest to you, unless you tell us (see the marketing opt-out below), or have previously told us not to. We will not use your sensitive information for these purposes without your consent
Accessing your Personal Information
Unless we are entitled to withhold access to your personal information (there are various reasons why this may be the case), you have the right to request access to any personal information held by us which relates to you. We may charge a reasonable fee where access to personal information is provided. Any requests for access to your personal information should be made in writing to the Privacy Officer (details specified below). You also have the right to request the correction of any personal information which relates to you that is inaccurate, incomplete, irrelevant, misleading or out-of-date.
If you require any further information about our management of personal information or have any queries or complaints, you should contact:
The Privacy Officer
Nigel Chynoweth
32 Tumbulgum Road Murwillumbah NSW 2484
0409 058 258
The Office of the Information Commissioner can be contacted as follows:
| Phone enquiries | 1300 363 992 Mon–Thurs 10am–4pm AEST/AEDT |
| Online enquiries | Enquiry form |
| Post | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001 |
| Fax | +61 2 9284 9666 |