Privacy Policy

Privacy at Millyard Family Lawyers
- Millyard Family Lawyers acknowledges and respects the privacy of individuals, and is committed to protect personal information which we hold.
- Protecting confidential information forms the basis on which we conduct relationships with our clients. All information we receive in relation to each matter is strictly confidential. We do not disclose this information except on client instructions, or in accordance with the law.
- This Policy outlines the way in which Millyard Family Lawyers collects, holds and discloses personal information we hold about individuals.
- Please note, our website may contain links to other websites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. When you go to other websites from here, we advise you to be aware and read their privacy policy.
Personal information
- Personal information is information or an opinion about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained.
- Millyard Family Lawyers collects information necessary for us to provide our services.
- We usually collect:
  - name, address, contact information and occupation;
  - information about your dealings with us or our clients; and
  - a brief summary of your matter through our online form.
- If you do not give us the personal information which we ask for, it may affect our ability to meet our obligations to you, or to our clients. Depending on the nature of your instructions to us, to provide our legal services to you we may also collect sensitive information.
How do we collect personal information?
- Millyard Family Lawyers usually collects personal information by:
  - forms (both physical and digital) completed by people;
  - face-to-face meetings;
  - interviews;
  - telephone conversations;
  - from third parties; and
- To improve your experience on our website, we may use ‘cookies’. Cookies are an industry standard and most major websites use them. A cookie is a small text file that our site may place on your computer as a tool to remember your preferences. It does this automatically. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however, please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of our website.
- We also use an online form to gather your personal information, and in these circumstances, it must be voluntarily given to us.
Use of your personal
- The reason we collect personal information will usually be obvious at the time of collection. Millyard Family Lawyers uses personal information variously to:
  - Provide our services to our clients;
  - Manage our relationship with our clients;
  - Market our services;
  - Facilitate our internal business operations;
  - Comply with the law.
- We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- How AI Tools Handle Your Information
  - We may use AI-enabled practice management software and other AI-enabled technology and tools (AI tools) to assist us in delivering legal services to our clients.
  - We may use AI tools for administrative, analytical or drafting assistance, such as organising information, generating document drafts or identifying relevant issues.
  - We may use AI tools that process personal and sensitive information in different ways. This may include:
    - processing personal information to generate outputs;
    - storing certain documents or data within secure systems to support ongoing legal work; and
    - retaining limited histories of interactions to support workflow functionality.
  - Data storage
    - - Depending on the AI tool being used, personal and sensitive information may be:
        stored within secure systems for use in the relevant matter; or
        transmitted to external providers for processing and returned without being retained.
    - Third-party providers
      - Some AI tools we use rely on third-party technology providers to process information (e.g. AI model providers). Where this occurs, information may be transmitted securely to those providers for the limited purpose of generating outputs or supporting our legal services.
      - Your information will not be used to train the AI models.
    - Professional oversight
      - Any use of AI tools in delivering legal services is subject to professional oversight by our lawyers.
      - We may use AI tools to support the delivery of legal services but we do not rely on AI tools to make legal decisions or provide legal advice.
    - Security measures
      - We only use AI tools operating within controlled, enterprise environments with appropriate security and confidentiality safeguards. We will not upload personal information to publicly available or open AI platforms.
      - Technical and organisational safeguards are implemented in connection with AI tools, including encryption of data in transit and at rest, access controls, and monitoring systems designed to protect personal information from unauthorised access, use or disclosure.
      - We take steps to ensure that personal information processed through AI tools is not used by third-party providers for purposes such as training their systems.
      - Where we upload personal information to an AI tool, we will adhere to all applicable laws, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and other relevant privacy laws and directions from The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

Disclosure of your personal information
- We may disclose personal information for the purposes for which it was collected, and:
  - subject to our obligations to clients, to anyone where necessary or desirable in connection with providing our legal services, such as to our client, to regulatory authorities, or other parties or advisors;
  - within our firm;
  - on a confidential basis to other advisors to enable them to provide other services in connection with our legal services or the operation of our business (e.g. barristers, or financial institutions);
  - where the law requires us to do so; or
  - where you consent for us to do so.

Overseas disclosure

Some AI tools and technology providers we use may process personal information outside Australia, including in the United States and United Kingdom. This may occur where information is transmitted to secure systems operated by third-party providers in those jurisdictions for processing, including on a temporary or real-time basis. Where personal information is processed overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure that it is handled in a manner consistent with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including through contractual, technical and security safeguards.

Access to and correction of personal information

You may request access to the personal information that Millyard Family Lawyers holds about you and request correction of any personal information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. We will respond to such requests within a reasonable period and take reasonable steps to provide access or make corrections as required by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). In some circumstances, we may refuse a request for access or correction where permitted by law. If we do so, we will provide written reasons for the refusal and information about any available complaint mechanisms. We will not charge you for making a request, although we may charge a reasonable fee for providing access to personal information.

Security of your information
- Millyard Family Lawyers takes all reasonable steps to ensure the security of your information. We take reasonable steps to hold information in secure electronic or physical form – including by providing secure premises and maintaining firewalls and secure databases – to protect information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and modification. We train our staff in the importance of confidentiality and security of all information we hold.
- The internet is not a secure environment. If you send us information via the internet, you send it at your own risk.
Analytics
- Our website uses Google Analytics, a service which transmits website traffic data to Google servers in the United States. Google Analytics does not identify individual users or associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. We use reports provided by Google Analytics to help us understand website traffic and webpage usage.
- By using our website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner described in Google’s Privacy Policy – external site and for the purposes set out above. You can opt out of Google Analytics if you disable or refuse the cookie, disable JavaScript, or use the opt-out service provided by Google – external site.
- Our website may also use interfaces with social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others. If you choose to “like” or “share” information from this website through these services, you should review the privacy policy of that service. If you are a member of a social media site, the interfaces may allow the social media site to connect your visits to this site with other personal information.
- Changes We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices, or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons, and you should check it regularly.
Enquiries and complaints

If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy policy or practices or if you would like more information, please contact us.

Telephone: 07 4052 1945 Email: info@millyardfamilylawyers.com.au

If you believe we have not complied with this policy or the Privacy Act, please contact us as set out above. We will take any privacy complaint seriously. However, if you remain dissatisfied, you can also make a formal complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website www.oaic.gov.au.