Privacy Policy

Fogarty Oliver & Rothschild

Last updated: September 2026

1. Introduction

Fogarty Oliver & Rothschild (“we”, “us” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information that we collect, hold, use and disclose.

This Privacy Policy explains how we manage personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and other applicable privacy and confidentiality obligations.

As a legal practice, we also have professional obligations concerning confidentiality and the handling of client information.

By using our website, contacting us or engaging us to provide legal services, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

2. What personal information do we collect?

The types of personal information we collect will depend on your dealings with us and may include:

your name, address, telephone number and email address;
date of birth and identification information;
information contained in identity documents such as passports and driver’s licences;
information about your family and personal circumstances;
financial, banking, taxation, property and employment information;
information concerning legal proceedings, disputes or transactions;
correspondence and communications between you and us;
information concerning other persons relevant to a legal matter;
information required for verification of identity, electronic conveyancing, trust accounting, regulatory or legal compliance purposes;
billing and payment information; and
information submitted through our website, enquiry forms, email, telephone or other communications.

Depending upon the nature of a legal matter, we may also collect sensitive information, including information relating to health, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, criminal records or other sensitive matters where this is relevant to providing legal services or otherwise permitted by law.

3. How do we collect personal information?

We may collect personal information:

directly from you;
through our website or online enquiry forms;
by telephone, email, correspondence or meetings;
through documents provided to us;
from courts, tribunals and government authorities;
from other lawyers, conveyancers, accountants, financial advisers and professional advisers;
from banks, insurers, medical practitioners, experts and service providers;
from publicly available records and databases; and
from third parties where authorised by you or permitted or required by law.

Where reasonably practicable, we will collect personal information directly from you.

4. Why do we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information?

We may collect, hold, use and disclose personal information for purposes including:

responding to enquiries;
determining whether we can act for you, including conducting conflict checks;
providing legal advice and legal services;
conducting litigation and representing clients before courts and tribunals;
conducting conveyancing and property transactions;
communicating with clients and other parties;
verifying identity and complying with regulatory requirements;
engaging barristers, experts, consultants and other professional advisers;
administering client files and our legal practice;
processing payments and maintaining trust and office accounts;
issuing invoices and recovering amounts owing;
maintaining and improving our website and services;
managing security, fraud prevention and information technology systems;
complying with our professional, regulatory and legal obligations; and
any other purpose for which you have provided consent or which is otherwise permitted by law.

We will not use or disclose personal information for an unrelated purpose unless you have consented or the use or disclosure is otherwise authorised or required by law.

5. Disclosure of personal information

Where appropriate, personal information may be disclosed to:

courts, tribunals and government agencies;
other solicitors and parties involved in a legal matter;
barristers;
mediators and dispute resolution practitioners;
expert witnesses and consultants;
accountants, valuers, medical practitioners and other professional advisers;
banks and financial institutions;
conveyancers, real estate agents and property professionals;
electronic conveyancing and verification-of-identity providers;
insurers;
process servers and investigators;
information technology, cloud storage, document management and other service providers;
regulatory and law enforcement authorities where required or permitted by law; and
other persons where you have authorised the disclosure or where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

Our disclosure of information is also subject to our professional duties, including our duty of confidentiality to clients.

6. Overseas disclosure

Some matters may involve overseas persons, organisations, professional advisers or service providers. We may therefore disclose personal information outside Australia where this is reasonably necessary for the provision of legal services, where you have authorised us to do so, or where otherwise permitted by law.

We may also use technology or cloud-based service providers whose systems or infrastructure are located outside Australia.

Where required by applicable privacy law, we will take reasonable steps in relation to overseas disclosures of personal information.

7. Website information, cookies and analytics

When you visit our website, certain technical information may be collected automatically, including your IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited and the date and time of your visit.

Our website may use cookies, analytics services and similar technologies to understand how visitors use the website, maintain website functionality, improve our services and assist with security.

You may be able to disable cookies through your browser settings, although doing so may affect the operation of some website functions.

8. Direct marketing

We may occasionally communicate with clients or other persons about legal developments, services, seminars or other information that we consider may be relevant.

Where required by law, we will obtain consent before sending marketing communications. You may opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by contacting us or using any unsubscribe facility provided in the communication.

9. Security of personal information

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

These measures may include physical, electronic and administrative safeguards, access controls, secure information technology systems and professional confidentiality procedures.

However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of information transmitted over the internet.

10. Retention and destruction of information

We retain personal information and client files for as long as reasonably necessary to provide our services and comply with our professional, taxation, regulatory and legal obligations.

When information is no longer required to be retained, we may securely destroy or de-identify it in accordance with applicable legal and professional requirements.

11. Access to and correction of personal information

You may request access to personal information that we hold about you and may request that inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date information be corrected.

In some circumstances, we may be entitled or required by law to refuse access to particular information. If this occurs, we will generally explain the reason for the refusal where we are permitted to do so.

Requests for access or correction should be made using the contact details below.

12. Privacy complaints

If you have a concern or complaint regarding the way we have handled your personal information, please contact us.

We will consider your complaint and endeavour to respond within a reasonable period.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may be entitled to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

13. Third-party websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security or content of third-party websites. You should review the privacy policies of those websites before providing personal information to them.

14. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices, technology or legal obligations.

The current version will be published on our website and will state the date on which it was last updated.

15. Contact us

For questions, requests or complaints concerning privacy or the handling of your personal information, please contact:

Privacy Officer
Fogarty Oliver & Rothschild

84 Chapel Street
St Kilda VIC 3182
Australia

Telephone: (03) 9534 6691

Website: elisarothschild.com.au