As lawyers we have a duty of confidence which is fundamental to the relationship with our clients. It is designed to allow the full and frank exchange required for us to be able to give you thorough legal advice, and for you to give us informed instructions.
Our duty of confidence to you is broader than the doctrine of legal professional privilege.
There is no distinction made between information you give us as your lawyers which is confidential, and that which is not; it is the circumstances of the legal retainer in which you give us information which makes it confidential. This exceeds the standards of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
The duty of confidence is based on an amalgam of contract and equity law, but is also enshrined in legislation. The Legal Practice Act (Vic) 1996, requires us as lawyers- among other things- to maintain a client’s confidences.
The duty of confidence is set out in more detail in the Professional Conduct & Practice Rules 2003. As your lawyers, we are prohibited from disclosing any confidential information acquired by us during your engagement to anyone outside of Wisewoulds. Information can be shared within the firm because the duty of confidentiality can extend to include the partners and employees of Wisewoulds.
The exceptions to our duty to keep your confidences are:
We are able to disclose information for the purposes of representing you.
Ownership of your documents
We are also bound by the Professional Conduct & Practice Rules 2003 in how we look after your documents.
We must retain, securely and confidentially, the documents relating to a particular matter and to which you are entitled, during the engagement and for six years afterwards.
The documents you are entitled to include documents prepared for you by us, and those received by us from third parties, on your behalf.
We need only retain the documents for six years after the end of engagement, if we have not already given them to you or you have instructed us to deal with them in some other lawful manner.
If you ask for your documents, we must give them to you unless we claim a lien over them for unpaid costs. The documents will be released to you when satisfactory security for the unpaid costs is received.
Additional obligations under the Privacy Act
Together with the duties we have to our clients as lawyers, we are subject to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
This means we must comply with the National Privacy Principles which govern the collection, use, handling and disclosure of personal information. Personal information is any information or opinion about you from which your identity can reasonably be ascertained.
Where we provide legal services to Victorian agencies, statutory bodies and local councils we may also be required to comply with the Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic) which protects personal information held by those entities.
Our duty of confidence to you is generally higher than the minimum standards set by the Privacy Act and Information Privacy Act.
There only two additional points we need to make in order to comply with, if not exceed, the requirements of the Privacy Act.
Sensitive Information
We do not collect sensitive information such as your race, religion, beliefs, or sexual preference except where you have consented, or where we are permitted, or required by law, to do so.
Keeping your personal information accurate
We will take reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is accurate, complete, up to date, and relevant.
If you think any information we hold about you is inaccurate, please notify us.
Contact Us
If you would like more information concerning our duty of confidence to you, or our Privacy Policy please contact our Privacy Officer:
Sophie Doyle
Senior Associate
Wisewoulds Lawyers
26/459 Collins Street
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
tel: 9629 8333
fax: 9629 4035
email: privacy@wisewoulds.com.au
post: PO Box 239
Collins Street West
MELBOURNE VIC 8007
