We understand that the details you provide us are private and personal. It’s important that you feel secure whenever you deal with us. It’s also important that you understand how we protect your privacy, as well as how, when and where we may use your details.

The following is our commitment to you, on what our policies towards your privacy are. You can be confident in the fact that we abide by the National Consumer Privacy Principles for the protection of personal information, as set out in the Privacy Act 1988.

What do we mean by ‘personal information’?

Personal information means any details or opinion about you, from which your identity is apparent or your identity can be uncovered.

Why we collect your personal information

The main reasons why we would collect personal information about you are:

• To assess you’re financial and credit position when you apply for a product or service from us or from another financial institution with us acting on your behalf.
• To ensure your security when visiting our website and to learn which areas of the site are of most interest to you (see the section ‘cookies’ below).

In both of these cases, we may use the information we gather to provide targeted, and value-added products and services to you, through direct marketing. These direct marketing offers and promotions are designed to make your life easier, not harder. So if you do not want to receive them, just let us know when we contact you.

How we collect your personal information?

We will always aim to collect your personal information directly from you. If for some good reason, we are unable to do so, we may involve another organisation. For example, we may need to request a credit report from a credit reporting agency when you apply for a credit facility. Before doing so or prior to collecting the information we need, we will inform you of the type of organisations we intend to disclose your personal information to.

Why will we disclose information to another organisation?

We want to provide our customers with the very best products and services. At times, we may partner with another organisation to support the products and services we offer. In these situations, or to perform credit checks, we will need to share the personal information you have given us. As you will appreciate, in certain circumstances we may be compelled by law to disclose your personal information to various authorities. For instance, we may be required under the Financial Transaction Reports Act to disclose details of financial transactions and we may also be compelled under tax laws to provide such information. This is to your benefit, and helps us to provide the products and services you would expect from Approve Home Loans

Whom will we disclose information to?

Before we disclose any of your personal information to any other organisation, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that:

• The organisation has the same commitment as us to the protection of your personal information; and
• You have consented to us doing so.

By consent, we mean approval in writing, orally, or implied from your dealings with us.

How we keep your personal information accurate and up to date?

It is important for us, and for you, that the information we hold is accurate and up to date. In this, we rely on you to help us. We ask that you contact us whenever there are any changes to your personal details, so that we can update our records.

Access to your personal information

The information we hold about you is yours to access and correct, and as such we can provide you with general information, such as your name, address and contact details quite easily. More detailed information may not be easy for us to access, and if necessary, a small fee may be charged for the costs of retrieving and supplying the details you want. This process may take up to 20 working days from your request. If you need to access your detailed information, just write to us at the following address:

admin@illawarramortgage.com.au or please use the methods available on our Contact Us page.

How long do we keep information about you?

By law, we are required to hold certain information about you, even after you are no longer a customer. However, after such time you can be assured we will destroy your personal information thoroughly and safely. We may also hold certain information about you if it is needed for a purpose which you are aware of or reasonably expect us to hold the information. When that information is no longer needed, it will be destroyed or permanently de-identified.

How safe and secure is the information we hold about you?

We take great care with the information we hold about you. Our aim is to ensure that any details are securely protected from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We will take reasonable care to make sure that we keep your information in an accurate, complete and up to date manner. When that information is no longer needed, it will be permanently destroyed or de-identified.

Online security

Our website uses encryption techniques to enhance your privacy and security on the Internet. What are ‘cookies’ and how do they work? Cookies are small data files that are downloaded from our web servers, and stored on your hard drive. A cookie is a string of letters and numbers that uniquely identify the computer you are using, and the customer number and access code you may have used to register at the site. Cookies are used on the Illawarra mortgage Brokers web site. We track a visitor’s journey through our site. This allows us to see at a glance which pages and information is of most interest to visitors. This type of cookie contains no personal information at all; simply a record of your journey through the site. Most browsers can be configured to refuse to accept cookies. You can also delete cookies form your hard drive. However, doing so may hinder your access to valuable areas of information within our site.

If you have a complaint regarding privacy

We value our customers. We will always aim to be fair and responsive. If you have a complaint, you have the right to expect that we will handle it in a friendly and professional way. When we receive a complaint, we look on it as valuable feedback that may help us to improve the services we offer and to ensure your needs are met in a satisfactory and appropriate manner. If you wish to complain, at any time, about the handling, use or disclosure of your personal information, just write to us at the following address:

Please contact Aleksandra Medeeva at admin@illawarramortgage.com.au or please use the other methods available on our Contact us page.

We will make all efforts possible to investigate your complaint, and advise you of the outcome as soon as possible. If the matter is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can then refer your complaint to the Federal Privacy Commissioner, who can be contacted at:

Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner
Level 8, Piccadilly Tower
133 Castlereagh Street
Sydney NSW 2000

More information

You can request further information about the way we manage the personal information that we hold by writing to:

admin@illawarramortgage.com.au or please use the methods available on our Contact Us page.

Direct marketing offers and information

The details you give us may be used to inform you about any special offers we think will be of interest to you, and to update you on new products and services or changes to our website. We may also send you details of offers or services provided by our business partners and related Approve Home Loans entities. You may at any time choose not to receive these communications. Doing so will not cost you anything, and we will aim to ensure you stop receiving any unwanted communications as soon as possible.