This privacy policy provides you with an outline of how and when your personal information is collected, disclosed, used, stored and otherwise handled by us.
Who are we?
‘We’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ refers to SmithLovett & Associated Brokers Pty Ltd (ACN: 134 568 291) as trustee for the SmithLovett & Associated Brokers Unit Trust trading as Yield Finance Group (ABN: 61 340 858 332) and its related entities/businesses.
Our commitment to protect your privacy
We understand how important it is to protect your personal information. We recognise that any personal information we collect about you will only be used for the purposes we have collected it or as allowed under the law. It is important to us that you are confident that any personal information we hold about you will be treated in a way which ensures protection of your personal information.
Our commitment in respect of personal information is to abide by the Australian Privacy Principles for the protection of personal information, as set out in the Privacy Act and any other relevant law.
Personal information
When we refer to personal information we mean information from which your identity is reasonably apparent. This information may include information or an opinion about you. The personal information we hold about you may also include credit information.
Credit information is information which is used to assess your eligibility to be provided with finance and may include any finance that you have outstanding, your repayment history in respect of those loans, and any defaults. Usually, credit information is exchanged between credit and finance providers and credit reporting bodies.
The kinds of personal information we may collect about you include your name, date of birth, address, account details, occupation, and any other information we made need to identify you.
If you are applying for finance we may also collect the ages and number of your dependants and cohabitants, the length of time at your current address, your employment details and proof of earnings and expenses.
Why we collect your personal information
We collect personal information for the purposes of assessing your application for finance and managing that finance. We may also collect your personal information for the purposes of direct marketing and managing our relationship with you. From time to time we may offer you other products and services.
To enable us to maintain a successful business relationship with you, we may disclose your personal information to other organisations that provide products or services used or marketed by us.
How do we collect your personal information?
Where reasonable and practical we will collect your personal information directly from you. We may also collect your personal information from other financial institutions, finance brokers and other people such as accountants and lawyers.
Website
As well as collecting information such as contact and address details, our website also records traffic statistics such as the number of visitors to our site. These details are primarily used for optimising our site and its performance. Any details recorded are anonymous and we cannot link your identity to these statistics.
Do we disclose your personal information?
We may disclose your personal information:
- to prospective funders or other intermediaries in relation to your finance requirements;
- to other organisations that are involved in managing or administering your finance such as third party suppliers, printing and postal services;
- to companies that provide information and infrastructure systems to us;
- to anybody who represents you, such as finance brokers, lawyers and accountants;
- to anyone, where you have provided us consent;
- where we are required to do so by law, such as under the Anti-Money or Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth);
- to your employer, referees or identity verification services.
Prior to disclosing any of your personal information to another person or organisation, we will take all reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that:
- the person or organisation has a commitment to protecting your personal information at least equal to our commitment, or
- you have consented to us making the disclosure.
Direct marketing
From time to time we may use your personal information to provide you with current information about finance offers you may find of interest, changes to our organisation, or new products or services being offered by us or any company with whom we are associated.
If you do not wish to receive marketing information, you may at any time decline to receive such information by telephoning us on (02) 6021 5744 or by emailing us at admin@yieldfinance.com.au or post to PO Box 329 Albury NSW 2640. If the direct marketing is by email you may also use the unsubscribe function. We will not charge you for giving effect to your request and will take all reasonable steps to meet your request at the earliest possible opportunity.
Updating your personal information
It is important to us that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and up to date. During the course of our relationship with you we may ask you to inform us if any of your personal information has changed. If you wish to make any changes to your personal information, you may contact us. We will generally rely on you to ensure the information we hold about you is accurate or complete.
Access and correction to your personal information
We will provide you with access to the personal information we hold about you. You may request access to any of the personal information we hold about you at any time. We may charge a fee for our costs of retrieving and supplying the information to you.
Depending on the type of request that you make we will usually respond to you within 14 days of receiving your request. We may need to contact other entities to properly investigate your request.
There may be situations where we are not required to provide you with access to your personal information, for example, if the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings, or if your request is vexatious. An explanation will be provided to you if we deny you access to the personal information we hold about you.
If any of the personal information we hold about you is incorrect, inaccurate or out of date you may request that we correct the information. If appropriate we will correct the personal information at the time of the request. Otherwise, we will provide an initial response to you within seven days of receiving your request. Where reasonable, and after our investigation, we will provide you with details about whether we have corrected the personal information within 30 days. If we refuse to correct personal information we will provide you with our reasons.
Using government identifiers
If we collect government identifiers, such as your tax file number, we do not use or disclose this information other than required by law. We will never use a government identifier in order to identify you.
Business without identifying you
In most circumstances it will be necessary for us to identify you in order to successfully do business with you, however, where it is lawful and practicable to do so, we will offer you the opportunity of doing business with us without providing us with personal information, for example, if you make general inquiries about interest rates or current promotional offers.
Sensitive information
Sensitive information is personal information that includes information relating to your racial or ethnic origin, political persuasion, memberships in trade or professional associations or trade unions, sexual preferences, criminal record, or health. At this time we do not collect any sensitive information.
How safe and secure is your personal information that we hold?
We will take reasonable steps to protect your personal information by storing it in a secure environment. We may store your personal information in paper and electronic form. We will also take reasonable steps to protect any personal information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Complaints
If you are dissatisfied with how we have dealt with your personal information, or you have a complaint about our compliance with the Privacy Act, you may contact our Complaints Officer:
PO Box 329
ALBURY NSW 2640
Tel: (02) 6021 5744
Fax: (02) 6021 3085
Email: admin@yieldfinance.com.au.
We will acknowledge your complaint within seven days. We will provide you with a decision on your complaint within 30 days.
Where we are unable to resolve your complaint or 45 days have elapsed, you may contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, or AFCA. AFCA provides fair and independent financial services complaint resolution that is free to consumers.
Website: www.afca.org.au
Email: info@afca.org.au
Telephone: 1800 931 678 (free call)
In writing: Australian Financial Complaints Authority
GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001
You may also complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), details as follows:
Address: GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
Tel: 1300363 992
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Links to Other Websites
When you access a link from our website to the website of a third party, those sites are not subject to our Privacy Policy. Those third parties are responsible for informing you of their own privacy standards.
Change in our privacy policy
We are constantly reviewing all of our policies and attempt to keep up to date with market expectations. Technology is constantly changing, as is the law and market place practices. As a consequence we may change this privacy policy from time to time or as the need arises.
You may request this privacy policy in an alternative form.
Updated 1/11/2018