At Johnstone and Reimer Lawyers Pty Ltd ACN 606 307 939 (we, our or us), we understand that your privacy is important to you and we are committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Policies (APPs) as set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).
This policy describes how we collect, use, disclose your personal information. We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in applicable laws, regulations or technology. Any personal information held by us will be governed by the most current version of this policy, which is available on our website at www.johnstonereimer.com.au.
1. What is Personal Information?
In the course of providing our legal services to you, we may collect and hold both personal information and or sensitive information.
a) Personal Information refers to information or an opinion, whether true or not, capable of identifying or reasonably identifying you. This includes your name, address, phone number, e-mail and other forms of information capable of identifying you.
b) Sensitive Information is a category of personal information that concerns particular matters such as a person’s ethnicity, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade or political association, sexual orientation or practices, criminal record, health or disability information, genetic data, and biometric data.
Note we do not ordinarily collect sensitive information unless this is necessary for the provision of the legal services you have engaged us for (e.g. we may require sensitive information if we are assisting you with a family law, personal injury or criminal law matter). Any collection of sensitive information will only be done so with your consent and at the time of collection, we will specifically identify the type of sensitive information we may require.
2. How do we collect your Personal Information?
Generally, we collect your personal information directly from you when you engage us for legal services or other related services, however, we also collect your personal information from:
a) when you interact with any of the functions on our website (for example, when you click on the ‘book an appointment online’ or ‘contact us’ functions);
b) when you apply for employment with us or express your interest in a career with us;
c) when you provide feedback on our services whether through our website or through a third-party website (e.g. Google reviews);
d) when you have any business dealings with us (whether as one of our suppliers or clients);
e) third-party including your lawyer or other representative; and
f) publicly available resources (e.g. government registers or social media).
Please note if you interact with us over the telephone, your communications are recorded and transcribed for our record keeping purposes. The uses described at section 4 below applies to these records. If you wish for us to not record the conversation, please let us know at any time before or during the conversation.
If you are providing us another person’s personal information, we rely on you to obtain that person’s prior consent. Please ensure you have obtained their consent before disclosing their personal information to us.
3. How do use your Personal Information?
In addition to the purposes set out below, and any purposes that are related to or necessary to give effect to those purposes, we may collect and use your personal information to:
a) provide you with legal services or other services and products offered by us in connection with our legal services;
b) respond to any enquiry made by you or communicate with you generally;
c) protect the safety and security of our staff, clients and premises (including through the use of CCTV when you attend our offices);
d) promote our business by providing you with direct marketing or keeping you up to date with developments in our services or activities;
e) facilitate business administration requirements such as invoicing, debt collection or establishing and maintaining your client records;
f) develop or improve our legal services; and
g) maintain and develop our relationship with you.
We rely on the accuracy of the information provided by you and failing to provide accurate, up to date information may result, among other things, hindering the legal services we provide to you. Where you choose not to provide the personal information we request, we may not be able to provide you with our legal services or be able to provide you with the other information you request from us.
4. How do we disclose your Personal Information?
From time to time, we may be required to disclose your personal information to third parties. Where we do so, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that those third parties handle your personal information in accordance with the requirements of the APPs.
Such third parties may include:
a) government authorities, regulatory bodies or law enforcement agencies;
b) third parties engaged by us to assist in the provision of our legal services to you (for example, barristers, accountants or other professional advisers);
c) service providers engaged by us to support our business operations, including technology, communications and marketing providers;
d) other persons or entities involved in or connected with your matter or instructions, including your referrer, members of your organisation or your other advisers;
e) any third-party to whom we are required or authorised to disclose your personal information under applicable law, including under the Privacy Act or pursuant to a court order, subpoena or other legal process; and
f) any other third-party where such disclosure is otherwise permitted by the APPs.
We will not disclose your personal information to overseas recipients without your prior consent, however, we may engage third-party service providers to store or process our data (including cloud-based providers). In such instances, these providers may host or access data from locations outside of Australia. As a result, your personal information may be transferred to, stored in, or accessed from overseas jurisdictions.
By providing your personal information to us, you consent to such overseas disclosure and acknowledge that the privacy laws in those jurisdictions may differ from, and may not provide the same level of protection, as the APPs.
5. Direct Marketing Communications
We may use your personal information to identify services and information that we consider may be of interest to you. We may contact you from time to time to inform you about these services and how they may be relevant to your needs.
If you no longer wish to receive such communications, you may opt out at any time by contacting our privacy officer as identified below at Section 11. Once we receive your request, we will cease using your personal information for this purpose.
6. Use of cookies
Cookies are small text files that may be stored on your device through your web browser. They allow the systems operating our website to recognise your browser and help us provide personalised features and content across our website, social media platforms and other online services.
We may use cookies or other similar technologies to collect information about how you use our services for the purpose of improving our website as well as to provide you personalised features and content on our website. The information cookies collect may include your IP address, browser and device details, the date and time of your visits, the pages you view, and actions such as clicks and downloads.
You may choose to disable cookies via your internet browser however if you choose to do so, the functionality of our website may be limited.
7. How do we store your personal information?
We take all reasonable measures to protect your personal information from misuse, interference and loss, as well as from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We maintain a range of physical, electronic and administrative safeguards to ensure the security and integrity of the personal information we hold and our compliance with the APPs.
These safeguards include, but are not limited to:
a) CCTV monitoring of our premises;
b) restricted access to offices and secure storage areas, including alarm protections designed to prevent unauthorised physical access;
c) secure storage of hard copy files, including the use of locked cabinets and controlled file management procedures;
d) electronic and computer system protections, including password protection, user access controls, encryption and firewalls to prevent unauthorised access;
e) regular monitoring and maintenance of our IT systems to identify and address potential vulnerabilities; and
f) internal policies and procedures governing how personal information is handled, including staff training and confidentiality obligations.
We also take reasonable steps to ensure that any third-party service providers we engage to store or process personal information on our behalf maintain appropriate security measures that comply with the APPs.
8. Accessing your personal information
Under the Privacy Act, you have the right to:
a) request access to the personal information we hold about you;
b) request that we correct or update your personal information where it is inaccurate, incomplete or no longer current; and
c) opt out of receiving direct marketing communications from us.
If you ask for access to your personal information, we may charge a reasonable administrative fee to cover the cost of retrieving and providing it to you. If you believe any personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or misleading, you may also request that it be corrected.
To make a request, please contact our privacy officer set out below.
Please be aware, we may refuse access to personal information in certain circumstances permitted under the Privacy Act. Where we do so, we will provide reasons for the refusal if required under the Privacy Act.
9. Contact us
If you have any questions about this policy, or if you believe that we have not handled your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act, the APPs, or this policy, you may contact our privacy officer, Joshua Reimer, at office@johnstonereimer.com.au or (03) 8658 0040.
We will endeavour to review your enquiry or complaint without undue delay and will also aim to respond promptly. If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). Information about the complaints process is available on the OAIC website at www.oaic.gov.au.
Further details about your privacy rights, including with respect to the Privacy Act and the APPs, can also be found on the OAIC website.
Our privacy policy was last updated on 10 April 2026.
