Austral Mortgage Corporation Pty Ltd aims to provide the best possible service to its customers through innovative and cost-effective mortgage financing and management and superior access to financial products and services.

We recognise that it is very important to protect the personal information you provide to us. To help you understand how we protect your personal information, we have prepared this document. It outlines our policy and procedures in relation to the collection and use of any personal information that you provide to us. We respect your right to privacy and as such, only use your personal information for the purposes outlined in this policy, and we have put in place various safeguards to protect your personal information from any unfair or unauthorised use.

We aim to ensure you are confident that any personal information that you provide to us is treated with the utmost respect. We are committed to the National Privacy Principles for the protection of personal information, as set out in the Privacy Act 1988 and any other relevant law.

Who is Austral Mortgage Corporation Pty Ltd?
Austral Mortgage Corporation Pty Ltd ("Austral") is a privately owned mortgage management company. We process and assess information in relation to loan applications and locate funders to provide loans to you. Austral also markets other products and financial services.

What is Personal Information?
When we refer to "personal information" we mean information or an opinion that can identify a person. This is a broad definition and can, for example, range from information relating to your physical description, investment and property holding information, account numbers or your relationships to other people.

Why do we collect your Personal Information?
We collect and receive personal information from you, or other business referrers, to facilitate our business functions, including assessing and approving loan applications. Through our alliances with our business partners, we can also offer other products and services that we consider beneficial to our customers. We only collect information that is necessary for our activities.

In order for us to perform our obligations to you, we may need to disclose your personal information to other organisations that provide products or services used or marketed by us. Examples of these organisations include other mortgage intermediaries, credit reporting agencies, solicitors, accountants, valuers or lenders' mortgage insurers. Your personal information may also be disclosed to other organisations that may have an interest in your loan, or in our business.

How do we collect your Personal Information?
We try, as far as is reasonable and practical, to collect all personal information about you directly from you in an unobtrusive manner.

To whom do we disclose your Personal Information?
At or before the time we collect personal information from you, we will take steps, such as providing a Privacy Act form to you, to ensure you know the types of organisations that we intend to disclose your personal information to.

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

(a) the organisation is committed to protecting your personal information and complies with the NPPs; and

(b) you have consented to us disclosing this information to the organisation.

Please note, we are occasionally required by law to disclose your personal information, for example, if required by law to disclose information in accordance with a subpoena issued by a Court or to the Australian Taxation Office.

Sometimes we may use your personal information to provide you with current information about special offers you may find of interest, changes to our organisation, or new products or services being offered by us or companies that we are associated with.

We understand that you may not wish to receive any marketing information. If you prefer not to receive any marketing information, please contact our office by telephone on 02 9299 1833 or by writing to our office at:

Austral Mortgage Corporation Pty Ltd
Level 7, 47 York Street
Sydney NSW 2000

There will be no charge incurred for us to give effect to your request. We will take all reasonable steps to meet your request at the earliest possible opportunity.

Updating your Personal Information
It is important that the personal information that we hold about you is correct and up to date. Please inform us of any change in your personal information that occurs during the course of our relationship. We rely on your assistance to ensure that the personal information that we hold about you is accurate, complete and up to date.

Please contact us if you would like to change any of the personal information held by us about you.

Can you access your Personal Information?
We will provide you with access to your personal information that we hold. You may request access to your personal information at any time by contacting us by telephone on 02 9299 1833 or in writing at:

Austral Mortgage Corporation Pty Ltd
Level 7, 47 York Street
Sydney NSW 2000

There are some situations where we are not required to provide you with access to the personal information that we hold about you. A situation where this may arise would be if the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings with you, or in some situations where your request would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals, or is vexatious.

If we deny you access to your personal information that we hold, we will provide you with an explanation.

Doing business without identifying you
To ensure we have a successful business relationship, we will generally need to identify you. If however, it is lawful and practicable to do so, we will offer you the opportunity to do business with us without providing us with personal information, for example when you are making general enquiries about interest rates or current promotional offers.

How safe is your Personal Information that we hold?
We will take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, loss or unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

We will also take all reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your personal information if it is no longer needed for any of the purposes for which the information may be used or disclosed.

What to do if you wish to lodge a complaint about the manner in which your Personal Information has been collected, used or disclosed

If you feel that there has been a breach of the NPPs, please contact us. We will thoroughly investigate the situation and provide a prompt response to your concerns. If, however, you are not satisfied with this response you may lodge a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner. The Privacy Commissioner will investigate the issue and make a determination. This determination may be judicially reviewed.