Privacy Policy

Why we collect personal information

We collect personal information to:

• provide legal advice and services;
• assess your eligibility and prepare for legal matters, including class actions;
• communicate with you about legal rights, entitlements and developments;
• fulfil legal obligations, including court and regulatory compliance; and
• operate, manage and improve our legal practice.

What personal information we collect

What we collect depends on your matter and how you deal with us. It may include:

• name, contact details and date of birth;
• identification documents;
• employment, income, taxation or superannuation information;
• health and medical records (especially for compensation claims);
• contractual, financial or property transaction details;
• information you give us by email, phone, web form or registration portal; and
• the name and contact details you give to open our client reviews, which we keep as an enquiry.

Sensitive information

Because of the nature of compensation and class action work, we may collect sensitive information, such as health information. We collect it with your consent unless the law allows otherwise, and only where reasonably necessary for our legal services.

Government-related identifiers

We do not adopt government-related identifiers (such as tax file numbers, Medicare or driver licence numbers) as our own identifiers, and use or disclose them only as the law permits.

How we collect personal information

We may collect your information through:

• direct dealings with you (consultations, phone calls, emails, online forms);
• third parties with your consent (for example doctors, insurers and employers), including the searches and enquiries we make for your matter;
• someone who refers you to us (if someone refers you to us, we will tell you when we first contact you);
• our website and digital tools (for example expression of interest forms); and
• publicly available sources and service providers related to your matter.

Anonymity and pseudonymity

Where lawful and practicable, for example for a general enquiry, you may deal with us without identifying yourself or under a pseudonym.

Unsolicited information

If we receive personal information we did not ask for, we work out whether we could lawfully have collected it. If not, we de-identify or destroy it where lawful and reasonable.

Collection notices

At or before the time we collect personal information, or as soon as practicable afterwards, we give you a notice explaining why we collect it, the key third parties involved, and how to access or correct it.

Saving an enquiry before you send it

Some of our online forms save an unfinished enquiry before you send it, so you can continue later. The saving point depends on the form.

On the Contact page, after you tick the required enquiry/privacy box, give us a usable email address or phone number, and continue using the form, the details you have entered may be saved to our server as a Draft before you select Send my enquiry. The separate legal-updates/newsletter box is optional and does not control Draft saving.

On the guided claim questionnaire, after you agree to its required enquiry and health-information notice, answers may be kept in this browser and saved to our server as you continue, including before you give us an email address or phone number. On the workplace compensation estimator, a Draft may start after you complete its required enquiry/privacy choice, give a usable email address or phone number, and continue using the form. Our other compensation estimators do not save an unfinished server Draft while you answer the questions; selecting Show my result starts the final enquiry save.

The homepage Get in touch form uses the same Draft-saving process as the Contact page. After you tick the required enquiry/privacy box, give us a usable email address or phone number, and continue using the form, the details you have entered may be saved to our server as a Draft before you select Send my enquiry. The separate legal-updates/newsletter box is optional and does not control Draft saving.

We keep the answers and contact details you give us, together with the timing, consent, security and activity records needed to save, resume and manage your enquiry. An unfinished server Draft is scheduled for deletion 30 days after your last activity unless you ask us to review deletion sooner. Clear and start fresh removes this browser’s saved enquiry link and temporary copy; contact us if you also want us to review deletion of the server record. Sent enquiries are kept as set out under Retention of personal information.

Our website chat

The chat on our website is answered by Carter, an automated assistant, not a lawyer. What you type is sent to Google’s Gemini service, which runs for us in Google Cloud’s Sydney region, to prepare each reply. We keep a record of each conversation and our team receives a copy by email so someone can follow up.

If you use the microphone button, your browser turns your speech into text, and some browsers do this on their maker’s servers. The conversation is kept in your browser for 20 hours. If you ask for a call back, we collect your name, email, phone, the kind of matter and a good time to call. Please don’t put health details in the chat; call us on 1300 529 529 instead. If you do include them, we treat them as sensitive information under this policy and use them only to respond to your enquiry.

Automated tools

Our compensation estimators and our chat assistant, Carter, use the information you enter to give general, indicative answers. They do not decide whether we will act for you, whether you are eligible for a class action, what we charge or the outcome of your claim. Our lawyers make those decisions.

Use and disclosure of your information

We may use or disclose your information to:

• deliver legal services and manage your matter;
• make the searches, enquiries and investigations a claim requires, prepare and file claims, or join class actions;
• engage experts, barristers and third-party service providers;
• deal with courts, insurers, government bodies and opposing parties;
• send legal updates, newsletters or information on our services (you can opt out); and
• meet regulatory and administrative obligations.

Direct marketing

We send our legal updates and newsletter only when you choose the separate, initially unticked option on our Contact form or a compensation estimator. You do not need to choose it to make an enquiry or become a client. If you choose it, we give Mailchimp your email address and a tag showing whether you chose it on our Contact form or a compensation estimator; that tag can show the kind of enquiry you made. We do not send your injury answers or estimate to Mailchimp. We never use health or other sensitive information for marketing.

Our legal updates and newsletter emails include an unsubscribe link, and we act on unsubscribe requests within five business days. Unsubscribing does not affect your enquiry or your matter. We do not sell personal information.

Service providers

We use trusted providers for practice management, secure file storage, email and collaboration, IT security, communications, document production and website hosting. They may handle personal information under our instructions and contracts. These include Mailchimp (newsletter emails, United States); Google (maps, videos, fonts, website analytics and advertising measurement, United States and other countries); our email provider (website enquiry email); Microsoft (Clarity website analytics, United States); Cloudflare (website code libraries); and WP Engine (website hosting).

Class actions and online registrations

By submitting an expression of interest or class action form, you consent to us using the information you provide to:

• assess eligibility and standing to take part in a class action;
• include your claim in a proceeding, if applicable; and
• send you important updates, document requests and legal advice.

Cookies

We use essential cookies to make our website work. With your permission, we also use optional analytics and Google Ads measurement cookies on cartercapner.com.au to understand visits and measure confirmed enquiries. You can accept or reject optional cookies, or change your choice using Cookie Preferences. Rejecting optional cookies does not prevent you from making an enquiry. You can also control cookies in your browser; turning off essential cookies may affect how the site works.

Saved enquiries

When you start an enquiry, we store two cookies on your device. Both hold the same random reference number and nothing else: no name, no contact details, none of your answers. The second is a signed copy only our server can read, which tells us the enquiry was begun on this device.

Both cookies are set to last 30 days. While an unfinished server Draft is still available, they can help you reopen it on this browser. Answers may fill back in automatically for eight hours after your last activity; after that, or on another device, we ask for a one-time code sent to a valid email address before showing them. We do not send an email when a Draft first starts. If you gave us a valid email address, we may email a reminder with a resume link before the Draft is deleted.

Other cookies we set

• When your visit began, so our server can tell a person from a spam program. Lasts 7 days.
• That you have seen, closed or sent our call-back offer. Lasts 30 days.
• That you have answered the question shown before our case results. Lasts 24 hours.
• Analytics (cartercapner.com.au only): Google Analytics (_ga, _ga_*), up to 2 years; Microsoft Clarity (_clck up to 1 year, _clsk 1 day).
• Kept in your browser as site storage, not as cookies: some claim forms may keep a temporary copy of the answers and contact details you enter. A compensation estimator may also keep its last displayed estimate and enquiry state so it can show a relevant return-visit message. An older copy may be removed when you next visit the relevant page, but it can remain in a browser that is not revisited. You can remove a local copy with Clear and start fresh or by clearing this site’s data in your browser. This browser storage is separate from any server enquiry record.

With optional advertising measurement accepted, Google Ads and the conversion linker may store ad-click identifiers in first-party cookies. Our conversion tracker also keeps a first-party duplicate-prevention record for up to seven days, using an enquiry reference and an unrelated random event ID, without enquiry answers or contact details. The enquiry reference is not sent to Google by this tracker.

You can block or delete these at any time. The site still works without them, but an unfinished enquiry will not be kept on your device.

Website analytics and log data

When you browse our website, our servers may log information your browser sends, such as your IP address, browser type and version, pages visited, time on each page and any errors. Some of this, such as your IP address, may be personal information, especially when combined with other information. We handle it under this policy.

Consent and withdrawing consent

We collect and use personal information for the purposes in this policy and in the notice we give you at collection. Where the law requires your consent, for example to collect health information, we ask for it.

Agreeing to receive our legal updates and newsletter is separate and optional. You can withdraw any consent at any time by contacting us or unsubscribing. Simply visiting our website is not treated as consent to anything.

Children’s privacy

Many claims we handle involve children, such as a child hurt in a car accident or injured at birth. We collect a child’s information when a parent, guardian or other responsible adult contacts us for them, and handle it with the same care as any other personal information.

Our website and forms are written for adults. If you are under 18, please ask a parent, guardian or another adult you trust to contact us for you.

International transfers

Some of our providers may store or process your information outside Australia. Before any cross-border disclosure we take reasonable steps to make sure recipients handle it consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles, and we remain accountable under Australian law for certain acts of those recipients.

Website enquiries are emailed to our firm’s inbox. Our email provider may store copies in data centres outside Australia, including in the United States, Europe and Asia. Our chat assistant runs in Google Cloud’s Sydney region.

Retention of personal information

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purpose it was collected for, or to meet legal obligations.

Website enquiries

• Unsent enquiries stored on our server: scheduled for deletion 30 days after the last activity. If you have provided a valid email address, we may email a reminder before deletion. Browser copies are described under Cookies.
• Sent enquiries: if you become our client, your enquiry and documents become part of your matter file and are kept as set out under ‘Client and matter files’. If you do not, we keep your enquiry for seven years from the last activity, for conflict checks and in case of a later dispute, then delete it automatically. You can ask us to delete uploaded documents and health details sooner, and we will unless the law requires us to keep them.
• Enquiries marked for deletion, for example at your request: permanently deleted 30 days later.
• Job applications: if you apply for a role, we use your application and CV to assess it and contact you about it. If you are not successful, we keep them for 12 months and remove expired applications at the next monthly review, unless you ask us to delete them sooner.
• Enquiries and attachments received through our previous website forms are kept in secure firm storage on the same basis as other enquiries.

Client and matter files

Generally kept for at least seven years after a matter closes, or longer where the law requires, then securely destroyed or de-identified.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• withdraw consent or unsubscribe;
• complain about a privacy breach;
• ask us to delete information we no longer need, which we will do unless the law or your matter requires us to keep it; and
• clear a saved enquiry from your device yourself, with “Clear and start fresh”.

Access and correction

Contact us using the details below. We respond within a reasonable time, usually 30 days.

We may ask you to verify your identity. We don’t charge for making a request or for correcting your information. If giving access takes substantial effort, we may charge a reasonable fee to cover our costs, and we will tell you the amount first. If we refuse a request, we will tell you why in writing and how to complain.

Keeping information up to date

Please tell us if your details change.

Data security

We take reasonable precautions to protect personal information from unauthorised access, misuse, loss or disclosure, including secure storage, access restrictions and industry-standard cyber protection. No method is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

How we hold your information

We hold personal information mainly in electronic form, in our practice management system, secure cloud storage and email, all with access controls. Some original documents are also kept on paper in our secure office. Our providers handle it only under our instructions and contracts.

Data breach response

If a data breach is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify the people affected and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

Third-party services and links

Our website may link to third-party sites or services. We are not responsible for their privacy practices or content.

Embedded content and analytics

On cartercapner.com.au we use Google Analytics (through Google Tag Manager) and Microsoft Clarity to understand how people use our website, for example which pages are visited and where people leave a form. Clarity records how pages are used, such as clicks and scrolling. We configure form-field masking for Clarity. These tools may set analytics cookies and send device and usage information to Google and Microsoft in the United States. Optional analytics and advertising measurement choices are managed through Cookie Preferences. With optional advertising measurement accepted, Google Ads receives conversion metadata and an unrelated random event ID when a new enquiry is confirmed. This conversion tracker does not send enquiry text, health details, names, email addresses, phone numbers or other form-field values. Google may associate conversion metadata with existing ad-click or cookie identifiers to measure advertising performance. Enhanced-conversion form-field sharing is not enabled by this tracker. You can reject optional advertising measurement and still submit an enquiry.

Embedded maps and videos are provided by Google and YouTube, which may collect your IP address and device details when they load.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy to reflect changes to our operations or legal obligations. Updates take effect when published. If changes are significant, we will give notice or seek renewed consent where required.

Contact us and complaints

For questions, complaints or requests about your personal information or this policy, contact our Privacy Officer:

• Email: privacy@cartercapner.com.au
• Mail: GPO Box 1860, Brisbane QLD 4001
• Phone: 1300 529 529

Privacy complaints

Tell us what happened and how you were affected. We will acknowledge your complaint and aim to respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC): phone 1300 363 992, post GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001, or through the OAIC website.