Privacy Policy

1. Who this policy applies to

In this policy, we, us and our means Sarkaria Lawyers Pty Ltd (ABN 43 679 014 076), trading as Sarkaria Lawyers.

This policy applies to personal information we collect about our clients and their nominated contacts and representatives, including directors, officers, partners, trustees, beneficial owners and other persons connected with a client, and about other individuals whose personal information we collect or that our clients or their representatives give us in the course of our work.

We may also give you a separate privacy notice when we collect your personal information, including when we collect it to meet our anti-money laundering obligations. Those notices may set out uses and disclosures not described here. If a separate notice is inconsistent with this policy, rely on the notice.

This policy does not apply to personal information we hold about our own employees in connection with their employment. If you follow a link from our website to another website, this policy does not apply to that website.

2. Information we collect

We collect personal information that is reasonably necessary to provide legal services, respond to enquiries, and comply with our professional and regulatory obligations. This typically includes your name, contact details, matter background and any information you provide to us.

We collect additional information where we are required to. Part 6 sets out what we collect for anti-money laundering purposes.

3. How we use your information

We use personal information to open and manage client matters, provide legal advice, conduct conflicts and client identification checks, meet our regulatory obligations, and communicate with you about your enquiry or engagement. We do not use it for marketing without your consent, and we do not sell personal information.

4. Dealing with us anonymously

Because of the nature of legal work, and because the AML/CTF Act requires us to identify and verify our customers, it is generally impracticable to deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym once we are engaged. For a general enquiry you can contact us without identifying yourself, or use a pseudonym, where that is practicable and lawful.

5. Disclosure to third parties

We may disclose personal information to counsel, experts, courts, tribunals, regulators, mediators, our IT and practice management providers, and other parties where reasonably necessary to perform legal services or to comply with the law.

6. Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing

Sarkaria Lawyers Pty Ltd is a reporting entity under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth). When we provide a designated service under that Act we are required to collect and verify information about you, assess and monitor risk, keep records and, in some circumstances, report to AUSTRAC. This part explains what that means for your personal information.

6.1 What we collect and why

We limit what we collect to what is reasonably necessary for these obligations. Some of this information, such as a screening result that discloses a criminal record or political affiliation, is sensitive information. We collect it only because the AML/CTF Act requires and authorises us to.

6.2 Where we collect it from

Usually directly from you, through our onboarding questionnaire and identity verification process. We also collect from reliable and independent sources, including government verification services, company and land registries, sanctions and politically exposed person databases, and adverse media sources. Where another reporting entity has already carried out due diligence and we are permitted to rely on it, we may obtain the information from them.

6.3 What we tell you when we collect

Before we collect your personal information for AML/CTF purposes, or as soon as practicable afterwards, we tell you who we are, what we are collecting and why, that the collection is required or authorised by the AML/CTF Act and the AML/CTF Rules 2025, what happens if you do not provide it, who we usually disclose it to, whether it is likely to go overseas, and how to access or correct it or make a complaint.

One exception. We will not give you a collection notice, or otherwise make you aware of a matter, where doing so would be inconsistent with the tipping off prohibition in the AML/CTF Act. That prohibition prevents us disclosing anything that would or could reasonably be expected to prejudice an investigation.

6.4 If you do not provide it

We cannot provide a designated service before we have completed initial customer due diligence, except in the limited circumstances the AML/CTF Act allows. If you do not provide the information we need, we may be unable to act for you, or unable to continue acting.

6.5 Who we disclose it to

• AUSTRAC, where the AML/CTF Act requires or authorises us to, including in suspicious matter reports, threshold transaction reports and compliance reports.
• InfoTrack, which conducts identity verification and screening on our behalf and holds the resulting records.
• Smokeball, our practice management provider, where records are held on the matter file.
• Microsoft, which provides our email and document storage through Microsoft 365.
• Another reporting entity, where we rely on their customer due diligence or they rely on ours, to the extent reasonably necessary and with your consent or another lawful basis.
• Law enforcement, regulators and courts, where required or authorised by law.
• Our professional advisers and any independent evaluator of our AML/CTF program, under confidentiality.

We do not use or disclose personal information collected for AML/CTF purposes for any other purpose unless you consent or an exception under the Privacy Act applies.

7. Identification documents

The AML/CTF Act does not require us to keep scanned copies or photocopies of your identification documents. From 1 July 2026 we take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify copies of full identification documents, such as a driver licence or passport, once they are no longer needed.

Instead we keep the information taken from the document that we need for our record keeping obligations: your name, date of birth and residential address, the document type, its number and expiry, what we did to verify your identity, and the outcome of that verification and our risk assessment.

Copies of identification documents made before 31 March 2026 are records for the purposes of the AML/CTF Act and we are authorised to keep them for the full retention period. Where another law requires us to retain a copy, we do.

8. How long we keep information

We keep AML/CTF records for 7 years after the end of our business relationship with you, or 7 years after the completion of an occasional transaction. We keep other matter records in accordance with our professional obligations and the requirements of the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld).

Once we no longer need personal information for a purpose we are permitted to hold it for, and no law requires us to keep it, we take reasonable steps to destroy it or de-identify it.

9. Overseas disclosure

We are an Australian practice and our records are held in Australia. Some of our service providers involve access from outside Australia, as follows.

Where personal information is disclosed to or accessed from overseas we take reasonable steps to ensure the recipient does not breach the Australian Privacy Principles, except where the disclosure is required or authorised by the AML/CTF Act or the AML/CTF Rules 2025.

10. Security and data breaches

Personal information is held on secure systems and in our practice management records. We take reasonable steps to protect it from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. AML/CTF records are held in access-controlled systems, are available only to those who need them, and are kept in a form capable of audit and free from unauthorised change.

We maintain a data breach response plan. If an eligible data breach occurs we will comply with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, including notifying the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and affected individuals, except to the extent that notification would be inconsistent with a secrecy provision.

11. Access, correction and complaints

You can ask for access to the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it, by contacting us at info@sarkarialawyers.com.au. We will verify your identity before responding and we will respond within 30 days.

We may refuse access where the Privacy Act allows, including where giving access would be unlawful. Giving access can be unlawful where it would amount to tipping off under the AML/CTF Act. Where we refuse we give written reasons and tell you how to complain, but our written notice will not explain the reason for the refusal where doing so would itself be inconsistent with our legal obligations.

If you think we have mishandled your personal information, contact us at info@sarkarialawyers.com.au. We will acknowledge your complaint, investigate it, and respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au. You should generally complain to us first.

12. Website analytics and cookies

When you visit this website, certain third-party services may set cookies or collect technical information such as your IP address, browser, device and the pages you view. We use this information to understand how the site is used and to improve it. These services include:

• Google Analytics: website traffic and usage analytics. IP addresses are anonymised.
• Google Fonts, Google Maps and YouTube: fonts, embedded maps and embedded videos are loaded from Google, which may receive your IP address and device information when those elements load.

Each provider handles information in accordance with its own privacy policy and terms. You can control cookies through your browser settings.

13. Service providers

We use Microsoft 365, including Outlook, for email and document storage, Smokeball for practice management, and InfoTrack for searches, signing, identity verification and AML/CTF compliance.

14. Disclosure required by law

We may disclose personal information where we are required or authorised to do so by law, by a court or tribunal order, or by a regulator. That includes disclosures to AUSTRAC under the AML/CTF Act. Where the tipping off prohibition applies we will not tell you that a disclosure has been made or was required.

15. Updates to this policy

We update this policy as required to reflect changes to our practices or obligations.

16. Contact