The Home Co Operations Pty Ltd (ABN: 29 647 790 592) trading as The Home Co Property Management (we, our or us) collect and handle your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Without this information, we would not be able to provide you with our outstanding level of property management services and it may result in you missing out on vital communication and information from us. We are committed to the protection of your personal and private information including how we collect, use, store and disclose this information.

Our Privacy Policy is regularly reviewed, and any necessary amendments or updates are completed. If any changes to our Privacy Policy would result in a material change to your rights and protection or our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988, we will inform you via written notice through email and through our website. Our updated Privacy Policy will take effect when it is published on our website which will be no earlier than 28 days after you have been notified.

By voluntarily providing your personal information to us, you consent to the collection, use, storage and disclosure of your information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

1. Collection of Personal Information

Information we collect

To provide you with our outstanding level of service, in our dealings with you we may collect the following personal information:

• Name;

• Address (including previous residential addresses);

• Contact details (including telephone and mobile number, email address);

• Date of birth;

• Emergency contact details (including name, contact details, relationship, address of nominated contact);

• Employment details (including current employment status, current employer and their contact details, previous employer and their contact details, length of employment, salary, recent payslips);

• Contact details of personal references (including name, contact details, relationship, address of nominated persons);

• Identification documents (including driver’s licence, passport, Medicare number etc.);

• Government benefit details;

• Payment information (including credit card and bank details); and

• Other personal information required to provide our service.

In providing our service, there may also be instances where we collect personal information from a third party that you have provided consent for us to contact. This may include personal references, employers, real estate agents, property managers as well as other third parties whose contact details you have provided to us. By providing these contact details to us, you consent to your personal information being collected from these third parties in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

At any time, you have the right to refrain from providing the requested personal information to us however this may impact the ability for us to provide you with our services and products.

How we collect your personal information

We may utilise several methods to collect your personal information however in most instances this will be obtained directly from you. Some of these methods may include the following:

• Applications and forms submitted by you;

• Online enquiries submitted by you through our website;

• Telephone and email correspondence with you directly;

• In person;

• Promotions, competitions and surveys run by or authorised by us;

• In the course of us providing our service to you; and

• Other dealings you may have with us.

Additionally, we use third party services who provide your personal information to us, as well as third parties who you have provide to us. These may include:

• Tenancy Database service providers;

• Australian Government Document Verification Service (DVS) gateway service providers (used for ID verification);

• Your nominated referees;

• Your nominated employer;

• Your nominated representatives;

• Real estate agents and property managers;

• Publicly available sources; and

• Other third parties.

Irrespective of how we collect your personal information, we are bound by our Privacy Policy to ensure that your personal and private information is always protected.

2.       Use of Personal Information

We will only ever use your personal information in ways that do not breach your rights and protections and our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988. In providing our services to you, we may use your personal information to:

• Verify your identity;

• Verify your ownership claim over a property;

• Assess your tenancy application (including rental and employment history);

• Provide services that you have requested from us;

• Establish and maintain a relationship with you;

• Provide communication and information to you;

• Comply with any legal obligation imposed on us;

• Complete and facilitate repairs and maintenance requests; and

• Provide services that you would reasonably expect us to provide.

If you are a prospective employee, we may use the personal information provided to us to:

• Assess your job application (including contacting personal referees);

• Communicate with you regarding your current job application as well as any other future employment opportunities; and

• Conduct criminal history checks.

3.       Storing of Personal Information

All personal information that you provide to us, as well as any of your personal information which is provided to us by your nominated representatives, referees or external third parties, is stored by us both electronically and in hard copy. All electronic information is stored on our own servers as well as those of our IT service providers. As a result, we have implemented a range of technological, administrative, personnel and physical measures to ensure that your personal information is secure and protected from unauthorised access, interception, loss, modification, disclosure and misuse.

However, due to the nature of transmitting data electronically, we cannot and do not accept responsibility for the security of any personal information that you send to us or receive from us via our website or email. This includes responsibility for any unauthorised access, interception or use of your personal information.

We take all reasonable steps to ensure that any personal information you have provided to us is deleted or destroyed once we no longer have a legal or regulatory obligation to hold that information.

4.       Disclosure of Personal Information

We will only ever disclose your personal information to an external third party where it is necessary in order for us to provide our services to you. This disclosure is limited to performing the services that you would reasonably expect us to perform and have been outlined in our Privacy Policy under “2. Use of Personal Information”. We will not disclose your personal information in any other way which may violate the Privacy Act 1988 or our Privacy Policy unless you have provided us with consent to do so or we are required to do so by law.

There may be instances where the personal information that you have provided to us is disclosed to overseas recipients. This will only be in instances where you have provided us with a foreign identity document for the purpose of verifying your identity. If this is the case, your personal information may be disclosed to overseas locations including New Zealand and The United States of America.

5.       Direct Marketing

From time to time, we may use your personal information to provide you with information regarding our services, property market updates, current property vacancies, current employment opportunities, our own promotions or other marketing material that we determine may be of interest to you. This may be provided electronically or over the phone. If you do not wish to receive this communication, you may notify us in writing at any time by using the contact details provided in “7. How to Contact Us” and we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that this is actioned within a reasonable timeframe.

We do not sell or provide your personal information to external third parties for advertising or marketing purposes.

6.       Accessing your Personal Information

You may access your personal information at any time by notifying us in writing of your request. Unless this is not allowable under an exception of the Privacy Act 1988, we will provide the requested information to you within a reasonable timeframe however, we may charge you a fee for retrieving this information. We will notify you of any applicable fee prior to retrieving your information and obtain your consent before retrieving your information.

If your personal information changes at any time or if your personal information that you requested from us is incorrect, you can notify us as soon as possible using the contact details provided in “7. How to Contact Us”. We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your requested changes are actioned within a reasonable timeframe.

7.       How to Contact Us

You can contact us at any time if you have questions about our Privacy Policy, wish to make changes to your personal information that we hold, wish to request access to your personal information that we hold, wish to delete personal information that we hold or wish to make a complaint about our Privacy Policy and how we handle your personal information. You can contact us using the details below:

Email: hello@thehomeco.com.au

Telephone: 1300 00 HOME

Mail: 65 Willunga St, Brookfield Qld 4069

We take all complaints seriously and will attempt to resolve them fairly and within a reasonable timeframe. If you feel that our resolution to your complaint is not satisfactory, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner using their website https://www.oaic.gov.au/.

 This policy was last updated in August 2021