Privacy Policy

Who we are

In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Maxwell Financial Services Pty Ltd (Maxfin), ABN 94 526 967 757. Rebecca Tickner is a Credit Representative (CR No. 571611) of Maxwell Financial Services Pty Ltd, which holds Australian Credit Licence 384406. We submit credit applications to lenders through our mortgage aggregator, Loan Market Group (LMG).

Our commitment

We take the protection of your personal information seriously. Our handling of personal information is governed by the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and any other applicable law. We will only collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information where it is necessary to do so to provide credit assistance and run our business, and we will protect it as set out in this policy.

What is personal information

Personal information has the meaning given to it in the Privacy Act. In simple terms, it is any information from which you can be identified or are reasonably identifiable. This typically includes your name, address, contact details, occupation, date of birth and identification documents, and certain credit and financial information.

What information we collect

The personal and credit information we collect about you may include:

• Identity information such as your name, date of birth, address, email, phone number, occupation and identification documents.
• Financial information including your income, expenses, assets, liabilities, employment details, tax file number, bank account details and superannuation or insurance details.
• Credit information such as credit reports from credit reporting bodies, repayment history, defaults, account details and details of credit applications.
• Information about loan or finance products that relate to you, including transactional information, audits, complaints and enquiries.
• Information about your dependants, cohabitants, time at current address and other context relevant to a credit assessment.
• Information you provide through our website, online forms, calculators, customer surveys and direct conversations with us.

Some information we collect may be sensitive information, such as memberships of professional associations or trade unions, criminal history, or health information relevant to a credit application. We only collect sensitive information where it is reasonably necessary and where you consent.

How we collect it

Where possible, we collect personal information directly from you in person, by phone, electronically or through our website and online tools. We may also collect personal information from:

• Co-applicants, joint applicants, guarantors or proposed guarantors.
• The loan applicant, where you are a guarantor.
• Your employer, real estate agent or other referees.
• Third parties such as credit reporting bodies, lenders, identity verification providers, government agencies and law enforcement, where authorised.
• Your representatives such as solicitors, accountants, conveyancers, agents and builders.

We will only collect credit reporting information and credit eligibility information about you from credit reporting bodies and credit providers where you have authorised us to do so as part of providing you with credit assistance.

Why we collect it

We collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for purposes including:

• Providing credit assistance and our broader broking services to you.
• Considering whether you are eligible for a particular loan or finance product.
• Helping you prepare and submit an application for credit.
• Performing our obligations to lenders and other third parties involved in your loan, including assisting them with their assessment of your application.
• Managing our relationship with you and communicating with you, including reviews, updates and ongoing service.
• Referring you to providers of related services, such as insurers, conveyancers or utility connection services.
• Risk management, fraud prevention, audit and meeting our regulatory obligations.
• Direct marketing of our products and services where permitted by law.
• Complying with any law, regulation, lawful direction of a regulator, or co-operation with a governmental authority.

If you choose not to provide the personal information we ask for, we may not be able to provide you with credit assistance, lenders may not be able to process your application, and we may not be able to keep you informed about products and services relevant to you.

Who we may disclose information to

We may disclose your personal information to:

• Our mortgage aggregator Loan Market Group (LMG), through whom we submit credit applications.
• The Australian Credit Licence holder that authorises us to engage in credit activities.
• Prospective and actual lenders, lessors, mortgage insurers and other intermediaries relevant to your finance requirements.
• Credit reporting bodies, identity verification services, valuers, your employer, referees and industry bodies.
• Service providers, agents, contractors and advisers who help us to run our business, including ICT and cloud service providers.
• Anyone who represents you, such as your solicitor, conveyancer, accountant, real estate agent or another finance broker.
• Your guarantors or proposed guarantors.
• Auditors, regulators, law enforcement agencies and other government agencies.
• Anyone where you have given us your consent.
• Any party where disclosure is required or permitted by law, including under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).

Disclosure overseas

We may disclose personal information to related entities and to third-party service providers located outside Australia, including in New Zealand, the United States, Indonesia, Serbia, the Philippines and India. Some information may also be stored in cloud servers located outside Australia. We take reasonable steps to ensure that any overseas recipient handles your information in a manner consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles. As cloud-based information can be accessed remotely, it is not always possible to know which country your information is held in or accessed from at any time.

Automated decision making

We may use computer systems to support us in providing services to you. These systems use information about you to filter and identify products that may be suitable or available based on your needs and the eligibility criteria of different products. Decisions about which products to recommend or make available to you are made by us, not by an automated system.

Direct marketing

From time to time we may use your personal information to provide you with information about finance, offers, changes to our business, or new products and services from us or from organisations we work with. If you do not wish to receive marketing communications from us, you can opt out at any time by emailing rebecca@maxfin.com.au. If marketing is sent by email you may also use the unsubscribe link in the message. We will not charge you for opting out and will action your request as soon as possible.

Keeping your information accurate

It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate, complete and up to date. Please let us know if any of your details change so we can update our records.

Requesting access

You have the right under the Privacy Act to request access to the personal information we hold about you. We will not charge you simply for making a request, and we will not charge for correcting your information. We will usually respond to your request within 30 days. In limited cases, such as where the information relates to legal proceedings or where the request is vexatious, we may not be required to provide access. If we refuse access, we will explain our reasons in writing.

Correcting your information

If any of the personal information we hold about you is incorrect, inaccurate or out of date, you can ask us to correct it. Where appropriate, we will correct it at the time of the request. Otherwise, we will provide an initial response within 7 days and, where reasonable, advise you of the outcome of our investigation within 30 days. If we decline to correct information, we will explain why and, on request, will record with the information that you disagree with it.

Government identifiers

Where we collect government identifiers such as your tax file number, we use and disclose this information only as required or authorised by law. We do not use a government identifier as our identifier of you.

Dealing with us anonymously

In most cases we will need to identify you in order to provide credit assistance. Where it is lawful and practicable, you may interact with us without providing personal information - for example, when making general enquiries about interest rates or our services.

How we keep your information secure

We store personal information in physical and electronic form and take reasonable steps to protect it from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. As our website connects to the internet, and the internet is inherently insecure, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us online. We continue to review our security practices as technology evolves.

Privacy complaints

If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your personal information, or you believe we have not complied with the Privacy Act, you can make a complaint to us using the contact details below. We ask that complaints be made in writing so we have a clear record of the issue.

We will typically acknowledge your complaint within 7 days and aim to provide a decision within 30 days. If we need more time to investigate, we will let you know.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992.

How to contact us

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in law or our business practices. The current version will always be available on this page. To the extent permitted by law, an updated policy applies to information we already hold and to information we collect after the change takes effect. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.