The fine print

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Accessibility Statement for Australian Government Solicitor

Australian Government departments and agencies are required by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 to ensure that online information and services are accessible by people with disabilities.

Australian Government Solicitor is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone, and applying the relevant accessibility standards.

We aim to meet the Australian Government’s web accessibility requirements. This includes meeting the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 level AA.

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of Australian Government Solicitor website. Please contact us if you encounter accessibility barriers.

Copyright

© Commonwealth of Australia, represented by the Australian Government Solicitor 2019–2025

You may download, store in cache, display, print and copy this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice or links to it where they appear) provided that this use is for your personal and non-commercial use or use within your organisation.

Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 or unless otherwise expressly indicated (including by use of a Creative Commons logo) all other rights are reserved. Requests for further authorisation should be sent to ags@ags.gov.au

Artificial Intelligence

AGS, as part of the Attorney-General’s Department, is trialling the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as part of the Australian Government’s commitment to harness analytical tools and techniques. Details about our use of AI can be found in the Attorney-General’s Department Artificial Intelligence Transparency Statement.

Privacy

AGS Privacy Policy – AGS website

About AGS

AGS is a group within the Attorney-General's Department (AGD). It is headed by the Australian Government Solicitor which is an office established by the Judiciary Act 1903 (Judiciary Act) and occupied by an employee within AGD. AGS provides legal and related services primarily to Australian Government departments and agencies.

For more information visit AGD’s privacy policy.

AGS and the Privacy Act

AGS complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Privacy Act which set out standards, rights and obligations in relation to handling, holding, accessing and correcting personal information.

The acts done, or practices engaged in, by AGD in respect of the activities undertaken by AGS are treated as the acts and practices of an organisation for the purposes of the Privacy Act.

As AGS's acts and practices are treated as those of an organisation for the purposes of the Privacy Act, AGS is exempt from the Act in relation to its employee records. However, as a matter of policy, AGS collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information (including sensitive information) about its employees in a manner consistent with the APPs.

Personal information we collect

We collect and hold a range of personal information in carrying out our services. The personal information we collect and hold about you will depend on the nature of our interactions with you.

We generally collect personal information about:

• individuals who are the subject of legal advice or involved in legal action taken against, or by, the Commonwealth
• other individuals (including clients, employees, commercial or business entities and contractors) connected or incidental to legal advice or legal action being taken against, or by, the Commonwealth
• AGS employees, including former and prospective employees, in relation to their employment and AGS’s obligations under the Work, Health and Safety Act 2011, and
• other individuals involved in the provision of goods and services.

The personal information we collect about individuals includes names, contact details, dates of birth, gender, occupations, employment history, family backgrounds and financial records (including tax file numbers and debts), references, payment details, security checks and performance assessments.

In relation to our employees, we also collect information related to their employment including information about performance agreements and appraisals, health and safety, salary and allowances, superannuation and leave details.

We also collect information about our clients relating to their attendance at events and training, publications they receive, and engagement with AGS staff.

In some cases, for example, under a contract of services or in relation to our employees, we may collect sensitive information, including information about an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices, criminal record or physical or mental health.

How we collect personal information

AGS collects personal information directly from:

1. our clients, in the carrying out our legal and related services
2. other individuals including employees concerning our employment or contractual relationship and client relationship surveys.

We sometimes collect personal information indirectly from other sources such as public records or third parties. This indirect collection can include medical or other reports about claimants for compensation, or reports from referees of prospective employees or potential contractors.

How we use and disclose personal information

We use and disclose personal information for the following purposes:

1. to provide professional legal and related services (such as legal training, events and publications) to our clients
2. to perform legal services for the Commonwealth, including providing advice or representing the Commonwealth in legal proceedings
3. for staff recruitment, performance management, professional, business or personal development, to ensure staff safety and wellbeing, for general staff administrative functions such as payroll operations and in connection with the provision of legal services
4. in connection with our daily operations such as legal practice management, client relationship management, promotion and marketing
5. to select contractors and service providers that are assessed as offering the best value for money to AGS, and to effectively manage our contracts with contractors and suppliers.

You may have the option of not identifying yourself, or using a pseudonym, when dealing with AGS (for example if you wish to make a complaint), unless it is impractical for you to deal with us in that way or we are required or authorised by or under law to deal only with individuals who have identified themselves.

The people or organisations with whom we might share personal information include:

1. our clients (with respect to personal information we have gathered in relation to a legal matter we are undertaking for them)
2. barristers and other individuals or organisations who assist us in providing legal services
3. courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities
4. law enforcement agencies, where appropriate
5. contractors or agents who provide services to us, for example, off-site storage facilities for our files and banks who transmit payments on our behalf.

We do not disclose personal information, for example mailing lists, to third parties to allow them to directly market their services and products.

Overseas disclosure

On occasion, it might be necessary for us to send personal information overseas, for example to a foreign-based legal firm with which we are collaborating on a legal matter or an overseas expert we are working with on a particular legal matter. The specific country to which we might send personal information depends on the particular legal matter. We will not send the information outside Australia without the person's express or implied consent or otherwise in compliance with APP 8 (cross-border disclosure of personal information).

Protection of your personal information

AGS uses a range of physical and electronic security measures to protect personal information from misuse and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. These measures include restricted physical access to our offices, security containers, firewalls, secure databases, computer-user identifiers and passwords, and accredited off-site storage facilities.

In addition to the requirements under the Privacy Act, AGS's obligations to protect personal information arise from other sources including the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, the APS Code of Conduct (s 13 of the Public Service Act 1999) and the Crimes Act 1914. AGS lawyers are subject to professional obligations arising from Commonwealth, State and Territory law. All AGS employees are required to have a minimum Baseline security clearance.

The requirements of the Archives Act 1983 relating to Commonwealth records (including the disposal, alteration and destruction of such records) apply to AGS records, including personal information held by AGS.

Visiting AGS’s website

When you visit at AGS's website, AGS's server will make a record of your visit and log the following information:

• your server address and domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk)
• the date and time of your visit to the site
• the pages accessed and documents downloaded
• the previous site you visited
• the type of browser used.

This information is collected to facilitate website and system administration, including monitoring to prevent security breaches, and to facilitate enhancement of the website. AGS does not attempt to identify users or their browsing activities except in the unlikely event of a criminal investigation, for example if a law enforcement agency has issued a warrant to inspect our server's logs.

We do not use cookies when people make general visits to our website. However, we do use cookies in relation to some of the specific web pages we have established for particular clients to allow them limited access to information on our intranet. These cookies are used only during a visitor's browsing session and expire when the visitor closes their browser.

External sites that are linked to or from the AGS website are not under our control and people are advised to view their privacy statements separately.

How to access or correct your personal information

AGS can provide you with access to personal information we hold about you, subject to any applicable exceptions under the Privacy Act. We first require you to verify your identity and specify the information you wish to access.

You will not be charged for lodging a request to access personal information. However, we may charge a fee to cover the reasonable administrative costs involved in providing access to your personal information. The fee is determined on a case-by-case basis and you will be informed beforehand of the likely cost. AGS will respond to a request for access within a reasonable period after the request is made, generally no longer than 30 days.

The option of requesting access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to personal information held by AGS is not available to individuals as documents relating to the activities of AGS are exempt from the FOI Act.

AGS employees seeking to access personal information about them held by AGS should contact their relevant AGS HR Business Partner.

We endeavour to ensure that personal information sought and held by AGS is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading. If an individual is able to establish that information held by AGS about them is not correct, we will take reasonable steps to amend it.

If you wish to make a privacy complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the way AGS handles your personal information and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact privacy@ags.gov.au in the first instance. We will endeavour to respond to any such complaint within 30 days of receipt.

If we are unable to satisfactorily resolve your concerns about our handling of your personal information, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). Visit the OAIC's webpage on Privacy complaints for further information, including contact details and an online complaint form.

You are able to make a complaint directly to the OAIC rather than to AGS but in most instances, OAIC will refer you to AGS in the first instance, to see if your complaint can be resolved without requiring the involvement of the OAIC.

Contact us

Requests for access to, or correction of, personal information should, in the first instance, be directed to privacy@ags.gov.au.

For further information or to find out more about how AGS manages personal information, you can also contact privacy@ags.gov.au.

Freedom of Information

AGS is a group within the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD). AGD is an agency for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). An FOI request can be made to AGD by emailing foi@ag.gov.au. Further information about the FOI Act and making a request to AGD is available at Freedom of information | Attorney-General's Department (ag.gov.au).

By virtue of s 7(2) and Schedule 2, Part II, Division 1 of the FOI Act, AGD is exempt from the FOI Act in relation to documents in respect of activities undertaken by the Australian Government Solicitor.

Disclaimer

While AGS has exercised due care in ensuring the accuracy of the material contained on this website, the information on the site is made available on the understanding that AGS is not engaged in rendering professional advice here. The website may not cover all the information available on a particular issue.

Some material on this site may include or summarise views, standards or recommendations of third parties. The inclusion of such material is not an endorsement by AGS of that material; nor does it indicate a commitment to any particular course of action.

Before relying on the material contained on the website, users should obtain appropriate professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances to evaluate the material's accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance for their purposes.

Links provided to other websites are provided for the user's convenience and do not constitute endorsement of the information at those sites. AGS accepts no responsibility for material contained in any website that is linked to this site.

Contact us at ags@ags.gov.au should you have any questions or issues about the above information.

No spam

The email addresses published on this page are provided for the benefit of our clients and those wishing to contact AGS on legitimate business. Accordingly, any unsolicited commercial electronic messages we receive at any of the published email addresses may be referred to the Australian Communications and Media Authority for prosecution.

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