Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policy

This is the privacy policy of Verus Accountants and Advisors. In this document, “we” or “us” or “our” or “Verus Accountants and Advisors” refers Verus Accountans and Advisors (ABN: 95 604 759 659).

At Verus Accountants and Advisors, we are committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information.

We uphold the Code of Ethics outlined by Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board (APES) under subsection 114, Confidentiality while having adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The APPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information.

A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.aoic.gov.au. The APES Code of Ethics outline is obtainable from CPA Australia at www.cpaaustralia.com.au.

What is Personal Information and why do we collect it?

Personal Information is information or an opinion that identifies an individual. Examples of Personal Information we collect include: names, addresses, email addresses, phone and facsimile numbers.

This Personal Information is obtained in many ways including interviews, correspondence, by telephone and facsimile, by email, via our website www.verusaa.com.au, from your website, from media and publications, from other publicly available sources, from cookies and from third parties. We don’t guarantee website links or policy of authorised third parties.

We collect your Personal Information for the primary purpose of providing our services to you and marketing. From time to time we will use your contact details to send you offers, updates, articles, newsletters or other information about products and services that we believe will be of interest to you. We may also send you regular updates by email or by post. You may unsubscribe from our mailing/marketing lists at any time by contacting us in writing or via unsubscribe link in our newsletters.

When we collect Personal Information we will, where appropriate, explain to you why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it.

Sensitive Information

Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information.

Sensitive information will be used by us only:

  • For the primary purpose for which it was obtained
  • For a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose
  • With your consent; or where required or authorised by law.

Web and mobile data

Personal data – If you complete your details in the ‘contact’ section of our website we will capture your full name, email address, phone number, and the message you post. This information will be stored on our servers. We will use this information to contact you to set up a meeting with one of our accountants or advisors or for marketing purposes.

Other data – We may use technology such as beacons, scripts, cookies, tags and tracking pixels to collect, store and use anonymous data about how you use our website / mobile technology. This includes your server address, the date and time of your visit, the pages and links accessed, the type of browser used and other information about your browsing activities. This data is used to increase functionality and can also enable us to display information and content that is tailored to our understanding of your interests. This information alone cannot be used to discover your identity.

Third Parties

Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your Personal Information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties. In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.

Disclosure of Personal Information

Your Personal Information may be disclosed in a number of circumstances including the following:

  • Third parties (service providers) where you consent to the use or disclosure; and
  • Where required or authorised by law

The said types of service providers that may be provided with your personal information are:

  • your representatives such as your accountant, solicitor, tax agent, stockbroker, mortgage broker, financial adviser or bank;
  • other organisations involved in providing the financial advice you have requested (which may include ongoing service) such as fund managers, wrap account providers, master trust providers, insurance companies, share registries, and paraplanners;
  • software providers or database marketing tools such as MYOB, BGL 360, XPlan, Advant Plus and mailchimp;
  • insurance providers, superannuation trustees and product issuers in connection with the provision to you of the financial advice you have requested;
  • organisations that assist in operating an accounting and financial planning business such as those that provide administrative, financial, insurance, research, legal, computer or other business services;
  • organisations involved in a business restructure or a transfer of all or part of the assets of our business or the due diligence procedures prior to any such sale or transfer;
  • The Australian Tax Office;
  • Australian Securities and Investment Commission;
  • government authorities and other organisations when required by law; and
  • organisations that you have consented to your personal information being disclosed to.

We may also need to provide your information to contractors who supply services to us, e.g. software services, external data storage providers, or to other companies in the event of a corporate sale, merger, reorganisation, dissolution or similar event.  We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that they protect your information in line with the Privacy Act.

Security of Personal Information

Your personal information is generally held in client files on our server or a computer/cloud database (e.g. MYOB, BGL 360, XPlan and mailchimp). Your personal information may also be held in a secure archiving facility.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information that we hold is protected from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. Some of the measures that we have adopted are having facilities for the secure storage of personal information, having secure offices and access controls for our computer systems.

When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your Personal Information.

Access to your Personal Information

You may access the Personal Information we hold about you and to update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your Personal Information, please contact us in writing:

Verus Accountants and Advisors
973 Pacific Highway,
Pymble, New South Wales 2073

Verus Accountants and Advisors will not charge any fee for your access request, but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your Personal Information where applicable.

In order to protect your Personal Information we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.

Maintaining the Quality of your Personal Information

It is an important to us that your Personal Information is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.

Policy Updates

This policy was updated and published on 12 August 2020. The Policy may change from time to time and will be made available on our website.

Privacy Policy Complaints and Enquiries

If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy please contact us at:

Verus Accountants and Advisors
973 Pacific Highway,
Pymble, New South Wales 2073
Email: info@verusaa.com.au
Tel: 02 9980 1556