Disclaimer: The material in this print-out relates to the law as it applies in the state of Victoria. It is intended as a general guide only. Readers should not act on the basis of any material in this print-out without getting legal advice about their own particular situations. Victoria Legal Aid disclaims any liability howsoever caused to any person in respect of any action taken in reliance on the contents of the publication.

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Our privacy policy

Find out how we collect, manage and protect personal, sensitive and health information.

On this page

Why we collect information

We collect and share your information to deliver legal assistance and support access to justice.

Our privacy policy:

  • explains how we collect, use and protect your personal, sensitive and health information
  • covers all personal information collected by us.

About our policy

What type of information we collect

This includes, but is not limited to information about:

  • clients, help seekers, client representatives and family members of clients
  • the Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) Board
  • people who provide services on behalf of VLA, including VLA panel practitioners
  • people working for VLA, including:
    • staff
    • secondees
    • labour hire
    • personnel
    • contractors
    • sub-contractors
    • workplace participants
    • students and volunteers, and applicants for these positions

It also covers:

  • the panel of independent reviewers
  • participants in VLA programs, consultants and lived experience experts
  • third parties whose information is collected indirectly such as through witnesses or opposing parties
  • job applicants who apply for positions at VLA, regardless of whether they attain a position.

Who this policy applies to

This policy applies to all VLA staff and services, including legal and non-legal services.

Definitions

Client

Anyone who seeks or receives a legal or non-legal service through VLA.

This includes:

  • clients
  • help seekers
  • applicants for grants of legal assistance
  • service users.

Health information

Personal information that includes, but not limited to, information or an opinion about a person’s:

  • health
  • disability
  • genetic makeup.

Panel of independent reviewers

A person appointed by the Attorney General under section 18 of the Legal Aid Act 1978.

Personal information

In this policy ‘personal information’ collectively refers to personal, sensitive and health information unless otherwise stated.

Sensitive information

Sensitive information refers to any of the following about a person’s:

  • racial or ethnic origin
  • political opinions or association
  • religious beliefs or affiliation or philosophical beliefs
  • membership of a professional or trade association or union
  • sexual preferences or practices
  • criminal record.

Staff

Is an umbrella term that refers to all people performing work for or on behalf of VLA including:

  • employees
  • students
  • volunteers
  • secondees
  • personnel
  • contractors (including Family Dispute Resolution Service chairs)
  • sub-contractors
  • board members
  • independent reviewers.

VLA Board member

Someone who is appointed by the Governor in Council as the chairperson or a director of the Victoria Legal Aid Board, under section 12B of the Legal Aid Act 1978.

VLA Panel Practitioners

Includes private practitioners, barristers, private law firms and community legal centres that are on one or more established panels under section 29A of the Legal Aid Act 1978 (s29A panels).

Policy objectives and our responsibilities

The objectives of this policy are to:

  • explain how we collect, use, disclose and otherwise handle all personal information in accordance with our legal obligations
  • support the public’s understanding of our commitment to privacy.

We are committed to:

  • Protecting your privacy. VLA is transparent about how we handle personal information we receive.
  • Handling personal information in accordance with:
  • Lawful and responsible information sharing, where it is essential to supporting VLA’s service delivery and advocacy.

Collection of information

When we collect information

We collect personal information from or about you in a variety of circumstances.

This includes when you:

  • apply for a grant of legal assistance
  • seek advice, advocacy or other services
  • make a complaint or an enquiry
  • lodge a freedom of information application or seek information from us
  • are employed at VLA, are undertaking a placement at VLA, or during the recruitment process
  • are engaged as a lived experience expert
  • engage with us for research and evaluation purposes, including providing your client story
  • are appointed to a VLA panel
  • attend VLA events or training
  • contact us through our website, Legal Help phoneline, Legal Help chat or social media
  • provide services to VLA as a contractor, panel practitioner or other service provider
  • submit invoices to VLA, receive payment from VLA or where VLA makes payments to you.

How we collect information

We generally collect your personal information directly from you such as through a form, phone call or email.

However, we may also indirectly collect personal information about you from third parties where it is lawful and necessary for our work.

This includes:

  • witnesses
  • complainants
  • other parties involved in your matter
  • courts
  • government agencies
  • other service providers.

Types of information we collect

We only collect personal information that is needed to carry out our responsibilities and deliver our services.

The amount and type of personal information we collect will depend on the way you interact with us, and the kind of help you need.

This may include information such as:

  • your name/s, date of birth and contact details
  • information about your or another person’s legal or non-legal matter(s)
  • details about complaints and enquiries
  • your financial circumstances, including Centrelink entitlements
  • your health and disability
  • your domestic and lifestyle circumstances
  • your cultural background or identity, where this is relevant to providing culturally appropriate services or supporting staff in the workplace
  • your First Peoples identity (where applicable), to assist us in providing appropriate services and support to staff in the workplace
  • your gender identity
  • your criminal record and/or prison record
  • unique identifiers (usually numbers) linked to other personal information, such as your a driver’s licence, court case number or custody reference number
  • your Centrelink client reference number
  • your Internet Protocol (IP) addresses collected for limited operational and security purposes, maintaining system integrity and detecting potential misuse
  • security footage from our offices
  • recordings from we may record your phone call, such as when you contact our Legal Help phoneline
  • education and employment history from those who work for us or who are seeking employment with us
  • passport and visa information where relevant to the provision of a service or for employment purposes.

Use and disclosure of information

How we use your information

We use and disclose your personal information for the purpose for which it was collected, or for related and permitted purposes where authorised by law.

The main ways we use your personal information are to:

  • deliver legal and non-legal services
  • make referrals to other relevant services
  • assess eligibility for a grant of legal assistance to help pay for a lawyer
  • respond to enquiries and resolve complaints
  • provide updates on our publications and services
  • assess and manage applications from private lawyers to become a VLA panel practitioner
  • recruit, train and manage staff and contractors
  • respond to information access requests and freedom of information requests
  • comply with our legal obligations and meet our statutory reporting obligations
  • engage with other organisations, for the purpose of improving system design and service delivery. These organisations include:
    • courts and tribunals
    • community legal centres
    • correctional facilities
    • healthcare institutions
    • professionals
    • government agencies.
  • carry out another purpose, where you have given consent
  • prevent or lessen a serious threat to a person’s life, health, safety or welfare.

We may also use your personal information to undertake quality assurance, program evaluation, policy development and research to help us design and continually improve our services.

When we disclose your personal information

We may disclose your personal information to a third party where it is necessary and lawful to do so.

Common reasons are in order to:

In some circumstances, we are permitted to use or disclose your personal information without your consent.

We do not sell or rent out your personal information.

Choosing to withhold information

You can provide us with as much or as little personal information as you would like.

However, this may result in any of the following, it may:

  • affect the services we can provide
  • affect how we can engage with you – for example, by only providing you with legal information, or not being able to progress an application for employment
  • result in ineligibility for a grant of legal assistance.

How we keep information safe

We are committed to protecting information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, modification, unlawful destruction and disclosure. To do this, we use a combination of procedural, physical and software access controls, and safeguards.

This includes:

Transfer of information outside of Victoria

We do not usually store or transfer personal information outside of Victoria.

Where it is necessary (for example, for secure cloud storage or contracted services) we ensure at least one of the following takes place:

  • we ensure the recipient of the information is subject to a law, binding scheme or contract which is substantially similar to Victorian privacy obligation
  • we obtain your consent
  • we check that the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract between you and VLA.

In some cases, this transfer of personal information may involve a jurisdiction that has privacy protections that are different from Victorian obligations.

If this happens, we will conduct an assessment to make sure the transfer of personal information can comply with Victorian privacy law and our data security standards.

We do not allow personal information to be transferred outside Victoria unless it is compliant with these conditions.

Use of unique identifiers

We use unique identifiers such as client or staff numbers.

This allows us to do all of the following:

  • keep a record of the services provided
  • make appropriate referrals
  • avoid conflicts of interest
  • manage payroll systems.

Accessing and correcting your information

You can contact us if any of the personal information we hold about you changes, or if it is inaccurate. We might ask you to confirm any changes to your personal information so we can keep up-to-date and accurate records.

You can request a copy of the documents from your file. The first step is to contact the VLA staff member who has assisted you. You also have the right to make a freedom of information request by emailing foi@vla.vic.gov.au.

VLA’s website privacy

We analyse how our website is used to help us improve it.

To do this we create reports on website usage from Google Analytics.

These reports tell us which pages are visited, for how long, and on what operating systems and browsers. It may also tells what geographic areas these pages were visited from. This works by using a 'cookie'.

Cookies are small files placed on your computer to help remember your preferences. Cookies do not identify you personally.

Our Website privacy statement provides more detail about how information is collected from people who interact with our website.

Privacy at VLA

The collection and handling of information across VLA must be in accordance with this policy, relevant laws and legal professional obligations.

Staff responsible for making privacy decisions are supported by VLA policies, procedures and tools such as privacy impact assessments. This helps ensure that personal information is managed lawfully and carefully when delivering our services.

Enquiries or complaints

All privacy enquiries and complaints can be directed to our Internal Legal Services team.

You can contact the team via:

We aim to resolve complaints quickly and fairly in accordance with information on our Complaints page.

Other contacts

If you remain dissatisfied with our response you can also contact the following:

Policies

  • Information Security Management Framework
  • Information Security Policy
  • Data Management Policy
  • Protective Marking and Information Handling Policy
  • Client Stories Policy
  • Complaints Policy
  • Publicly Available AI Tools Policy

These policies can be accessed by contacting VLA via email: foi@vla.vic.gov.au.

Legislation and internal resources

*These internal documents can be accessed by contacting VLA via email: foi@vla.vic.gov.au.

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