Privacy Policy

 

Privacy Policy 

1. About this policy 

This Privacy Policy is adopted by Judge Accountants and Karbenko Business Services and Loya Family Trust (ABN 57 178 153 079), together with any corporate entity owned or controlled by them, including Judge Group Services OPC (“Judge Accountants”, “we”, “us” and “our”). 

It explains how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Our employees, contractors, consultants, partners and any other party who has access to your personal information at our direction are bound by this policy. 

By providing personal information to us, or by using our services, you consent to us handling it in accordance with this policy. We may amend this policy from time to time; the current version is always available at judgeaccountants.com.au/privacy-policy. If you object to this policy, please tell us before providing personal information to us. 

You can find more about the APPs and your privacy rights at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), www.oaic.gov.au. 

2. The personal information we collect 

The information we collect depends on your dealings with us and the services you ask us to provide. It may include: 

  • Name, address, date of birth and contact details 
  • Identification information, such as your tax file number, driver licence, passport and other documents we must sight and keep to verify your identity, and that of the beneficial owners and controllers of entities you ask us to act for, under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) 
  • Employment information, current and historical, including payroll details where we process payroll for your business 
  • Financial information, such as bank accounts, shareholdings, loans, assets and liabilities, income, expenditure, insurance and superannuation 
  • Details of your business, its employees, suppliers and customers where you give us access to your accounting, payroll or other records 
  • Information you provide through client questionnaires, surveys and our client portal 

We only collect sensitive information (for example health information or membership of a professional association) where you consent or the law requires it, and we use it only for the purpose it was collected for or a directly related purpose. 

3. How we collect it 

We collect personal information from you and, where you authorise us or the law allows, from third parties, including by: 

  • Meetings, telephone calls and video calls with you 
  • Client questionnaires, checklists, forms and our client portal 
  • Correspondence by email, SMS and other electronic means 
  • Your use of our website and social media pages, including cookies and similar tracking technologies that record website usage and preferences 
  • Your accounting, payroll and record-keeping software where you grant us access 
  • Government agencies and other third parties on your behalf, such as the Australian Taxation Office, ASIC, Revenue NSW, financiers and superannuation funds 
  • Publicly available sources and identity-verification services 

4. Why we collect it and how we use it 

We collect and use personal information to provide the services you have engaged us for and to meet our legal and professional obligations, including to: 

  • Prepare and lodge tax returns, activity statements, financial statements and other compliance documents 
  • Provide bookkeeping, payroll, superannuation lodgement, business advisory and SMSF administration services 
  • Provide financial planning advice through Clarity Wealth Pty Ltd and lending services through MAB Broking Services Pty Ltd (Judge Lending) 
  • Verify your identity and assess risk as required by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) 
  • Liaise with the ATO, ASIC, Revenue NSW, financiers, insurers and other third parties on your behalf 
  • Manage our relationship with you, including billing, direct debit collection and complaints 
  • Send you newsletters, articles and information about our services and those of our related businesses, which you can opt out of at any time 
  • Comply with the law, professional standards and the requirements of our professional bodies 

5. Who we disclose it to 

We disclose personal information only where it is needed to provide our services, where you have consented, where you would reasonably expect it, or where the law requires or permits it. The recipients may include: 

  • Our related businesses: Judge Group Services OPC (our Philippines team, see section 6), Clarity Wealth Pty Ltd (financial planning, which operates under its own Financial Services Guide and Privacy Policy) and MAB Broking Services Pty Ltd (Judge Lending) 
  • Our employees, contractors, advisers and agents 
  • Referral partners you ask us to engage on your behalf, such as SMSF auditors, actuaries, solicitors and financiers 
  • Third-party providers of the software and services we use to run our practice, such as practice management, document storage and electronic signing, accounting and payroll platforms, email, workflow automation, payment collection and artificial intelligence tools (see section 6) 
  • The Australian Taxation Office, ASIC, Revenue NSW, AUSTRAC and other government agencies, to meet our and your compliance obligations 
  • Our professional bodies, including Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and the Tax Practitioners Board, for quality reviews, complaints and compliance 
  • Our professional indemnity insurers and legal advisers 
  • Any industry body, tribunal, court or regulator in connection with a complaint, dispute or legal process 
  • Anyone else you authorise us to disclose to 

We do not sell personal information. 

6. Overseas disclosure 

We are likely to disclose personal information to recipients outside Australia in the following ways. 

Our Philippines team. Some bookkeeping, workpaper preparation and administrative support is performed in the Philippines by our team at Judge Group Services OPC, a company owned by the owners of Judge Accountants and located in Manila. These staff work under our supervision, use our Australian systems and are bound by the same confidentiality and privacy obligations as our Australian staff. We review their work before it is provided to you. 

Cloud and AI providers. We use cloud software and services to store and process information, including practice management, document storage and electronic signing, accounting and payroll platforms, email and communication tools, workflow automation, payment collection and artificial intelligence tools. Some of these providers store or process data outside Australia, including in the United States and the European Union. We only use artificial intelligence providers whose terms prevent your information being used to train their models. The current list of providers and the countries where they hold data is published at judgeaccountants.com.au/providers and is updated as our providers change. 

Before disclosing personal information overseas we take reasonable steps to ensure the recipient handles it in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles, including through contractual terms, access controls and supervision. By engaging us you consent to these overseas disclosures. If you do not want your information handled by our Philippines team, please tell us; we may not be able to provide some services, or may need to charge differently, if work must be done in Australia only. 

7. Security and retention 

We hold personal information electronically in our practice management and document systems, and occasionally in hard copy. Hard-copy documents you give us are scanned and the originals destroyed unless you ask for them back. We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, including multi-factor authentication, role-based access, encryption in transit and at rest, and staff training. 

We keep personal information for as long as we need it to provide our services and to meet our legal and professional obligations, which for tax and AML/CTF records is generally at least five to seven years after the relationship ends. When it is no longer needed we destroy or de-identify it. 

We comply with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. If unauthorised access to, disclosure of, or loss of personal information is likely to result in serious harm to you, we will notify you and the OAIC as the Privacy Act requires. 

Our website may link to external websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. 

Any breach of this policy by our staff, contractors or other parties acting at our direction will result in disciplinary and, where appropriate, legal action. 

8. Access, correction and complaints 

You may ask to access the personal information we hold about you by writing to us at the contact details below. We will respond within 30 days and may need to verify your identity first. We may charge a reasonable fee for locating and providing the information. If we cannot give you access to some information, we will tell you why. 

If you believe information we hold about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, please tell us and we will take reasonable steps to correct it. 

If you have a complaint about how we have handled your personal information, or a question about this policy, contact our Privacy Officer: 

  • Post: Judge Accountants, PO Box 280, Penrith NSW 2751 
  • Office: Suite 2, Level 3, 50 Belmore Street, Penrith NSW 2750 
  • Phone: 1300 707 766 
  • Email: info@judgeaccountants.com.au 

We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and aim to resolve it within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992. 

Policy effective: 3 November 2026