1. About this policy and who we are
Hamilton Thomas Lawyers Pty Ltd (ABN 68 641 113 877), trading as Hamilton Thomas Lawyers (we, us, our), is a family law firm based in Carnegie, Victoria. We are committed to protecting your personal information and handling it in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.
This policy explains what personal information we collect, how we collect and hold it, why we collect it, who we share it with, and how you can access it, correct it or make a complaint. It covers information collected through our website, hamiltonthomaslawyers.com.au and its subdomains, and in the course of providing our legal services.
2. What personal information we collect
The personal information we collect depends on how you deal with us. It may include:
- Your name, phone number, email address and postal address
- Information you provide when you enquire about or book a discovery call, including a brief description of your situation
- Information we need to provide legal services in your matter
- A recording of your call if you call our published phone number, and information generated by call-tracking technology, such as which marketing channel or webpage led to your call (see section 7)
- If you subscribe to receive marketing emails from us, your email address and your subscription preferences
Because we practise family law, the information we collect during a matter is often sensitive. It may include information about your relationships, your children, your finances and property, your health, and experiences of family violence. We collect sensitive information only when it is necessary for your matter and with your consent, or where the law otherwise permits.
We also collect limited technical information when you use our website, such as your device type, browser and the pages you visit. This is described in section 7.
3. How we collect it
We collect personal information:
- Directly from you, when you fill in a form on our website, call us, email us, book a discovery call, or meet with us
- During your matter, from documents and correspondence you give us
- From third parties where your matter requires it, such as courts, other parties’ representatives, or experts
- Automatically through our website, using cookies and analytics tools (see section 7)
- By recording calls to our published phone number, and through call-tracking technology that helps us understand which marketing channel led to a call (see section 7)
- If you sign up to our marketing emails, when you subscribe through our website or provide your email address for this purpose
4. Why we collect it
We collect, hold and use personal information to:
- Respond to your enquiries and provide legal services in your matter
- Manage our relationship with you, including appointments and billing
- Meet our legal and professional obligations as a law firm
- Improve our website and services
- Send you marketing communications about our services, where you have subscribed to receive them. You can opt out at any time by using the unsubscribe link in any email or by contacting us
5. Who we share it with
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only as needed to run your matter and our practice, with:
- Barristers and other legal counsel briefed in your matter
- Expert witnesses and report writers, where your matter requires them
- Courts and tribunals, and other parties’ representatives, as your matter requires
- Service providers who support our practice, such as IT, practice management and accounting providers, our call-tracking and telephony provider, and, if you subscribe to our marketing emails, our email marketing platform provider
- Anyone else where you have consented, or where disclosure is required or authorised by law
6. Overseas disclosure
Our practice management system, LEAP, is hosted in Australia. Some of the other service providers we use, including our website analytics provider, our call-tracking and recording provider, and providers of software such as Microsoft, may store information overseas, including in the United States. Where we disclose personal information overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled consistently with Australian privacy law.
7. Cookies, website analytics and call recording
Our website and phone line use:
- Google Analytics, which uses cookies to help us understand how visitors use our site, such as which pages are visited and for how long
- Google reCAPTCHA on our forms, which protects the site from spam and involves Google processing limited technical information
- Website forms, which collect the details you choose to enter when you contact us or book a discovery call
- Call-tracking and call recording. The phone number shown on our site uses call-tracking technology, which tells us which marketing channel or webpage led to a call without changing the number you dial. Calls to our published number are recorded for training, quality assurance and record-keeping purposes. Before you are connected, you will hear a recorded message: “This call may be recorded for quality purposes”
- Email marketing. If you subscribe to receive our marketing emails, we use an email marketing platform to send them. Every email includes a link to unsubscribe or opt out at any time
You can set your browser to refuse cookies. The website will still work, though some features may be limited. The analytics information we receive is aggregated and does not identify you personally.
8. How we hold and protect it
We hold personal information in secure electronic systems with access controls, and in paper files where needed. We take reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We keep information for as long as our legal and professional obligations require, and then take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it.
9. Access and correction
You can ask to access the personal information we hold about you, or ask us to correct it, by contacting us using the details in section 11. This includes asking us to update your marketing preferences or remove you from our mailing list. We will respond within a reasonable time. In some cases we may not be able to provide access, for example where information is subject to legal professional privilege or where the law otherwise allows us to withhold it. If we refuse access, we will tell you why.
10. Complaints
If you believe we have mishandled your personal information, please contact us using the details in section 11. We will acknowledge your complaint, look into it, and respond within 30 days.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au or by calling 1300 363 992.
11. Contact us
Hamilton Thomas Lawyers Pty Ltd, 59 Koornang Road, Carnegie VIC 3163. Phone: (03) 9067 5225. Please address privacy requests to the Principal.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be available on this page.
Last updated: September 14, 2026