Privacy Policy

SMV Advisory Pty Ltd ("SMV Advisory", "we", "us" or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This policy should be read together with the terms of our engagement letter.

1. The information we collect

The personal information we collect depends on our relationship with you, and may include: your name, contact details and date of birth; tax file numbers and Australian Business Numbers; financial, accounting, banking and superannuation details; employment and business records; identity-verification documents and beneficial-ownership information (including, for company and trust clients, individuals who own or control 25% or more of, or otherwise control, an entity); whether you are a Politically Exposed Person; and any other information you provide to us in the course of an engagement.

2. How we collect it

We collect personal information directly from you — through this website's enquiry form and booking page, by email, by phone, and in meetings — and, where relevant and with your authority, from third parties such as the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, your previous adviser, your nominated advisers (for example your financial planner, banker, solicitor or insurer), banks and financial institutions, identity-verification and database checking services, and, where you consent under the Consumer Data Right, accredited data recipients.

3. Why we collect, hold, use and disclose it

We use your personal information to provide our accounting, advisory, virtual CFO and family office services; to meet our professional, legal and regulatory obligations; to respond to your enquiries and bookings; and to manage our relationship with you. We will only use it for the purpose for which it was provided, a directly related purpose, or as otherwise permitted by law.

4. Tax File Numbers

Tax File Numbers are protected by specific rules under the Privacy Act and the Taxation Administration Act. We collect and use TFNs only for lawful taxation, superannuation and assistance-agency purposes, store them securely, and do not disclose them except as authorised by law.

5. Anti-money laundering and identity verification

SMV Advisory is a reporting entity under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth). We are legally required to collect, verify and retain identity and beneficial-ownership information about you and the entities we act for, to conduct ongoing monitoring, and to report certain matters to AUSTRAC. To verify identity we may make enquiries of appropriate databases and third parties. Some reports to AUSTRAC must be made without prior notice to you, and the law may prohibit us from disclosing that such a report has been made. We retain these records for at least seven years.

6. Disclosure to third parties

We may disclose your information to: government agencies and regulators (including the ATO, ASIC, AUSTRAC and the Tax Practitioners Board); your nominated advisers and service providers where authorised (such as your financial planner, banker, solicitor, insurer and software providers); our own professional advisers, insurers and external peer reviewers; service providers (including cloud and outsourced providers) who help us deliver our services; and, on a confidential basis, potential purchasers of our practice. Where we act for a family group or related entities, each member authorises us to share information among the group. We may also identify you as a client of the firm for promotional purposes — you can ask us not to. We require those who handle your information on our behalf to protect it to a standard consistent with the APPs, and we otherwise disclose information only where required or authorised by law or our professional obligations.

7. Overseas disclosure & cloud services

We deliver our services using reputable cloud-based software, and we may engage outsourced service providers — some of whom are located outside Australia — and use artificial-intelligence tools to assist us. As a result, some information may be stored or processed on servers outside Australia. We take reasonable steps to ensure these providers handle your information consistently with the APPs, and we select providers that are certified to recognised information-security standards (such as ISO/IEC 27001). Details of the specific providers we use are available to clients on request.

8. Consumer Data Right

Where you nominate us as a Trusted Adviser under the Consumer Data Right (CDR), we will only access the CDR data necessary to provide the services set out in your engagement letter, and will handle that data in accordance with the CDR regime.

9. Our website

Our website does not use analytics or tracking cookies. Our hosting provider may record limited technical information (such as IP addresses) in standard server logs for security and to keep the site running. Our enquiry form and booking page collect only the details you choose to submit, so that we can respond to you.

10. Security & storage

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure — including secure systems, access controls and confidentiality obligations on our personnel. We generally retain records for seven (7) years after completion of the relevant services (and at least seven years for AML/CTF records), after which we take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify them, unless the law requires us to keep them longer.

11. Access and correction

You may request access to the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete. To make a request, contact us using the details below. We will respond within a reasonable period; in limited circumstances we may decline access, in which case we will explain why.

12. Direct marketing

We may occasionally send you information about our services. You can opt out of these communications at any time by contacting us or using the unsubscribe facility in the message.

13. Complaints

If you believe we have breached your privacy, please contact our Privacy Officer using the details below and we will investigate and respond. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au or 1300 363 992.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The current version will always be available on this page, with the "last updated" date shown above.

15. Contact us

Privacy Officer — SMV Advisory Pty Ltd
Email: privacy@smvadvisory.com.au