Privacy Policy

• Registered Tax Agent Number (Tax Practitioners Board): 26313222
• ACN: 680 225 512 | ABN: 73 680 225 512
• Address: Suite 2, 29-33 Pitt St, Mortdale NSW 2223
• Website: mjeservices.com.au
• Phone: (02) 9580 1167
• Enquiries (including privacy): reception@mjeservices.com.au

1. About this policy and our commitment

We are committed to protecting your privacy and to handling your personal information openly and transparently, in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”) and the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”).

This policy explains how we handle personal information collected through our website at mjeservices.com.au (the “Website”). It is written to address each of the matters that Australian Privacy Principle 1.4 requires an APP privacy policy to contain: the kinds of personal information we collect and hold (section 2); how we collect and hold it (sections 3 and 11); the purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose it (sections 4 and 5); how you may access and seek correction of it (section 14); how you may complain and how we will handle your complaint (section 15); whether we are likely to disclose personal information overseas; and the countries in which overseas recipients are likely to be located (section 9).

Scope. This policy covers personal information we collect through the Website only. Personal, financial and tax information that you provide to us as a client of the practice — including your tax file number (TFN) and the documents needed to prepare your returns — is handled offline through our normal practice channels, not through the Website. Where you become a client, additional privacy terms in our engagement documents may apply. Where you engage the practice, the privacy terms in our engagement letter govern how we handle your personal, financial and tax information as a client, and they apply in addition to this Website policy.

What is “personal information”? Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. “Sensitive information” is a special category (for example health, racial or ethnic origin, or biometric information) that has extra protections under the Privacy Act. Our Website is not designed to collect sensitive information, and we ask you not to send it to us through the Website (see section 8).

2. The kinds of personal information we collect and hold (APP 1.4(a))

Through the Website we may collect and hold the following kinds of personal information:

(a) Information you give us through the contact / callback-request form:

• your name;
• your email address;
• your phone number;
• the type of enquiry you select; and
• any message or details you choose to type into the form.

(b) Information you type into our AI chatbot:

• the free-text messages you send to the chatbot. You control what you type. We ask you NOT to enter your TFN, bank details, passwords or other sensitive information into the chatbot (see section 8).

(c) Technical and usage information collected automatically:

• your IP address, approximate location derived from it, browser and device type, pages viewed, links clicked, referring website, and similar analytics data, collected through cookies and similar technologies (see sections 7 and 10);
• information collected by our anti-bot / security tool to tell humans from automated traffic.

We do not require you to create an account, and we do not take payments on the Website. We do not intend to collect sensitive information through the Website.

3. How we collect personal information (APP 1.4(b); APP 3; APP 5)

We collect personal information:

• directly from you when you complete the contact / callback-request form or type messages into the chatbot; and
• automatically through cookies and similar technologies when you browse the Website (see section 7), including through third-party analytics, advertising and security tools described in sections 6 and 10.

We collect personal information only by lawful and fair means and only where it is reasonably necessary for the purposes described in section 4.

Collection notice. When you submit the contact form or use the chatbot, we take reasonable steps to make you aware of the matters required by APP 5 — including who we are, why we are collecting the information, who we may disclose it to, that some recipients are overseas, and how to find this policy. A short collection notice is shown at or near the form and the chatbot, and links to this policy.

If you do not provide the information. If you choose not to provide the information requested in the contact form, we may not be able to respond to your enquiry or call you back.

4. Why we collect, hold, use and disclose your information (APP 1.4(c); APP 6)

We collect, hold and use the personal information described above for the following purposes:

• to respond to your enquiry and to call you back when you request it;
• to provide general information about our accounting and tax agent services;
• to answer questions through the AI chatbot;
• to operate, secure, maintain and improve the Website (including analytics and protecting against spam and automated abuse);
• to measure the effectiveness of, and to deliver, our advertising;
• to keep records of enquiries; and
• to comply with our legal obligations.

We use and disclose personal information only for these purposes, for a directly related purpose you would reasonably expect, or where you have consented, or where we are otherwise permitted or required by law (APP 6).

We do not sell or rent your personal information. We disclose it only:

• to the third-party service providers that help us run the Website (see section 6), under their terms of service;
• where required or authorised by law (for example, a lawful request from a government agency or court); and
• to professional advisers where reasonably necessary.

5. The AI chatbot — how we handle what you type, and a warning (APP 5; APP 6; APP 8)

Our Website includes an AI chatbot that answers general questions about our services. Please read the following carefully:

• It is an AI assistant providing general information only. It is not a registered tax agent service and does not give personal tax, financial or legal advice. For advice about your own circumstances, please contact us and engage the practice formally.
• Do not enter sensitive or confidential information. Please do NOT type your tax file number (TFN), bank account details, passwords, myGov details, or other sensitive personal or financial information into the chatbot. The chatbot displays a reminder of this. If you need to share such information with us, we will arrange a secure offline channel — the Fedix Client Portal, which encrypts uploads in transit and at rest and limits access to your engagement team.
• How chat messages are processed. The messages you type are processed by a third-party large language model (“LLM”) provider (OpenAI, in the United States) to generate the chatbot’s responses. This processing occurs overseas (see section 9).
• We collect and retain chat transcripts. We collect and retain (keep) the transcripts of your conversations with the chatbot. We use these transcripts to respond to and assist you, to keep a record of your enquiry, and to monitor and improve the chatbot and our service. Because we ask you not to enter sensitive information into the chatbot (see section 8), transcripts should not contain your TFN, bank details or similar information. See section 12 for how long we keep this information.

This approach reflects the OAIC’s guidance that, where chat inputs are personal information, we should give an APP 5 collection notice and, where an overseas provider is involved, address APP 8 cross-border obligations.

6. Third parties we use (service providers)

We use the following third-party service providers to run the Website. Each handles personal information under its own terms and privacy policy:

7. Cookies, analytics and advertising

We use cookies and similar technologies on the Website. A cookie is a small file stored on your device that helps a website function and helps us understand how the Website is used.

We use cookies for three purposes:

• Necessary — required for the Website to work and to keep it secure (for example, Cloudflare Turnstile anti-bot protection). These are always on.
• Analytics — to understand how visitors use the Website so we can improve it (Google Analytics 4 / Google Tag Manager).
• Advertising — to deliver and measure our advertising (Google Ads).

Analytics and advertising cookies are only set in line with your consent choices. See the standalone Cookie / Consent Notice in section 10 for how consent works and how to change your choices.

You can also control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect how parts of the Website work.

8. Sensitive information and tax file numbers (TFNs)

The Website is a marketing site. It is not the place to send sensitive information. Please do not submit, through the contact form or the chatbot:

• your tax file number (TFN);
• bank account, credit card or myGov details;
• passwords; or
• other sensitive personal or financial information.

We handle TFNs and client tax information offline, through the practice’s secure channels, not through the Website. As a recipient of tax file number information, we are bound by the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015 (“TFN Rule”), which regulates the collection, storage, use, disclosure, security and disposal of individuals’ TFN information, and which binds TFN recipients regardless of business size. We will only collect a TFN where we are authorised by taxation law to do so, will tell you the purpose at that time, and will store, use and dispose of TFN information in accordance with the TFN Rule. Declining to quote a TFN is not an offence.

When you need to send us your TFN or client documents, we provide the Fedix Client Portal, which encrypts uploads in transit and at rest and limits access to your engagement team. Please do not send your TFN, identity documents or bank account details to us by email or through this Website.

9. Overseas disclosure of personal information (APP 1.4(f), (g); APP 8)

Some of the service providers we use store or process personal information outside Australia. By using the Website, the following overseas disclosures may occur:

Before disclosing personal information to an overseas recipient, APP 8 requires us to take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure the recipient does not breach the APPs, and we generally remain accountable for how that recipient handles the information. We rely on the contractual terms and privacy commitments of the providers listed above as part of those reasonable steps.

Under section 16C of the Privacy Act, we remain accountable for how our overseas service providers handle your information — an act done by an overseas recipient that would breach the APPs is treated as having been done by us.

10. Cookie / Consent Notice (standalone)

This section can stand on its own as the Website’s cookie notice.

What we use cookies for. We group cookies and similar technologies into three categories:

• Necessary (always on): needed for the Website to work and to stay secure — for example, Cloudflare Turnstile anti-bot protection. These cannot be switched off.
• Analytics (consent required): Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager, used to understand how the Website is used.
• Advertising (consent required): Google Ads, used to deliver and measure our advertising.

Consent and Google Consent Mode v2. When you first visit the Website, a consent banner lets you accept or decline analytics and advertising cookies. We operate Google Consent Mode v2 with a default-denied posture for analytics and advertising consent signals (analytics_storage, ad_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization are set to “denied” by default) until you choose to grant consent. Google tags load in all cases, but only set cookies and collect data consistent with the consent signals you allow. You can change your choices at any time by clearing this website’s stored data in your browser (which re-displays the consent banner on your next visit) or by managing or blocking cookies through your browser settings.

11. How we hold and secure your information; data breaches (APP 1.4; APP 11)

We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, as required by APP 11. These steps include: encryption of data in transit (TLS / HTTPS); access controls on the server and admin tools; anti-bot protection (Cloudflare Turnstile); hosting in Australia; and limiting access to enquiry data to staff who need it.

Data breaches. As a tax file number recipient we are covered by the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme. If we suspect an eligible data breach — unauthorised access to, disclosure of, or loss of personal information that is likely to result in serious harm and that we cannot remediate — we will assess it expeditiously (and within 30 calendar days of becoming aware of grounds) and, where it is an eligible data breach, notify affected individuals and the Australian Information Commissioner as soon as practicable.

12. How long we keep your information (retention)

We keep personal information collected through the Website for as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law, after which we take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it.

Chatbot transcripts. We have made a deliberate decision to retain chatbot conversation transcripts in full. We keep them to respond to and assist you, to keep a record of your enquiry, to maintain the security and integrity of the service, and to monitor, train and improve the chatbot and our service. Because we ask you not to enter sensitive information into the chatbot (see section 8), transcripts are not intended to contain your TFN, bank details or similar information.

We want to be transparent that this full-retention approach goes beyond the minimum that APP 11.2 contemplates. APP 11.2 expects an entity to take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify personal information once it is no longer needed for any purpose for which it may be used or disclosed under the APPs. We consider that retained transcripts continue to serve the record-keeping, security and service-improvement purposes described above, and we have weighed that against the APP 11.2 expectation as an informed choice. We review this position periodically. You may ask us to access or correct your transcript, or to delete it, using the contact details in section 16, and we will deal with your request in accordance with sections 14 and 15 and applicable law.

Contact-form enquiries. We keep contact-form enquiries for as long as needed to deal with your enquiry and to keep a reasonable business record of it, after which we take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify them.

TFN and client tax records are retained under the practice’s separate offline record-keeping and taxation-law obligations, not under this Website policy. A defined retention/review period for Website data is a minimum of five years from the date of your last contact with us, after which we review and then destroy or de-identify it unless we are required by law to keep it longer.

13. Children

The Website and its services are intended for adults and for businesses. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the Website, please contact us using the details in section 16 and we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

14. Accessing and correcting your information (APP 1.4(d); APP 12; APP 13)

You may ask us for access to the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it if you think it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. To make a request, contact us using the details in section 16. We will respond within a reasonable time. There is normally no charge to make a request. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. If we decline a request, we will tell you why in writing where required.

15. Complaints (APP 1.4(e))

If you think we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles or mishandled your personal information, please contact us first using the details in section 16 so we can try to resolve it. We will acknowledge your complaint and respond within a reasonable time.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):

• Website: https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints
• Phone: 1300 363 992

16. Contact us about privacy

For any privacy question, request, or complaint:

• Enquiries email (including privacy): reception@mjeservices.com.au
• Practice: Tax7 T04 Pty Ltd T/AS MJE Business Services (ACN 680 225 512)
• ABN: 73 680 225 512
• Registered Tax Agent No.: 26313222
• Postal / office address: Suite 2, 29-33 Pitt St, Mortdale NSW 2223
• Phone: (02) 9580 1167
• Position responsible for privacy enquiries: Privacy Officer, MJE Business Services

17. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or the law. We will publish the updated policy on the Website and change the “Last reviewed” date at the top. We encourage you to review it periodically.

See also our Disclaimer and Terms of Use.