This privacy policy sets out how Dymond Cowan Pty Ltd (ACN 007 112 816) t/a The Knight Alliance (“we”) treat the privacy of those with whom we interact.
In this privacy policy, the term “personal information” has the meaning in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and under that legislation includes information about an identifiable individual. This may include names, addresses, dates of birth, telephone and fax numbers, email addresses, property ownership details, lot numbers, unit entitlement details, driver’s licence details, credit information and history, banking details, income details, taxation information, credit card information, other financial details, passport numbers, employment details and history and if and where applicable, includes information that constitutes “sensitive information”. In most circumstances we do not collect sensitive information. Personal information also includes opinions about individuals.
1. Collection and Storage of Personal Information and Data
From whom do we collect personal information?
Where practical, we collect personal information directly from the individual concerned and with the individual’s consent (whether in writing or verbal).
For example, we may collect personal information:
- from you directly;
- from records to which we have access on behalf of your owners corporation that we manage;
- from solicitors/conveyancers;
- from your rental agent (if applicable);
- from your insurers; and
- from previous owners corporations managers;
For what purposes do we collect personal information?
We collect personal information for the purposes of conducting our business and in particular to perform our role in providing management services to you and your owners corporation in accordance with our agreements with the owners corporation.
Personal information may be collected:
- from records we hold on an owners corporation’s behalf;
- during your conversations or correspondence with our staff;
- when you pay for goods or services with credit cards;
- when you telephone us or visit our website and make an enquiry to which a later response is requested and to do so requires your contact details;
- when we conduct credit checks through credit reporting bodies, various public domain databases, when we make enquiries through Centrelink or the Titles Office;
- when you ask to be included on a marketing distribution list;
- otherwise when we administer rights and obligations in accordance with owners corporation legislation and our management agreement, for example for the purpose of maintaining the owners corporation roll, to issue notices of meetings, distribute agendas and minutes of meetings, to administer levy collection, to attend to maintenance, repairs and essential services and to manage insurance related matters; and
- when evaluating job applicants and personnel, including their contact details, employment history and educational qualifications. This may include “sensitive information” as defined in the Privacy Act. Further details about our privacy policy and practices for job applicants will be available at the time of
2. Anonymity / pseudonymity
Where practicable, you have the right to interact with us anonymously or using a pseudonym. However the nature of the services we provide is such that anonymity and pseudonymity may not always be possible or practical. If you do not provide us with the personal information we request or require, we may not be able to provide our services to you or may not be able to do so to the same standards.
3. Use of Personal Information
We may use personal information for the purpose of marketing but only where such use complies with the Privacy Law and the Australian Privacy Principles in particular.
We use the personal information collected from you for the purpose it was provided or collected, including in the following ways:
- To facilitate the purposes set out in section (1) of this policy;
- In our management of your owners corporation;
- To otherwise respond to enquiries received from you;
- To process, confirm, fulfil and update you about your enquiries and to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us and or in our roles in connection with owners corporations;
- To perform authorised financial transactions with you;
- To communicate with you and provide you with information (whether by email, post or other means) about our products or services, where you have requested or consented to receiving this from us or where this provision is otherwise permitted under the Australian Privacy Principles;
- To notify you about changes to our services;
- To market to you, with your consent (implied or express);
- To receive and address feedback or complaints from you;
- To protect our legal interests and fulfil our regulatory obligations (if and to the extent necessary); and
- Where otherwise permitted or required at
You have the option to opt-out of receiving marketing communications from us. If you do not wish to continue to receive electronic marketing communications from us and/or selected third parties you should opt-out by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link in any email communications that we might send you.
4. Disclosure of Personal Information
We may disclose your personal information to any of our related group companies. They will only use it for the same purposes that we may under this policy.
We may provide personal information to third parties outside our group companies for limited purposes, such as to fulfil our role managing an owners corporation.
Those persons and business may include:
- Organisations who carry out credit, fraud and other security checks;
- Organisations who undertake marketing on our behalf;
- Couriers and delivery business (where we arrange to deliver goods to you or persons you have requested us to send deliveries to); and
- Third party software providers who store details of customer accounts for us or who provide other IT
We may also disclose your personal information to third parties outside our group of companies:
- Where we have your express permission to do so;
- Where it can reasonably be inferred from the circumstances that you consent to the disclosure to the third parties;
- For the purposes for which collected as referred to in (1) above;
- Where required under the Owners Corporation Act 2006 and or to ASIC;
- Where we have to disclose your personal information to third parties in order that we can provide management services to you/ your owners corporation (e.g. a contractor to the owners corporation that provides maintenance to common property adjoining your lot);
- To a prospective purchaser of your property who requires a certificate from us about the financial position of your lot;
- To allow inspection or provision of the Owners Corporation Register;
- If substantially all of our assets were acquired by a third party, in which case personal information which we hold about our customers may be one of the transferred assets (subject to the same constraints on use and disclosure as under this policy); and
- If have a legal right and/or we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal information including in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms and conditions; or to protect our rights, property, or safety or that of others .
We limit the information we provide to third parties to the information they need to help us provide or facilitate the provision of goods and services to you or your owners corporation. To the extent required by law, we deal with third parties that are required to meet the privacy standards required by law in handling your personal information, and use your personal information only for the purposes that we gave it to them.
5. Overseas transfer of personal information
We use overseas service providers located in the Philippines and Sri Lanka, for some of our administrative support. They have secure access to our database and engage directly with clients via email. They update owner information and also produce draft OC certificates and finalise and send them. They also undertake accounts related tasks and respond to fee notice enquiries.
Our agreements with them incorporate operating under and complying with the requirements Australian privacy law.
We do not otherwise disclose personal information to businesses located outside Australia.
6. Security of personal information
Your information is stored electronically in a secure database on our onsite servers. Access to the database is password protected. Best practice security measures are adhered to. All staff who are able to access your information are required to agree to our privacy policy.
We take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information, including internal and external security, restricting access to personal information to those who have a need to know, maintain technological products to prevent unauthorised computer access and regularly reviewing our technology to maintain security.
Once your personal information is no longer required the information is securely archived, forming historic records of the Owners Corporation or our company.
7. Questions and concerns and access to/ correction or updating of your personal information
You should ensure that the information we hold about you is correct and up to date. You can contact us to update your personal information or let us know if information is inaccurate or incomplete.
You have a right to access the personal information we hold about you, with some exceptions, to find out the information held and/or to correct it. To obtain a copy of the personal information we hold about you, please write to us at:
The Privacy Officer
The Knight Alliance
Postal Address
PO Box 678
Malvern Vic 3144
Or by email to : theknight@theknight.com.au
Please provide sufficient detail about the information in question to help us locate it. We will then use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine if there is a problem and take the necessary corrective action within a reasonable time.
We may not be able to provide you with access to personal information in some situations including where doing so may create a serious threat to life or the health of any individual, where it may constitute an unreasonable intrusion into the privacy of another, where your request is in our opinion frivolous or vexatious or where otherwise we are permitted at law not to provide same.
8. Changes to our privacy policy
We may modify, alter or otherwise update this privacy policy at any time. We will post revisions on our website. We encourage you to review this policy from time to time.