Privacy Policy
Stary Norton Halphen & Galbally
Last updated: 31 August 2026
Stary Norton Halphen & Galbally respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information we collect and hold.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, store and protect personal information when you contact us, engage our legal services, use our website at www.starylaw.com, or otherwise interact with us.
We handle personal information in accordance with applicable Australian privacy laws, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), where they apply to us.
This Privacy Policy should also be read together with our professional obligations concerning client confidentiality and legal professional privilege.
What is personal information?
Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
Depending on your dealings with us, the personal information we may collect includes:
your name;
address;
telephone number;
email address;
date of birth;
identification information;
employment or professional information;
information about your legal matter;
information about charges, allegations, investigations, court proceedings or other legal issues;
information about other people relevant to your legal matter;
information contained in documents or correspondence you provide to us;
billing and payment information;
information about your communications and interactions with us; and
information relating to your use of our website.
Some information we collect in connection with criminal legal matters may constitute sensitive information under Australian privacy law. This can include information about criminal records or alleged criminal activity, health information and other categories of sensitive information defined by law.
We take a data-minimisation approach and seek to collect only information that is reasonably necessary for our functions and activities.
How we collect personal information
We may collect personal information in a number of ways, including when you:
contact us by telephone;
send us an email;
complete an online enquiry or contact form;
attend a consultation;
provide information or documents to us in connection with a legal matter;
engage us to provide legal services;
communicate with our lawyers or staff; or
use or interact with our website.
We may also collect personal information from third parties where this is reasonably necessary for our functions or activities, or where permitted or required by law.
Depending on the circumstances of a legal matter, information may be received from courts, police, prosecution agencies, government bodies, other lawyers, barristers, experts, witnesses, family members or other people involved in the matter.
Where practicable, we will collect personal information directly from you.
Website enquiries
Our website allows prospective and existing clients and other people to contact us and provide information about their circumstances.
If you submit an enquiry through our website, the information you provide may include details about your legal matter, including information concerning allegations, charges, investigations, court proceedings or other personal circumstances.
We ask that you only provide information that is reasonably necessary for us to understand and respond to your enquiry.
Your enquiry will be handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy, our professional confidentiality obligations and applicable law.
Submitting an enquiry through our website does not, by itself, establish a solicitor-client relationship or mean that Stary Norton Halphen & Galbally has agreed to act for you.
Why we collect personal information
We may collect, hold, use and disclose personal information for purposes including:
responding to enquiries;
assessing whether we can assist you;
providing legal advice and legal services;
communicating with clients and prospective clients;
preparing and conducting legal matters;
representing clients in courts and other proceedings;
communicating with courts, police, prosecution agencies, government bodies, experts, barristers, other lawyers and other relevant parties where necessary for a legal matter;
managing our relationship with clients;
billing, invoicing and receiving payment;
maintaining appropriate business and professional records;
complying with our legal and professional obligations;
managing our business and operations;
maintaining the security and functionality of our website and information systems;
improving our website and services; and
measuring the effectiveness of our advertising and marketing.
We will not use or disclose personal information for a purpose unrelated to the purpose for which it was collected unless permitted or required by law or otherwise with your consent where consent is required.
Sensitive information
Because we practise in criminal law, we may need to collect sensitive information in the course of providing legal services.
This may include information relating to:
criminal records or alleged criminal activity;
health or medical circumstances;
family circumstances; and
other matters falling within the definition of sensitive information under applicable law.
We only collect sensitive information where it is reasonably necessary for our functions or activities and where collection is permitted under applicable law.
Where consent is required for the collection of sensitive information, we will obtain consent in accordance with applicable law unless an exception applies.
Use and disclosure of personal information
We may use or disclose personal information where reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or where permitted or required by law.
Depending on the circumstances, this may include disclosure to:
courts and tribunals;
police and prosecution agencies;
government departments and agencies;
other lawyers and legal representatives;
barristers;
experts, consultants and other professional advisers;
investigators and other service providers assisting with a legal matter;
people involved in or connected with a legal matter where disclosure is authorised or otherwise permitted;
technology, hosting, communications and information-management service providers;
payment and financial service providers;
insurers and professional advisers where appropriate; and
other parties where disclosure is required or authorised by law.
We do not sell personal information.
Where we engage third parties to provide services involving personal information, we take reasonable steps to ensure that those providers handle information appropriately and consistently with our obligations.
Professional confidentiality and legal professional privilege
Our lawyers owe professional duties of confidentiality to clients.
These duties are separate from and may provide additional protection to the privacy protections described in this Privacy Policy.
Information relating to a legal matter may also be subject to legal professional privilege or other legal restrictions on disclosure.
The scope and application of confidentiality and privilege depend on the circumstances of each matter and applicable law.
Overseas disclosure and storage
Some of the third-party service providers we use may store or process personal information outside Australia.
Where applicable, we take reasonable steps to ensure that overseas disclosures of personal information are made in accordance with our obligations under Australian privacy law.
Website analytics, cookies and tracking technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies on our website to operate and secure the website, understand how visitors use our website, improve website performance and measure the effectiveness of our advertising.
We use services including Google Analytics, Google Ads, Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Clarity and Squarespace Analytics for these purposes. These services may collect information about your use of our website, such as your device and browser information, pages visited, interactions with the website and other technical or usage information.
We take reasonable steps to configure these technologies to minimise the collection of personal information and to prevent sensitive information submitted through our enquiry forms from being collected by analytics or advertising services.
Where consent is required by applicable law, we will seek consent before using non-essential cookies or tracking technologies.
You can also manage or disable cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality or performance of some parts of our website.
Further information about how Google handles information collected through websites and apps is available in the Google Privacy Policy.
Information submitted through legal enquiry forms
Our website contains forms through which prospective and existing clients may provide personal information about legal matters.
We recognise that information submitted through these forms may be highly sensitive.
We do not intentionally configure our analytics, advertising or behavioural-analysis services to collect the substantive details of a person's legal matter through these forms.
We take reasonable steps to configure website tracking technologies so that information entered into enquiry forms, including sensitive information, is appropriately excluded or masked where supported by the relevant technology.
In particular, Microsoft Clarity is configured to mask information entered into form fields, including email addresses and numbers.
You should nevertheless only provide information that is reasonably necessary for us to respond to your enquiry.
Email and electronic communications
We use email to communicate with clients, prospective clients and other people in connection with our business and legal services.
Our firm's email services are provided through technology associated with Squarespace.
Emails and associated information may be stored or processed using infrastructure operated by Squarespace or its service providers.
We take reasonable steps to protect information communicated by email.
However, email is not a completely secure form of communication. You should consider this when sending sensitive information.
Direct marketing
We may use personal information to communicate with you about our services, legal updates, publications, events or other information where permitted by law.
Where we send direct marketing communications, you may opt out by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in the communication or by contacting us.
We will not send direct marketing communications where we are prohibited from doing so.
Anonymity and pseudonymity
Where lawful and practicable, you may deal with us anonymously or using a pseudonym.
However, this may not be practicable where we need to identify you to provide legal services, respond to an enquiry, assess whether we can act, comply with legal or professional obligations, or otherwise perform our functions.
For example, we may need to identify a prospective client to conduct appropriate conflict checks before accepting instructions.
Unsolicited personal information
If we receive personal information that we did not solicit, we will determine whether we could have collected that information lawfully under the Australian Privacy Principles.
Where required by law, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify unsolicited personal information that we could not have lawfully collected.
Quality and accuracy of personal information
We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up to date to the extent reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.
If you become aware that information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, you may ask us to correct it.
Security of personal information
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Depending on the circumstances, these measures may include appropriate access controls, secure information systems, authentication controls, staff confidentiality obligations, secure communication and document-management processes, physical security measures and other technical and organisational safeguards.
No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure.
Data breaches
We take reasonable steps to prevent and respond to data breaches involving personal information.
If we become aware of a suspected or actual data breach, we will assess the incident and take appropriate steps to contain, investigate and remediate it.
Where the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme applies and an eligible data breach occurs, we will comply with our notification obligations under the Privacy Act, including notifying affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner where required.
How long we retain personal information
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it is held, including to:
provide legal services;
comply with legal and professional obligations;
maintain appropriate business and professional records;
resolve disputes; and
establish, exercise or defend legal rights.
Where personal information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to securely destroy or de-identify it, subject to any legal, professional or other obligations requiring us to retain it.
Access to personal information
You may request access to personal information we hold about you, subject to any exceptions that apply under law.
We will deal with requests for access in accordance with applicable privacy law.
We may need to verify your identity before responding to an access request.
In some circumstances, access may be refused or limited where permitted or required by law, including where legal professional privilege, confidentiality, another person's privacy, legal proceedings, law enforcement or other legal exceptions apply.
Correction of personal information
You may ask us to correct personal information we hold about you if you believe that it is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date, irrelevant or misleading.
We will take reasonable steps to correct information where appropriate.
If we do not agree to make a requested correction, we will provide reasons where required by law and, where appropriate, note the requested correction.
Privacy complaints
If you believe that we have handled your personal information inappropriately, you may make a privacy complaint to us.
Please contact us using the details below and provide sufficient information for us to understand and investigate your concern.
We will investigate and respond to your complaint within a reasonable period.
You will not be charged for making a privacy complaint.
If you are not satisfied with our response, or you are unable to resolve your complaint with us, you may be able to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Information about making a privacy complaint is available on the OAIC website.
Third-party websites
Our website may contain links to websites operated by third parties.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of third-party websites.
You should review the privacy policy of any third-party website before providing personal information to it.
Children
Our website is not specifically directed towards children.
If you provide personal information about a child to us in connection with a legal matter, we will handle that information in accordance with our legal and professional obligations and applicable privacy law.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our information-handling practices, technology used on our website, our services, our service providers or applicable legal requirements.
The current version of this Privacy Policy will be published on our website and will include the date it was last updated.
We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically.
Contact us
If you have a question about this Privacy Policy, wish to request access to or correction of personal information, or wish to make a privacy complaint, please contact us.
Stary Norton Halphen & Galbally
Melbourne Head Office
Level 12, 460 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: (03) 8622 8200
Email: city@starylaw.com
Ringwood Office
Suite 4/45–51 Ringwood Street
Ringwood VIC 3134
Phone: (03) 8622 8200
Email: ringwood@starylaw.com
Sunshine Office
2/5 Devonshire Road
Sunshine VIC 3020
Phone: (03) 8622 8200
Email: sunshine@starylaw.com
For urgent legal matters, please call (03) 8622 8200.