Privacy Policy

1. About this policy

Kharel Law Group Pty Ltd (Kharel Law Group, we, us or our) is an Australian private company and the corporate entity behind legal and community-facing brands including Emigrate Lawyers, eFamily Lawyers, Kharel Lawyers and Nepali Lawyer Australia.

We respect privacy and are committed to handling personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles and our professional duties, including duties of confidentiality and legal professional privilege where applicable.

This policy applies to personal information handled through our websites, enquiries, consultations, legal services, recruitment, events and other dealings with us. A particular practice or service may also provide a collection notice explaining how information will be handled in a specific context.

2. Information we collect

The information we collect depends on how you interact with us. It may include:

• identity, contact and demographic information;
• immigration status, travel, citizenship, family, employment and education information;
• information about legal matters, disputes, court or tribunal proceedings and communications;
• financial, billing, transaction and identity-verification information;
• information provided in job applications, referrals, surveys, events or mailing-list registrations;
• website and device information, including IP address, browser type, access times, pages viewed and referral sources; and
• sensitive information where relevant and lawful, such as health information, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, political opinions, criminal records or information about family violence.

If you provide information about another person, you should have authority to do so and, where appropriate, make them aware of this policy.

3. How we collect and hold information

We usually collect information directly from you through forms, email, telephone, video meetings, consultations, documents, portals and correspondence. We may also collect information from authorised representatives, family members, referrers, employers, courts and tribunals, government agencies, experts, service providers, counterparties and publicly available sources.

We hold information in electronic systems and, where necessary, physical files. Legal matter information may be stored in document-management, practice-management, email, communications, payment and cloud platforms used to operate our practices.

4. Why we use personal information

We may collect, hold, use and disclose personal information to:

• respond to enquiries, conduct conflict checks and assess whether we can act;
• provide legal services, communicate with clients and manage matters;
• prepare and lodge applications, submissions, evidence and correspondence;
• deal with courts, tribunals, government bodies, other parties and professional advisers;
• manage billing, payments, trust-account obligations, insurance, risk and record keeping;
• comply with legal, regulatory and professional obligations;
• recruit and manage personnel and service providers;
• operate, secure, analyse and improve our websites and services; and
• send updates or marketing where you have consented or where otherwise permitted by law.

Where practicable, you may deal with us anonymously or using a pseudonym. This will generally not be practicable where we need to verify identity, check conflicts, give legal advice or act in a matter.

5. Disclosure

We do not sell personal information. We may disclose information where reasonably necessary to:

• our personnel and authorised contractors across the Kharel Law Group brands;
• barristers, experts, interpreters, translators, agents and other professional advisers;
• courts, tribunals, government departments, regulators, law-enforcement bodies and counterparties;
• technology, cloud, communications, storage, payment, identity-verification, marketing, audit and other operational service providers;
• insurers, auditors and professional advisers; or
• another person where you authorise us, or where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

Legal professional privilege and professional confidentiality obligations may restrict how particular information can be used or disclosed.

Overseas recipients

Some authorised personnel and service providers may be located outside Australia, including in Nepal, and cloud or technology providers may process or store information in other countries. The countries involved can change depending on the service used and the circumstances of a matter. Where required, we take reasonable steps to ensure overseas recipients handle personal information consistently with applicable Australian privacy requirements.

6. Security and retention

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. No internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

We retain information for as long as reasonably required for legal services, professional obligations, risk management and applicable record-retention requirements. When information is no longer required, we take reasonable steps to destroy it or de-identify it, subject to lawful retention obligations and archival needs.

7. Websites, cookies and external links

Our websites may use cookies, analytics and similar technologies to operate securely, remember preferences, understand traffic and improve performance. Browser settings can be used to restrict cookies, although parts of a website may then function differently.

Our websites contain links to external websites and services. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, and we are not responsible for how they handle information.

8. Direct marketing

We may send legal updates, invitations or information about our services where permitted by law. You can opt out at any time by using an unsubscribe link or contacting us. We may still send service and matter-related communications that are not marketing.

9. Access and correction

You may request access to personal information we hold about you or ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. We may need to verify your identity. Applicable law may permit or require us to refuse access in some circumstances; if so, we will generally explain the basis where lawful.

10. Privacy questions and complaints

Please provide enough information for us to understand and respond to your request or complaint. We aim to acknowledge privacy complaints promptly and provide a substantive response within a reasonable period, usually within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may be able to complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy to reflect changes to law, technology or our practices. The current version and its last-updated date will be published on this page.