Privacy Policy

Townsville Accountants ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, and your rights — in plain English, not legal jargon.

We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APP) set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). If anything here ever conflicts with the APPs, the APPs win.

Who we are

Townsville Accountants is a free matching service operated by TownsvilleAccountants.com.au, based in Townsville, Queensland. We connect North Queensland residents and businesses with qualified, registered tax agents and accountants. We are not accountants ourselves and we do not provide accounting, tax, or financial advice.

What we collect

When you use our matching quiz, we collect:

• Identifying information: your name, email address, and phone number
• Location information: the suburb you tell us (optional)
• Quiz answers: your situation, business type, GST status, investment situation, communication preferences, software preferences, and budget tier
• Free text: any notes you choose to add
• Technical data: your IP address, browser type, and pages visited, collected automatically via our hosting provider for security and analytics purposes

We do not collect: your tax file number, financial account numbers, credit card details, date of birth, government identifiers, or any sensitive information as defined by the Privacy Act.

Why we collect it

We use your information for one purpose: to match you with a suitable Townsville accountant and pass your details to them so they can contact you.

We also use technical data (in aggregate, not individually) to improve the site, fix bugs, and understand which questions in the quiz are working or confusing.

Who we share it with

We share your information with three categories of recipients:

1. The accountant we match you with. This is the entire point of the service — by submitting the quiz you understand and consent that your details (name, email, phone, suburb, notes, and your quiz answers) will be passed to one local accountant for the purpose of providing you a quote or consultation. We match you with one accountant at a time.
2. Service providers we use to operate the site. Specifically: Web3Forms (which processes your quiz submission and delivers it to us by email) and Cloudflare (which hosts the website and handles security). These providers process data on our behalf and are bound by their own privacy obligations.
3. Authorities, if legally required. If served with a valid court order, subpoena, or other legal demand, we comply with the law.

We do not sell your information to anyone, ever. We do not share your information with marketers, data brokers, or anyone other than the categories above.

How long we keep it

We retain your quiz submission for as long as we need it to operate the service, plus a reasonable period for record-keeping — typically up to 24 months. After that we delete or de-identify it. You can request earlier deletion at any time (see "Your rights" below).

Note that the accountant we matched you with becomes the controller of your information from the moment we pass it to them. Their retention practices are governed by their own privacy policy and their professional record-keeping obligations as a registered tax agent.

Cookies and tracking

Our site uses minimal cookies, primarily for the website to function and for basic analytics (counting visits, understanding which pages are popular). We don't use advertising trackers, social media pixels, or third-party retargeting cookies. If we add these in future we'll update this policy and tell you.

Where your data is stored

Our website is hosted on Cloudflare's global network. Form submissions are processed by Web3Forms. Both providers may store data on servers located outside Australia (typically in the United States and Europe). They are bound by data protection obligations in those jurisdictions and we have selected them based on their security and privacy practices.

Your rights

Under the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Correct anything that is inaccurate or out of date
• Delete your information from our systems
• Withdraw consent — though note we cannot un-share information we have already passed to a matched accountant; you would need to contact them directly to request deletion of their copy
• Complain if you believe we have mishandled your information

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@townsvilleaccountants.com.au. We aim to respond within 5 business days.

Security

We protect your information using reasonable technical and organisational measures. The site uses HTTPS encryption end-to-end. Form data is transmitted directly to our secure form processor. Access to your information is limited to those who need it to operate the service or fulfil the match.

No system is perfectly secure, however. If we ever become aware of a data breach that affects your information, we will notify you as required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

Complaints

If you believe we have breached your privacy rights, please contact us first at info@townsvilleaccountants.com.au so we can try to resolve it. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au or call 1300 363 992.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect when it changed. Material changes will be highlighted, and where required by law we will seek fresh consent.

Contact us

Questions about privacy? Email info@townsvilleaccountants.com.au. We aim to respond within 5 business days.