Effective 1 November 2026

Launch Accounting Services (ABN [insert ABN]) (we, us, our) is an accounting and tax agent practice at 45 Marlene Street, Bellmere QLD 4510. We are registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (Tax Agent Registration No. 26279112) and enrolled with AUSTRAC as a reporting entity under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).

This policy explains how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information, and how you can access or correct it or make a complaint. We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). Because we are an AML/CTF reporting entity, the small business exemption in the Privacy Act does not apply to us.

1. What personal information we collect

The kinds of personal information we collect depend on the services you ask us to provide. They may include:

• identity and contact details: name, date of birth, address, email, phone number, occupation
• government identifiers: tax file numbers, ABNs, director identification numbers, and identity document details (driver licence, passport, Medicare card) collected for identity verification
• financial information: income, expenses, assets, liabilities, bank account details, superannuation, insurance, loans and investments
• business information: ownership, beneficial owners, employees, payroll and related entities
• information about family members and associates where it is relevant to your tax or financial affairs
• records of our dealings with you, including correspondence, file notes and advice

Tax file numbers are collected and handled in accordance with the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015 and are used only for the purposes allowed by taxation, superannuation and personal assistance law.

2. How we collect it

We collect personal information directly from you, from your authorised representatives, and from third parties where you have consented or the law allows, including the Australian Taxation Office (through the tax agent portal and pre-fill data), ASIC, your bank or financial institution (including through the Consumer Data Right where you nominate us as a trusted adviser), your previous accountant, your employer, superannuation funds, and identity verification and document verification services.

If you give us personal information about another person (for example a spouse, employee or beneficiary), you must be authorised to do so and must tell that person that you have given us their information and that this policy applies.

3. Why we collect, hold and use it

We collect, hold and use personal information to:

• provide accounting, taxation, bookkeeping, payroll, advisory and related services you have engaged us for
• lodge returns, statements and forms with the ATO, ASIC and other agencies on your behalf
• verify your identity and meet our customer due diligence, record-keeping and reporting obligations under the AML/CTF Act
• meet our obligations under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009, the Code of Professional Conduct and professional standards
• communicate with you, manage our relationship, invoice you and collect payment
• send you information about tax changes, deadlines and services we think are relevant to you (you can opt out at any time)
• comply with the law and respond to lawful requests from regulators, courts and government agencies

If you do not provide the personal information we ask for, we may not be able to provide the service, or may be required by law to decline or stop acting for you.

4. Who we disclose it to

We disclose personal information only where it is needed to provide our services or where the law requires or permits it. Recipients may include:

• the Australian Taxation Office, ASIC, AUSTRAC, the Tax Practitioners Board and other government agencies
• your bank, financier, financial planner, solicitor or other adviser, where you ask us to or consent
• auditors (including SMSF auditors), actuaries, valuers and other specialists engaged for your work
• identity verification providers used for AML/CTF customer due diligence
• the software and cloud service providers listed in section 6
• our professional body, the Institute of Public Accountants, for quality review purposes
• our professional indemnity insurer and legal advisers where a claim or dispute arises
• debt collection agencies where fees remain unpaid

We do not sell personal information and we do not disclose it for another organisation's marketing.

Our duty of confidentiality under the Code of Professional Conduct and APES 110 applies alongside this policy. Where the law requires us to report a matter to the ATO, AUSTRAC or another authority (for example under the AML/CTF Act, the Code of Professional Conduct or the NOCLAR provisions of APES 110), that disclosure is not a breach of this policy.

5. Use of artificial intelligence

We use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help us work efficiently and accurately. This includes AI features built into the software listed in section 6 and the use of Claude, an AI assistant provided by Anthropic, to assist with analysis, calculations, drafting, research and review.

When we use AI tools, personal and financial information about you may be processed by the tool, including on servers located outside Australia. We configure our AI tools so that our data is not used to train the provider's models. A qualified member of our team reviews all AI-assisted work before it is relied on or provided to you, and we remain responsible for the accuracy of everything we provide.

We do not use AI to make decisions about you without human review. If any part of our work that affects you has been assisted by AI, you can ask us to explain how it was used and to have the matter reviewed by a person, and we will do so. If we introduce a new automated process that uses your personal information, we will tell you before it applies to you.

If you do not want your information processed by AI tools, please tell us in writing. We will discuss whether we can provide the service without them and any effect on cost or timing.

6. Software, cloud services and overseas disclosure

We store and process client information using the following cloud services. Each provider holds data on its own infrastructure, and some of that infrastructure is outside Australia. Where personal information is disclosed to an overseas recipient, Australian Privacy Principle 8 applies and we take reasonable steps to ensure the recipient handles it in a way that is consistent with the APPs, or we rely on your consent to the overseas disclosure given in our engagement terms.

Hosting locations are as published by each provider at the date of this policy and may change. We review this list when we change providers and at least annually. We do not currently use offshore staff or outsourced service providers. If we engage any in future we will update this policy and tell affected clients in writing before their information is provided to the provider.

7. How we keep it secure

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. These include password and multi-factor authentication on all systems, encrypted cloud storage, restricted access to client files, secure client portals for exchanging documents rather than email attachments where practical, and staff confidentiality obligations. No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted over the internet.

If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

8. How long we keep it

We keep records of the tax agent services we provide for at least five years after the service is provided, as required by the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024, and records required under the AML/CTF Act for at least seven years. We keep other personal information for as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected or as the law requires, after which we take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it. Working papers and files we create remain our property and are retained under our record-keeping practices.

9. Access and correction

You may ask to access the personal information we hold about you or ask us to correct it. Contact our Privacy Officer using the details below. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before releasing information, and in limited circumstances allowed by the Privacy Act we may refuse access, in which case we will tell you why. We do not charge for a request to correct information; we may charge a reasonable fee for the cost of providing access to a large volume of records.

10. Complaints

If you believe we have mishandled your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer in writing. We will acknowledge your complaint within 7 days, investigate it and respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992. Complaints about our tax agent services can also be made to the Tax Practitioners Board at www.tpb.gov.au/complaints and to the Institute of Public Accountants.

11. Website and marketing

Our website may collect standard analytics information such as IP address, browser type and pages visited. This is not used to identify you. If you receive marketing or tax update emails from us, you can unsubscribe at any time using the link in the email or by contacting us.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is published on our website at launchacc.com.au and is available from us on request. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.

13. Contact us

Privacy Officer: Justin Owttrim

Launch Accounting Services

Email: hello@launchacc.com.au

Phone: 07 5221 3454