DWAENTERTAINMENTLAWYERS

Legal

Privacy policy

Last updated October 2026

David Whealy & Associates Pty Ltd (ABN 29 601 543 971), trading as DWA Entertainment Lawyers (we, us, our), is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles, and how our obligations as a law practice affect that.

It applies to our clients and prospective clients, other people involved in our clients’ matters, our suppliers and contacts, job applicants, and visitors to this website.

1. The information we collect

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

  • your name, title, organisation and contact details
  • identity documents and information we need to verify who you are, and, for companies and trusts, information about directors, beneficial owners and controllers
  • information about your matter, which often includes personal information about other people such as co-producers, cast and crew, counterparties and their representatives
  • billing, payment and trust account details
  • information you give us when you apply for a job or work with us
  • technical information when you visit this website (see section 10)

We collect sensitive information, such as health information or information about criminal records, only where it is reasonably necessary for your matter and you consent, or where the law otherwise permits or requires it.

2. How we collect it

We collect most information directly from you, when you contact us, engage us or provide documents. We also collect information from other sources where that is reasonably necessary, including other parties to a matter and their lawyers or agents, financiers, broadcasters and distributors, accountants and other advisers, and public sources such as ASIC and other registers, court records, industry databases and social media.

If you give us personal information about someone else, please make sure they know you are doing so and why, or that you are otherwise entitled to provide it.

3. Why we collect, use and disclose it

We collect, use and disclose personal information to:

  • provide legal services and advice, and executive producing services
  • check for conflicts of interest before and during an engagement
  • verify your identity where needed
  • manage billing, payments and trust money
  • meet our professional, regulatory, insurance and record-keeping obligations
  • manage and improve our practice, including our IT systems and this website
  • send you legal updates, articles and invitations, where you have not opted out
  • consider job applications

We will not use or disclose your information for an unrelated purpose unless you consent or the law permits or requires it.

4. Confidentiality and legal professional privilege

Information about your matter is subject to our professional duty of confidentiality under the Australian Solicitors’ Conduct Rules and, where it applies, legal professional privilege. We disclose it only as necessary to act for you, with your consent, or where the law requires or permits.

Please do not send us confidential information until we have confirmed that we are able to act for you. Until then, information you send us may not be protected as confidential, and we may be unable to act for you if we already act for another party to the same matter.

5. Who we disclose it to

Depending on your matter, we may disclose personal information to:

  • barristers, experts, consultants and other professionals we engage for you
  • other parties to your matter and their lawyers, agents and representatives
  • courts, tribunals, government agencies and screen funding bodies, such as Screen Australia, the Office for the Arts and the Australian Taxation Office
  • regulators, including the Law Society and the legal services commissioner, and law enforcement bodies where required by law
  • our professional indemnity insurers, auditors and advisers
  • our IT, cloud storage, email, document management, accounting and website service providers

We do not sell personal information.

6. Overseas disclosure

Some of our service providers, including cloud storage, email and website hosting providers, may store or process information outside Australia, including in the United States and Europe. Where a matter involves international parties, such as co-producers, financiers, sales agents, distributors or overseas counsel, we may disclose information to them in the countries relevant to your matter. We take reasonable steps to ensure overseas recipients handle personal information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles, or we disclose it with your consent or as otherwise permitted by law.

7. Anonymity

You can make a general enquiry without identifying yourself or by using a pseudonym. We cannot act for you without knowing who you are, completing conflict checks and, where required, verifying your identity.

8. Direct marketing

We may send you legal updates, articles and invitations. Every message includes a way to opt out, and you can also opt out at any time by emailing info@dwalaw.com.au. We do not share your details with third parties for their marketing.

9. This website

This website is hosted by Wix. Like most websites, our hosting provider may record technical information such as your IP address, browser and device type, and the pages you visit, and may use cookies to keep the site working. Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which receives your IP address. You can set your browser to refuse cookies, though parts of the site may not work as intended.

The enquiry form on our contact page does not store your information on this website. It opens an email in your own email program, addressed to us, which you choose whether to send.

This website links to other websites. We are not responsible for their privacy practices.

10. Security and retention

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. Information is held in electronic systems with access controls and in secure physical storage. Email and other internet communications are not completely secure, so please consider this before sending sensitive information.

We keep client files and records for as long as required by law and our professional obligations, generally at least seven years after a matter ends. After that, we securely destroy or de-identify information we no longer need, subject to any legal hold or our right to retain documents until our fees are paid.

11. Data breaches

If a data breach is likely to result in serious harm to the people affected, we will notify them and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

12. Access and correction

You can ask for access to the personal information we hold about you, or ask us to correct it, by emailing info@dwalaw.com.au. There is no charge to make a request, though we may charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of providing access. We will respond within 30 days.

We may refuse access where the law allows, for example where information is subject to legal professional privilege or our duty of confidentiality to another client, relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings, or where giving access would unreasonably affect the privacy of others. If we refuse, we will tell you why and how to complain.

13. Complaints

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact our privacy officer at info@dwalaw.com.au. We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and aim to respond within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on 1300 363 992 or at oaic.gov.au.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time, including to reflect changes in the law. The current version is always available on this page.