REMAX CONSULTANTS
Privacy Policy
Last updated: 09/07/2026 | Version 1
REMAX Consultants (“we”, “us”, “our”, “the Agency”) provides real estate sales and property management services across South East Queensland. We are committed to protecting the privacy of our clients, tenants, landlords, prospective buyers and sellers, and other individuals we deal with.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information, including personal information we collect for the purposes of our obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) (AML/CTF Act). It is written to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).
Note for internal use: from 1 July 2026, real estate agents became “Tranche 2” reporting entities under the AML/CTF Act. Even though REMAX Consultants would otherwise qualify as a small business (turnover under $3 million), the small business exemption from the Privacy Act does not apply to personal information handled for AML/CTF purposes. This policy should be published on the Agency website before AUSTRAC enrolment (deadline 29 July 2026) and reviewed once Ajay and Darsh have confirmed exactly which service lines (e.g. sales versus property management) constitute “designated services” for AML/CTF purposes, as this affects the scope of section 5 below.
1. Why this policy applies to a small business
Ordinarily, businesses with an annual turnover of $3 million or less are exempt from the Privacy Act. However, once a business becomes a “reporting entity” under the AML/CTF Act — as real estate agents now are, following the Tranche 2 reforms commencing 1 July 2026 — it must comply with the Privacy Act in relation to personal information it collects, uses, holds or discloses for AML/CTF purposes, regardless of turnover. REMAX Consultants applies the standards in this policy across our business as good practice, not only where strictly required.
2. What personal information we collect
Depending on the service we are providing, we may collect:
• Name, date of birth, contact details (address, phone, email)
• Identification details, such as driver’s licence or passport number, and the type of document used to verify identity
• Property and tenancy information, including lease details, rental history and bond information
• Financial information relevant to a transaction or tenancy, such as bank account details for rent or settlement payments, and employment or income information for reference checks
• Information about beneficial ownership, source of funds or source of wealth, where this is required for customer due diligence under the AML/CTF Act
• Information provided by third parties, such as referees, previous agents, financial institutions or identity verification services
We do not seek to collect sensitive information (such as health information) unless it is volunteered to us and reasonably necessary for the service being provided — for example, information relevant to a reasonable adjustment for a tenant.
3. How we collect personal information
We generally collect personal information directly from you — for example, through enquiry forms, tenancy applications, contracts of sale, phone calls, email correspondence, or in person. We may also collect information from property listing portals, referees, other agents, solicitors and conveyancers involved in a transaction, and identity verification providers engaged to confirm your identity.
4. Why we collect, use and disclose personal information
We collect, use and hold personal information to:
• Provide real estate sales, leasing and property management services, including preparing contracts, tenancy agreements and marketing property listings
• Communicate with clients, tenants, landlords and other parties to a transaction or tenancy
• Conduct reference and background checks relevant to a tenancy or sale
• Comply with our legal obligations, including under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld) and other property legislation
• Meet our obligations under the AML/CTF Act where we are providing a designated service (see section 5)
We collect only the personal information that is reasonably necessary for these purposes. We do not use AML/CTF customer due diligence information for unrelated marketing purposes.
5. Personal information collected for AML/CTF purposes
Where REMAX Consultants provides a “designated service” under the AML/CTF Act — broadly, services connected with facilitating the buying or selling of real property — we are required to carry out customer due diligence (CDD) before, or as soon as practicable after, providing that service. This may include verifying your identity and, where relevant, understanding the source of funds involved in a transaction.
5.1 What we collect for AML/CTF purposes
• Your full name, date of birth and residential address
• Identity document details, such as the type of document, its number and expiry date
• The steps we took to verify your identity and the outcome of that verification
• Where relevant to assessed risk, information about the source of funds or beneficial ownership of an entity involved in a transaction
5.2 We do not keep copies of your identity documents
Consistent with OAIC and AUSTRAC guidance, we do not retain full copies of identity documents (such as scanned passports or driver’s licences) once your identity has been verified. Instead, we keep a record of the type of document sighted, the verification steps taken, and the outcome of that verification, which satisfies our AML/CTF record-keeping obligations while minimising the personal information we hold.
5.3 Reporting to AUSTRAC
Where required by law, we may report information to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), including in relation to suspicious matters. In some circumstances, the law prohibits us from telling you, or anyone else, that a report has been made or that we suspect something unusual about a transaction (this is known as a “tipping off” restriction). This means we may not always be able to give you a separate collection notice at the time information is collected, where doing so would breach these restrictions.
5.4 Retention
We retain AML/CTF records for the period required by the AML/CTF Act and Rules, and securely destroy or de-identify personal information once it is no longer required for this or any other purpose for which it may lawfully be used or disclosed.
6. Who we may disclose personal information to
We may disclose personal information to:
• Other parties to a sale or tenancy, and their agents, solicitors or conveyancers
• Identity verification and reference-checking service providers we engage on our behalf
• AUSTRAC and other government or regulatory bodies, where required or authorised by law
• Trades and maintenance contractors, where necessary to arrange repairs at a property
• Our professional advisers, such as our accountant or lawyer
• The RE/MAX network, to the extent necessary to support the franchise relationship and brand-wide systems
6.1 Overseas disclosure
Some of the service providers we engage (for example, cloud-based property management or identity verification platforms) may store or process personal information outside Australia. Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps to ensure that any overseas recipient handles personal information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles, including through contractual protections.
7. Data quality and security
We take reasonable steps to keep personal information accurate, up to date and secure, including through restricted access to client and tenant files, secure storage of physical and electronic records, and staff training on privacy and AML/CTF obligations. We have a data breach response plan in place. If we experience a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm to an individual, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, except where doing so would be inconsistent with a secrecy provision of the AML/CTF Act (in which case we will notify to the extent the law permits).
8. Access and correction
You may request access to, or correction of, the personal information we hold about you by contacting us using the details in section 11. We will respond within a reasonable period. We may need to verify your identity before providing access. There may be circumstances where we are unable to grant access or make a correction — for example, where doing so would breach a tipping-off restriction under the AML/CTF Act — in which case we will explain our reasons.
9. Making a complaint
If you believe we have handled your personal information in a way that breaches this policy or the Australian Privacy Principles, please contact us using the details below. We will investigate and respond to your complaint within a reasonable time. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the OAIC at www.oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal obligations. The current version will always be available on our website.
11. Contact us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact:
REMAX Consultants
129 Browns Plains Rd, Browns Plains QLD 4118
0468 395 395
consultants@remax.com.au
remaxconsultants.com.au