Privacy Policy
Mortgage Advice Bureau Sydney (MAB Sydney)
Table of Contents
- Who are we?
- Our commitments to protect your privacy
- Personal information
- Cookies
- Why we collect your personal information
- How do we collect your personal information?
- Do we disclose your personal information?
- Credit-related information
- Notifiable matters
- Notifiable Data Breaches
- Direct marketing
- Updating your personal information
- Access and correction to your personal and credit information
- Using government identifiers
- Business without identifying you
- Sensitive information
- How safe and secure is your personal information that we hold?
- Complaints
- Further information
- Change in our privacy policy
Who We Are
‘We’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ refer to Decipher Finance Pty Ltd ACN 646 463 756 trading as Mortgage Advice Bureau Sydney (ABN: 85 646 463 756).
We are an Australian Finance Group (AFG) Australian Credit Representative (Credit Representative Number: 528396), authorised under Australian Credit Licence 389087.
Business Contact Details:
- Email: mabsyd@mabbroker.com.au
- Phone: 1300 MAB SYD (1300 622 793)
- Website: www.mortgageadvicebureausydney.com.au
- Office Address: North Sydney, NSW
Our commitments to protect your privacy
We understand how important it is to protect your personal information. This document sets out our privacy policy
commitment in respect of personal information we hold about you and what we do with that information.
We recognise that any personal information we collect about you will only be used for the purposes we have collected it or as allowed by law. It is important to us that you are confident that any personal information we hold about you will be treated in a way that ensures protection of your personal information.
Our commitment in respect of personal information is to abide by the Australian Privacy Principles for the protection of personal information, as set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act), the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2014 (Credit Reporting Code), the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 and any other relevant laws.
Business Contact Details:
- Email: mabsyd@mabbroker.com.au
- Phone: 1300 MAB SYD (1300 622 793)
- Website: www.mortgageadvicebureausydney.com.au
- Office Address: North Sydney, NSW
Personal Information
When we refer to personal information we mean information from which your identity is reasonably apparent. This
information may include information or an opinion about you.
The kinds of personal information we may collect about you include:
- Your name, date of birth, address, email address, phone number
- Account details, occupation, transaction history
- Identity verification information
- Any other information we need to identify you
Finance Applications
If you are applying for finance we may also collect:
- Ages and number of your dependents and cohabitants
- Length of time at your current address
- Employment details and proof of earnings and expenses
- Tax File Number or tax residency status
- Details of assets and liabilities
- Bank statements and financial records
- Information about any guarantors or co-borrowers
Online Information
When you visit our websites (www.mortgageadvicebureausydney.com.au, smsfpropertylending.expert) or use our online booking systems, we collect:
- Your location information
- IP address
- Mobile device and network information
- Any third party sites you access
- Booking and appointment information via Calendly
The personal information we collect and hold about you may include credit-related information.
Credit-related information means:
Credit information includes:
- Your identity
- The type, terms and maximum amount of credit provided to you
- When credit was provided and when it was repaid
- Repayment history information
- Default information (including overdue payments)
- Payment information
- New arrangement information
- Details of any serious credit infringements
- Court proceedings information
- Personal insolvency information
- Publicly available information
Credit eligibility information is credit reporting information supplied to us by a credit reporting body, and any information that we derive from it.
We use your credit-related information to assess your eligibility to be provided with finance. Usually, credit-related
information is exchanged between credit and finance providers and credit reporting bodies.
Additional Information Collection
- Payment information if you make purchases from or through us, or if we need to make payments to you
- Employment information if you apply for employment with us, including work history and referee details
- Professional information if you apply to become a finance broker or contractor with us
Why we collect your personal information
We collect personal information for the following purposes:
Primary Purposes
- Assessing your application for finance and managing that finance
- Establishing and verifying your identity in compliance with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism
- Financing legislation
- Contacting you about your finance application or existing finance
- Managing our risk and complying with our legal obligations
- Processing payments and managing financial transactions
Secondary Purposes
- Direct marketing and managing our relationship with you
- Providing you with information about products and services that may be of interest
- Improving our services and customer experience
- Conducting market research and analysis
- Managing referral partnerships with accountants, financial planners and other professionals
Employment and Contractor Purposes
If you apply to become a finance broker with us or apply for employment with us, we collect information about you to:
- Assess whether to appoint you
- Manage your relationship with us
- Meet our regulatory and compliance obligations
- Process payroll and employment benefits
Improvements in technology enable organisations like ours to collect and use information to get a more integrated view of our customers. From time to time we may offer you other products and services that align with your financial goals.
How do we collect your personal information?
Where reasonable and practical we will collect your personal information directly from you through:
- Our websites and online forms
- Telephone conversations
- Email correspondence
- Calendly appointment bookings (calendly.com/mab-sydney-booking)
- Face-to-face meetings
- Our secure client portal (BrokerEngine Finance Vault)
- Social media platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram)
Third-Party Collection
We may also collect information about you that is:
- Publicly available (such as from public registers or social media)
- Made available by third parties including:
- Credit reporting bodies (Equifax, Experian, Illion)
- Finance brokers and aggregators (Australian Finance Group)
- Employers and HR departments
- Accountants, financial planners, lawyers and other professional advisers
- Referees you have nominated
- Property valuers and surveyors
- Lenders and financial institutions
- Government agencies as required by law
Do we disclose your personal information?
We may disclose your personal information to:
Finance-Related Disclosures
- Existing or prospective lenders or other intermediaries in relation to your finance requirements
- Other guarantors, borrowers and other security providers (if more than one)
- Borrowers or prospective borrowers, including in relation to any credit you guarantee or propose to guarantee
- Australian Finance Group (AFG) as our aggregator
- Organisations involved in managing or administering your finance such as:
- Property valuers and surveyors
- Lenders mortgage insurers
- Settlement agents and conveyancers
- Lawyers and legal advisers
- Credit reporting bodies
Service Provider Disclosures
- Third party suppliers, including:
- Printing and postal services
- Call centres
- IT service providers and cloud storage providers
- Marketing platforms (ActiveCampaign)
- Appointment booking services (Calendly)
- Document management systems (BrokerEngine, SharePoint)
- Bank statement aggregation services (Cashdeck)
- Credit assessment tools (Quickli)
- Recovery firms and debt collectors
- Trade insurers
Professional Network Disclosures
- Businesses we have referral relationships with:
- Financial planners
- Accountants (including SMSF specialists)
- Property buyers’ agents
- Developers and builders
- Real estate agents
- Legal professionals
- Anybody who represents you, such as:
- Finance brokers
- Lawyers
- Guardians
- Persons holding power of attorney
- Accountants
Other Disclosures
- Our auditors, insurers, re-insurers and professional indemnity providers
- Claims related providers, such as assessors and investigators
- Anyone, where you have provided us consent
- Where we are required to do so by law, such as under:
- Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act 2006
- National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009
- Taxation laws
- Court orders, subpoenas or summons
- Organisations involved in our funding arrangements such as:
- Trustees
- Warehouse funders
- Investors
- Rating agencies
- Auditors or advisers
- Any entity that has an interest in our business
- Other financial institutions (for example to process a claim for mistaken payment)
- Organisations that provide products or services used or marketed by us
- Your current or previous employer, referees or identity verification services
- Government agencies and regulators including ASIC and AUSTRAC
Overseas Disclosures
We may disclose your personal information to overseas entities that provide support functions to us, including in:
- USA
- Canada
- Malaysia
- India
- Ireland
- United Kingdom
- Philippines
You may obtain more information about these entities by contacting us at mabsyd@mabbroker.com.au.
Privacy Protection
Prior to disclosing any of your personal information to another person or organisation, we will take all reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that:
- The person or organisation has a commitment to protecting your personal information at least equal to our
commitment, or - You have consented to us making the disclosure
Data Analytics
New technologies and data analytic software allows us to combine information we have about you and our other customers with data sources, such as third party websites or the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We are able to analyse this data to learn more about you and other customers, and how to improve our products and services we provide to you.
We may use this combined data to help other businesses better understand their customers, however we will not provide any personal information about you unless we are legally required to.
Credit-related information
We exchange credit-related information for the purposes of assessing your application for finance and managing that
finance. If you propose to be a guarantor, one of our checks may involve obtaining a credit report about you.
Storage and Security
The credit-related information we hold about you may be held by us in:
- Electronic form on our secure servers
- Paper form in secure storage facilities
- Cloud storage (Microsoft 365, SharePoint)
The cloud storage and IT servers may be located outside Australia, primarily in regions where Microsoft operates data
centres.
Information We Obtain
When we obtain credit eligibility information from a credit reporting body about you, we may also seek:
- Publicly available information
- Information about any serious credit infringement that you may have committed
- Court judgments and bankruptcy information
- Default information from other credit providers
Overseas Disclosures
We may disclose your credit-related information to overseas entities that provide support functions to us (including in
USA, Canada, Malaysia, India, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the Philippines). You may obtain more information
about these entities by contacting us.
If we disclose your credit-related information to entities that are located overseas, we ensure that appropriate data
handling and security arrangements are in place.
Credit Reporting Bodies
The credit reporting bodies we use are:
- Equifax Pty Ltd – equifax.com.au
- Experian Australia Credit Services Pty Ltd – experian.com.au
- Illion Australia Pty Ltd – illion.com.au
You can download a copy of their privacy policies from their respective websites.
Notifiable matters
The law requires us to advise you of ‘notifiable matters’ in relation to how we may use your credit-related information. You may request to have these notifiable matters (and this privacy policy) provided to you in an alternative form.
Exchange of Credit Information
We exchange your credit-related information with credit reporting bodies. We use the credit-related information that we exchange with credit reporting bodies to:
- Confirm your identity
- Assess your creditworthiness
- Assess your application for finance
- Manage your finance
- Comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Types of Information Exchanged
The information we may exchange with credit reporting bodies includes:
- Your identification details (name, date of birth, address, drivers licence details)
- What type of loans you have (home loans, investment loans, SMSF loans, personal loans)
- How much you have borrowed
- Whether or not you have met your loan payment obligations
- If you have committed a serious credit infringement (such as fraud)
- Applications for credit you have made
- Credit enquiries made about you
Default Reporting
If you fail to meet your payment obligations in relation to any finance that we have provided or arranged, or you have committed a serious credit infringement, then we may disclose this information to a credit reporting body.
Your Rights
You have the right to:
- Request access to the credit-related information that we hold about you
- Make a request for us to correct that credit-related information if needed (see the heading “Access and correction to your personal and credit-related information” below)
- Request that your credit-related information is not used for pre-screening credit offers
Pre-screening
Sometimes your credit-related information will be used by credit reporting bodies for the purposes of ‘pre-screening’
credit offers on the request of other credit providers. You can contact the credit reporting body at any time to request that your credit-related information is not used in this way.
Fraud Notification
You may contact the credit reporting body to advise them that you believe that you may have been a victim of fraud. For
a period of 21 days after the credit reporting body receives your notification that you have been a victim of fraud, the
credit reporting body must not use or disclose that credit-related information.
You can contact any of the following credit reporting bodies for more information:
- Equifax: equifax.com.au
- Illion: illion.com.au
- Experian: experian.com.au
Notifiable Data Breaches
The Privacy Act includes a Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme which requires us to notify you and the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) of certain data breaches and recommend steps you can take to limit the impacts of a breach (for example, a password change).
When We Notify
The NDB scheme requires us to notify about a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm to affected individuals.
There are exceptions where notification is not required. For example, where we have already taken appropriate remedial action that removes the risk of serious harm to any individuals.
Our Response Process
If we believe there has been a data breach that impacts your personal information and creates a likely risk of serious
harm, we will:
- Notify you and the OAIC as soon as practicable
- Keep in close contact with you about the nature of the breach
- Explain the steps we are taking to address the breach
- Advise you on what you can do to reduce the impacts to your privacy
- Provide ongoing support throughout the resolution process
Reporting a Suspected Breach
If you believe that any personal information we hold about you has been impacted by a data breach, you can contact us
immediately at:
- Email: mabsyd@mabbroker.com.au
- Phone: 1300 MAB SYD (1300 622 793)
Direct marketing
From time to time we may use your personal information to provide you with current information about:
- Finance offers you may find of interest
- Changes to our organisation
- New products or services being offered by us
- Educational content about property investment and SMSF lending
- Webinars and events
- Market updates and industry insights
- Services offered by companies with whom we are associated
Marketing Channels
We may contact you through:
- Email (including our monthly newsletter)
- SMS
- Phone calls
- Social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram)
- Direct mail
Opting Out
If you do not wish to receive marketing information, you may at any time decline to receive such information by:
- Email: mabsyd@mabbroker.com.au
- Using the unsubscribe function in any marketing email
- Replying ‘STOP’ to any marketing SMS
- Contacting us by phone on 1300 MAB SYD (1300 622 793)
We will not charge you for giving effect to your request and will take all reasonable steps to meet your request within a reasonable timeframe (typically within 5 business days).
Important: Even if you opt out of marketing communications, we will still contact you about:
- Your existing finance arrangements
- Important regulatory or compliance matters
- Service-related communications
- Responses to your enquiries
Finance-Related Disclosures
- Existing or prospective lenders or other intermediaries in relation to your finance requirements
- Other guarantors, borrowers and other security providers (if more than one)
- Borrowers or prospective borrowers, including in relation to any credit you guarantee or propose to guarantee
- Australian Finance Group (AFG) as our aggregator
- Organisations involved in managing or administering your finance such as:
- Property valuers and surveyors
- Lenders mortgage insurers
- Settlement agents and conveyancers
- Lawyers and legal advisers
- Credit reporting bodies
Updating your personal information
It is important to us that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and up to date. During the course of our relationship with you we may ask you to inform us if any of your personal information has changed.
How to Update Your Information
If you wish to make any changes to your personal information, you may contact us:
- Email: mabsyd@mabbroker.com.au
- Phone: 1300 MAB SYD (1300 622 793)
- In writing to: Mortgage Advice Bureau Sydney, North Sydney, NSW
Information You Should Update
Please notify us if there are changes to:
- Your contact details (address, phone, email)
- Your employment status or income
- Your financial circumstances
- Your dependants or family situation
- Your identification documents
We will generally rely on you to ensure the information we hold about you is accurate and complete. Keeping your
information current helps us:
- Provide better service
- Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements
- Identify refinancing opportunities
- Conduct annual reviews of your finance arrangements
Access and correction to your personal and credit information
We will provide you with access to the personal and credit-related information we hold about you. You may request access to any of the personal or credit-related information we hold about you at any time.
Requesting Access
To request access to your information, please contact us:
- Email: mabsyd@mabbroker.com.au
- Phone: 1300 MAB SYD (1300 622 793)
- In writing to: Mortgage Advice Bureau Sydney, North Sydney, NSW
Fees
We may charge a reasonable fee for our costs of retrieving and supplying the information to you. We will inform you of any applicable fees before processing your request.
When Access May Be Denied
There may be situations where we are not required to provide you with access to your personal or credit-related information, for example, if:
- The information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings
- Your request is vexatious
- The information is commercially sensitive
- Providing access would be unlawful
- Denying access is required or authorised by law
- Providing access would pose a serious threat to the life, health or safety of any individual
- Providing access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals
An explanation will be provided to you if we deny you access to the personal or credit-related information we hold about you.
Correcting Your Information
If any of the personal or credit-related information we hold about you is incorrect, inaccurate or out of date, you may request that we correct the information.
Our correction process:
- You submit a correction request
- We provide an initial response within 7 days
- We investigate your request (may involve consulting with other entities)
- We provide details about whether we have corrected your information within 30 days
If we refuse to correct personal or credit-related information we will:
- Provide you with our reasons for not correcting the information
- If you request, associate a statement with the information that you believe it is incorrect
Response Timeframes
Depending on the type of request that you make:
- Simple requests may be responded to immediately
- Complex requests will typically receive a response within 7 days of receiving your request
- We may need to contact other entities to properly investigate your request
Using government identifiers
When we collect government identifiers, such as your Tax File Number, we do not use or disclose this information other than as required by law.
We will never use a government identifier to identify you in our systems or communications.
Government Identifiers We May Collect
- Tax File Number (for SMSF lending and tax reporting purposes)
- Drivers Licence Number (for identity verification)
- Medicare Card Number (for identity verification)
- Passport Number (for identity verification and AML/CTF compliance)
These identifiers are collected and stored securely in accordance with:
- Privacy Act 1988
- Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006
- Taxation Administration Act 1953
- National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009
Business without identifying you
In most circumstances it will be necessary for us to identify you in order to successfully do business with you, however,
where it is lawful and practicable to do so, we will offer you the opportunity of doing business with us without providing
us with personal information.
Anonymous Interactions
You may interact with us anonymously or using a pseudonym when:
- Making general enquiries about interest rates
- Asking about current promotional offers
- Requesting information about our services
- Accessing general educational content on our website
- Downloading general information guides
When Identification Is Required
We will require you to identify yourself when:
- Applying for finance
- Requesting a loan assessment
- Booking an appointment with a broker
- Receiving personalised advice
- Accessing your existing finance arrangements
- Required by law (AML/CTF obligations)
Sensitive information
We will only collect sensitive information about you with your consent. Sensitive information is personal information that includes information relating to:
- Your racial or ethnic origin
- Political persuasion
- Memberships in trade or professional associations or trade unions
- Sexual preferences
- Criminal record
- Health information
- Biometric information
- Genetic information
How safe and secure is your personal information that we hold?
We take the security of your personal information seriously and take reasonable steps to protect it from:
- Misuse
- Interference
- Loss
- Unauthorised access
- Modification
- Disclosure
Security Measures
We protect your personal information through:
Physical Security:
- Secure office premises with restricted access
- Locked filing cabinets for paper records
- Secure document destruction processes
Electronic Security:
- Encrypted data transmission (SSL/TLS)
- Secure cloud storage (Microsoft 365, SharePoint)
- Multi-factor authentication for system access
- Regular security audits and updates
- Firewall protection
- Anti-virus and anti-malware software
- Secure backup systems
Operational Security:
- Staff training on privacy and security obligations
- Confidentiality agreements with all staff and contractors
- Access controls limiting who can view your information
- Regular review of security practices
- Secure file transfer protocols
- Password protection policies
Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as required by law or while it is necessary for the purposes for which it
was collected. This is typically:
- Finance records: 7 years after the finance is repaid or settled
- Employment records: 7 years after employment ends
- Marketing records: Until you opt out or the information is no longer current
When personal information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it.
Third-Party Systems
We use reputable third-party systems that have appropriate security measures, including:
- BrokerEngine (loan processing)
- ActiveCampaign (CRM and marketing)
- Calendly (appointment booking)
- Microsoft 365 (document storage and communication)
- Cashdeck (bank statement aggregation)
- Quickli (loan servicing assessment)
All third-party providers are required to maintain appropriate security standards and are bound by confidentiality
obligations.
Complaints
If you are dissatisfied with how we have dealt with your personal or credit-related information, or you have a complaint
about our compliance with the Privacy Act and the Credit Reporting Code, you have the right to make a complaint.
Internal Complaints Process
Step 1: Contact Us You may contact us by:
- Email: mabsyd@mabbroker.com.au
- Phone: 1300 MAB SYD (1300 622 793)
- Mail: Mortgage Advice Bureau Sydney, North Sydney, NSW
- Attention: Privacy Officer / Director
Step 2: Our Response
- We will acknowledge your complaint within 7 days
- We aim to provide you with a decision on your complaint within 30 days
- If we need more time, we will notify you and provide an estimated timeframe
- We will investigate your complaint thoroughly and fairly
- We will provide you with a written response outlining our decision and reasons
Further information
You may request further information about the way we manage your personal or credit-related information by contacting us:
- Email: mabsyd@mabbroker.com.au
- Phone: 1300 MAB SYD (1300 622 793)
- Website: www.mortgageadvicebureausydney.com.au
Additional Resources
For more information about privacy in Australia, visit:
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: oaic.gov.au
- Australian Finance Group (our aggregator): afgonline.com.au
External Dispute Resolution
If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may escalate your complaint to:
Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA)
- Phone: 1800 931 678
- Email: info@afca.org.au
- Mail: GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001
- Website: afca.org.au
AFCA provides fair and independent financial services complaint resolution that is free to consumers.
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
- Phone: 1300 363 992
- Website: oaic.gov.au
- Mail: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
- The OAIC can investigate complaints about privacy and credit reporting.
What to Include in Your Complaint
To help us investigate your complaint quickly and effectively, please provide:
- Your contact details
- A clear description of your complaint
- Relevant dates and reference numbers
- Any supporting documentation
- What outcome you are seeking
We take all complaints seriously and use them as an opportunity to improve our services.
Change in our privacy policy
We are constantly reviewing all of our policies and attempt to keep up to date with market expectations. Technology is constantly changing, as is the law and market practices.
As a consequence, we may change this privacy policy from time to time or as the need arises.
Notification of Changes
When we update this privacy policy:
- We will post the updated version on our website
- The “Last Updated” date at the top of this document will be changed
- For material changes, we may notify you by email or other direct communication
Credit Reporting Bodies
For information about credit reporting, contact:
- Equifax: equifax.com.au | 1300 762 207
- Experian: experian.com.au | 1300 783 684
- Illion: illion.com.au | 1300 734 806
Accessing the Current Version
You can always find the most up-to-date version of this privacy policy on our website:
www.mortgageadvicebureausydney.com.au/privacy
Alternative Formats
You may request this privacy policy in an alternative form, such as:
- Large print
- Audio format
- Email (PDF or Word document)
- Printed and mailed copy
To request an alternative format, please contact us at mabsyd@mabbroker.com.au or 1300 MAB SYD (1300 622 793).
Contact Details Summary
Decipher Finance Pty Ltd trading as Mortgage Advice Bureau Sydney
ABN: 19 646 463 756
ACN: 646 463 756
Credit Representative Number: 528396
Australian Credit Licence: 389087 (Australian Finance Group)
Contact Information:
- Email: mabsyd@mabbroker.com.au
- Phone: 1300 MAB SYD (1300 622 793)
- Website: www.mortgageadvicebureausydney.com.au
- Office: North Sydney, NSW
Director/Principal Broker:
Mark Kevin
Email: mark.kevin@mabbroker.com.au
Phone: 0400 354 349