Legal Services is committed to protecting the privacy of all clients. The purpose of this policy is to communicate how Legal Services handles and protects personal information obtained while providing our legal assistance services.
This policy applies to all Legal Services employees, including lawyers, professional employees, administrative employees, legal practitioner panel members, board members, volunteers and contractors.
This policy applies to all the services we offer wherever and however we offer them.
Personal information handled by Legal Services is managed in accordance with our legislation. The Legal Services Commission Act 1977 (s.31A) prevents employees from disclosing any information, directly or indirectly obtained while working for Legal Services, including after they leave our employment or when their contract ends, subject to specific exceptions in the Act.
All lawyers employed by Legal Services are bound by the South Australian Legal Practitioner's Conduct Rules and by the principles of lawyer/client confidentiality known as legal professional privilege.
If we are providing you with legal representation, it is common for us to provide some of your information to the other party or to the court or tribunal. This is done to advance your matter and achieve the best outcome. When we do this, we will speak to you about it in advance and gain your permission (instructions) to provide that information.
All Legal Services employees are required to be familiar with public sector codes of conduct and to have regard to confidentiality, especially when speaking in public or making representations to the media.
The storage of personal information by Legal Services must comply with South Australia's Information Privacy Principles. The disposal of personal information by Legal Services must comply with State Records disposal standards.
Where Legal Services plans or undertakes an initiative that involves the collection, use, disclosure or storage of personal information, we will undertake a Privacy Impact Assessment to identify and manage possible privacy risks or impacts.
Legal Services collects personal information necessary to provide our legal assistance services. The type of information collected will vary depending on the service. For example, we will ask for financial information if you have applied for a grant of legal aid or visa information if you have a migration matter.
We collect information to ensure we are providing the right kinds of legal assistance services. For example, we may ask your age, your ethnicity, and your postcode. This information helps us ensure South Australians are getting access to the best legal assistance services they need.
We provide statistical information to both the State and Commonwealth governments, but this information is de-identified, meaning that names and addresses and any other personal identifying information have been removed.
To improve our services, we collect statistical information about access to our website by obtaining reports on which pages are visited, for how long, and for what areas of law. We do not use this information to identify individuals who access our website.
Periodically, Legal Services will conduct client satisfaction surveys to understand how well our services are meeting client expectations. We contact our clients by using the telephone numbers or email addresses they have provided when receiving our legal assistance services. The survey involves a very small percentage of our clients who are randomly selected. Participating in the survey is not compulsory and you do not have to answer the survey questions if you do not want to.
Legal Services is committed to protecting your information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, modification, wilful destruction and disclosure. We use procedural, physical and computer access controls, and other safeguards.
At Legal Services we make sure your personal information remains private by only allowing access to your information by employees who are involved with providing you with legal assistance services and staff who manage our grants of aid, finance, and computer systems.
When we make grants of legal aid to two parties in the same matter, for example to a husband and a wife in family court proceedings, we make sure that at least one of the parties is represented by a private lawyer outside of our office.
You can seek access to information we hold about you and any matters that concern you by contacting Legal Services at: ClientRelations@lsc.sa.gov.au or call (08) 8111 5555.
If you believe information held by Legal Services about you is incorrect, incomplete, out of date, or misleading, you can contact Legal Services at: ClientRelations@lsc.sa.gov.au or call (08) 8111 5555.
If you believe that a person who is receiving legal aid funding is ineligible, you can provide that information to Legal Services at: ClientRelations@lsc.sa.gov.au or call (08) 8111 5555. Legal Services will acknowledge receipt of the information provided but we cannot tell you whether any person has made an application for, or been granted, legal aid or provide any other details.
Employee means: all Legal Services employees, including lawyers, professional employees, and administrative employees, as well as legal practitioner panel members, board members, volunteers and contractors.
Legal Assistance Services means: the services provided to and on behalf of members of the South Australian public by Legal Services.
Legal Services means: The Legal Services Commission of South Australia established under the Legal Services Commission Act 1977.
The Webmaster of Legal Services website is responsible for the administration of this Website Privacy Statement. Legal Services is committed to protecting your privacy.
Legal Services automatically gathers anonymous information to monitor the use of the website, like the numbers and frequency of visitors to website. We only use such data in the aggregate. This collective data helps us determine how much our clients use parts of the website, so we can improve the website to ensure that it is as appealing as we can make it for as many users as possible. Legal Services may publish or provide this aggregate data to other people.
Legal Services website uses cookies to track usage patterns and traffic trends, and to improve your experience. The information about your use is only analysed in the aggregate. Individual use is not analysed.
Legal Services makes a record of your visit and logs the following information for statistical purposes:
Legal Services examines this information to determine the traffic through the server as well as access levels to specific pages. In order to deliver better services, we also perform statistical analysis to establish priorities and allocate resources.
No attempt will be made to identify you or your browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect server logs.
The statistics and log files may be preserved indefinitely and used at any time and in any way necessary to prevent security breaches and to ensure the integrity of the information supplied by Legal Services.
Access to and use of this information is restricted to the management and staff of Legal Services, who are subject to an agreement to adhere to this privacy statement.
Legal Services reserves the right to gather more extensive information than indicated above regarding any attempted access to this website which raises security issues, or in circumstances where Legal Services has reason to believe a breach of the law is being or has been committed, and where necessary to make disclosures to the relevant authorities.
If you send us an email message, or submit information to us through an online form, we will record your message and contact details in accordance with government record keeping standards. This information will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it. We will not use your email or personal details for any other purpose and will not disclose them without your consent (unless required by law).
We use industry standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, to ensure the highest security for personal details submitted via online forms on our website.
This website contains links to other websites. Legal Services is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. We recommend that you review the privacy policy of any website that requests personal information.
If we decide to change the Legal Services’ Website Privacy Statement, we will post those changes here on our website.
If you have any questions about the Website Privacy Statement, the practices of this website, or your dealings with this website, you may contact:
The Webmaster
Legal Services Commission,
GPO Box 1718, Adelaide, 5001
Telephone 08 8111 5555
Updated 30 July 2025
We embrace diversity and welcome all people, irrespective of culture, faith, sexual orientation and gender identity.
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Legal Services acknowledges Aboriginal people as the Traditional Owners and ongoing occupants of the lands and waters in South Australia and we respect their spiritual, cultural and heritage beliefs. We recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community and pay our deep respect to Elders past and present.
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