Website Privacy
The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) applies in respect of the Federal Court of Australia (the Court) only in relation to an act done or a practice engaged in relating to the management and administration of the Court’s registry and office resources (see paragraphs 7(1)(a) and (b)). Nevertheless, in relation to court documents (which are exempt from the Privacy Act) the Court is sensitive to the need to protect personal information and will make arrangements that are consistent with all legal requirements and which balance appropriately the principle of open justice and interests of individual privacy.
This page explains the type of information that is collected by the Court when users access its websites, how such information is used, under what circumstances and to whom it may be disclosed, and describes security measures in place on the website.
You can read a comprehensive explanation of the Court’s personal information handling practices at Privacy Policy.
The Court is committed to protect privacy on this website and seeks to adhere to the Australian Information Commissioner's guidance for agency websites.
If you have any privacy concerns about the website, you should direct them to the Web Manager by emailing query@fedcourt.gov.au.
Clickstream and site visit data
A record of your visit to the main pages of this site is made and the following information is logged for statistical purposes:
- the user's server address
- the user's top level domain name (e.g. com., gov., au., uk., etc.)
- the date and the time of the visit to the site
- the type of browser used
- the operating system
- the screen resolutions and screen colours
- the previous site visited
- the search engines and queries used to access this site.
No attempt is made to identify individual users or their browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the log file.
Cookies
A cookie is a small piece of information that is placed on the user's hard drive while navigating a website. When a user revisits a website, the cookie allows that site to recognise the user’s browser.
Google Analytics is used by the Court to obtain statistics on how the websites are used. Google Analytics is a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (Google) which uses ‘cookies’ to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information in an anonymous form. The information generated by the cookie about use of the relevant website is transmitted to and stored by Google on its servers outside of Australia. Google uses this information to compile reports on website usage - such as volume of new and return visitors, which pages are the most popular and sources of website traffic. No personally identifying information about any user is recorded or provided to Google.
Users can opt out of Google Analytics if they disable or refuse the cookie, disable JavaScript or install the opt-out browser add-on available from the Google Analytics website along with details on installing and uninstalling that add-on.
Cookies are also used for form identification and for browser preferences for display of results on the eLodgment pages on the Federal Court’s website. None of these pages contain user information.
Links to other sites
This website contains links to other sites. The Court is not responsible for the content and the privacy practices of other websites and encourages you to examine each site's privacy policy and make your own decisions regarding the accuracy, reliability, and correctness of material and information found.
Email and message management
The Federal Court offers a number of email subscription services - Daily Court Lists, Practice News, Judgments & Events, and Admiralty Arrest Notifications. When a user subscribes to these services, the Court collects their name and email address.
For the management of subscription messages, the Court uses third party providers and may upload to these the names and email addresses of subscribers. This information is used by those providers only on behalf of and under the instructions of the Court.
The Court will also record your email address if you send it an email message. So it or its hosting partners can provide any support required, the Court also records email addresses of users of the Court’s eServices (online) websites.
Email messages may be monitored by the Court’s technology services staff for system trouble-shooting and maintenance purposes.
Use and disclosure
Any information you provide will only be used by the Court for the purpose for which it was provided.
Information in relation to a proceeding in the Court will be deal with as required by legislation (principally the rules of the Court) as well as any orders and directions made in those proceedings. Many documents filed or lodged in a proceeding may be disclosed to any interested member of the public. You can find more information about public access to court documents under Court Documents.
Data security
The Internet is an insecure medium however, and users should be aware that there are inherent risks in transmitting information across the Internet. Information submitted unencrypted via email may be at risk of being intercepted, read or modified. If you do not want your message sent by email you can post it to the above address.
The Court takes all reasonable steps to protect the personal information it hold against loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure in line with the Australian Government’s Information Security Manual. These steps include the storage of personal information in secure facilities, taking regular encrypted backups of personal information we hold, audit and logging mechanisms and physical access restrictions to ensure only authorised government personnel have access to personal information.
Search service
Search terms are stored for reporting and service improvement purposes. Your searches are not linked to an identifier or your IP address.
Privacy in the eLodgment and eCourtroom sections of the site
In order to lodge case-related documents on-line or to participate in eCourtroom, you must supply some personal information - such as your name, mailing address, phone numbers and email address. This information is only used to enable you to eLodge documents and/or contribute to an eCourtroom discussion through the eLodgment application and will not be disclosed to any third party unless required by law.
The following information is recorded for the purpose of providing you with support if required:
- major and specific activity under a user name, e.g. Login, Create Template, Save Incomplete Lodgment, contribute to an eCourtroom discussion, Log out etc.
- uploaded documents as part of the lodgment process and failed attempts to upload documents are logged in error logs
- as previously noted, cookies are used for form authentication and for browser preferences for display of results, i.e. show/hide a column, resize of columns. None of these cookies contain user information
- browser, operating system and compilers information is recorded for troubleshooting
- email address information is only used for the purposed for which you provided it.
Security in the eLodgment section of this site
The electronic filing section of this site (eLodgment) uses an e-commerce industry standard security communications protocol (HTTPS) with up to 256 bit encryption to ensure all data transmitted between the user’s computer and the Court’s eLodgment Web Portal is secure. User payment information is then securely transmitted via the HTTPS protocol to the Court’s acquiring Bank. The Court does not store the user’s credit card details at any time during this process.
A user may, however, choose to save their credit card details to be retained by the eLodgment system within a template. If so, those details are encrypted, then stored in the eLodgment application. Security of this information is maintained in line with the Australian Government’s Information Security Manual.
Security alerts in eServices (online) pages of this site
The eServices (online) pages of this site have been secured for your privacy and protection. As you move about these secure areas your browser, depending upon your personal settings and options, might present you with a security alert. Security alerts differ depending on browsers and their configuration but their purpose is simply to alert you to the fact that you are entering, or leaving a secure area. You should not be alarmed by the appearance of these alerts. To ascertain that you are in a secure session check the status of the "security" padlock on your browser. The session is secure only when the padlock icon shows a closed padlock.
"Thawte Server CA" issues a certificate securing the site. You can verify the source of the certificate by viewing it.
Alternatives to the eServices (online) pages of this site
If you do not wish to provide personal information via the eServices (online) pages of the website, documents can be filed and paid for by personal presentation, post or fax to the registry.
Updated June 2018
