Privacy policy

Who this policy covers

This website is run by Valuation Group Pty Ltd (ABN 48 702 469 252), which operates Independent Business Valuation. In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" mean that company. The brand is not a separate legal entity, and Independent Business Valuation is part of Valuation Group. The company runs more than one valuation practice, and information you give us stays within the company except as this policy describes.

We handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The Act does not apply to every small business. Whether or not it applies to us at a given time, we apply the Australian Privacy Principles to all personal information we hold.

Most of what we handle is business information. It becomes personal information when it identifies someone, such as an owner's salary or a shareholder's name.

What we collect

The quote form and the contact form

The quote form asks short questions about the valuation: why you need it, the industry, the legal structure, the interest being valued, the turnover band, the valuation date, whether financial statements are available, whether an accountant is involved (and their details if you give them), your role and your contact details. The contact form asks for your name, email, phone, business, what the valuation is for and your message. We do not ask for dates of birth, tax file numbers or bank details on this website.

Accountant and adviser forms

The partner application collects the firm name, ABN, a contact person and their role, email and phone, the state, expected annual volume, the types of clients, interest in 30 June 2027 work, any message, and your agreement to be contacted about the program (no partner terms are agreed through the website). A single client referral collects the adviser's details, the client's business and whatever client contact details the adviser chooses to give, plus a confirmation that the client has agreed to be contacted. A bulk quotation request collects a summary in form fields: number of clients, structures, turnover mix and dates. None of these forms accept documents.

Calls and emails

When you call 0433 475 518 or email valuations@valuationgroup.au, we keep a note of the discussion and the correspondence on your enquiry or matter.

How you found us

Your browser keeps a small record of how you arrived: the landing page, the referring website, any campaign tags in the link, any advertising click identifier (such as Google's gclid) and the time. It stays on your device and reaches us only with a form you submit. If you choose "No thanks" in the advertising measurement banner described below, the click identifier is removed from that record, which then notes only that you came from an ad. Clearing your browser's site data removes the record.

Technical information

The site is hosted on Cloudflare, which keeps short-lived request logs that can include your IP address and the pages requested. To limit spam, our enquiry service counts recent submissions against a one-way hash of your IP address, never the address itself. A hidden field and a minimum fill time help us tell people from bots.

How we use it

• To reply to your enquiry, call you back and confirm the scope, fee, information needed and timing in writing.
• To prepare the valuation if you engage us: the engagement letter, invoice, secure upload link, representation letter and report.
• To deal with your accountant, lawyer or other adviser, where you ask us to.
• To run the Accountant Partner Program: assessing applications, administering partner terms and handling referrals.
• To follow up an enquiry by email or phone. Any marketing email tells you how to stop it, and we act on that request.
• To understand, in aggregate, how the site is used and which ads bring genuine enquiries.
• To keep business and accounting records and meet our legal obligations.

We do not sell personal information or give it to anyone for their own marketing. If you are an accountant or adviser, we may hold the business contact details your firm publishes on its own website so we can tell you about the partner program. Any email we send you on that basis says who we are and lets you opt out.

What happens after you press submit

1. 01Saved to the lead storeYour enquiry is written to a lead store on Cloudflare's network (Workers KV) operated for Valuation Group Pty Ltd. That copy deletes itself automatically after 90 days.
2. 02Moved to the back officeThe group's back office (our practice management system) picks the record up and opens an enquiry or matter. From then on, that system holds it.
3. 03Emails go outYou get an acknowledgement with a reference number, and our team gets an internal notification. Emails go through Cloudflare's email service, with Resend, Inc. as a backup only if it is switched on.
4. 04A person reviews itA person at Valuation Group reads every enquiry and decides how to respond. Nothing is engaged, and no fee is final, until the scope is confirmed in writing.

The quote form shows the fixed fee, or says the matter needs a written quote, based on your answers, and our back office adds an internal note suggesting the likely service and priority. Both are guides only. A person decides whether we take on your matter and what you pay.

Accountants, referrals and your consent

• An accountant who refers you confirms on the referral form that you have agreed to them passing on your details so a valuer can contact you.
• After that, we share your matter, documents, fee or report with your accountant only with your written consent. An email from you saying so is enough, and you can limit it, for example to the final report only.
• You can withdraw that consent in writing at any time. It stops future sharing; it cannot recall what was already sent.
• If you name an accountant in the quote form, we use their details to understand your matter. We do not contact them about it until you confirm we may.

Documents

This website does not accept documents. Once you engage us, you share financial records only through the secure upload link on your matter, never by email and never through a website form. We can sign a confidentiality undertaking before sensitive documents are shared.

Business records often identify people: payroll reports, employee lists, owners' remuneration, shareholder registers, customer contracts and related-party leases. Send what the agreed scope needs and no more, and remove tax file numbers before you upload: we do not need them. Ask us if a redacted or summarised version would do.

Analytics, advertising tags and cookies

Google Analytics 4 and the Google Ads tag load only when we have configured them. With no tag configured, no Google script runs on the site and no banner appears. When a tag is on, a banner headed "Advertising measurement" asks once whether Google Ads may measure whether our advertising led to an enquiry.

The advertising measurement banner

• Analytics cookies are set when the tag loads, so we can see in aggregate how the site is used.
• Google Ads cookies are set only if you choose Accept. "No thanks" leaves them off, and so does ignoring the banner.
• Ad personalisation is always off, whatever you choose.
• Your answer is kept in your browser's local storage so we do not ask again. To change it, clear this site's data in your browser and choose again when the banner reappears.

We send Google events such as a page view, a phone click, a quote form step with the option chosen and a completed enquiry with its reference number. We never send Google your name, email, phone, business name or anything you write in a message.

If you arrived through one of our ads, the link carries a click identifier (such as Google's gclid). It is saved with your enquiry only if you chose Accept. In that case we may later report to Google, using that click identifier and our reference number, that the ad click led to an enquiry, a signed engagement (with the fee) and a payment (with the amount). These reports do not include your name or contact details. If you chose "No thanks", or did not answer the banner, the click identifier is removed before your enquiry is saved, so we cannot make these reports; the enquiry notes only that you came from an ad, not which click.

What the site stores in your browser

• While you fill in the quote form, your answers and contact details sit in session storage so a page refresh does not lose them. After you submit, a confirmation record (your reference, email and answers) stays until you close the tab. A random submission number and the time you started a form also sit in session storage, so a retry is not recorded twice and automated spam is easier to spot.
• The record of how you found us, described above, sits in local storage until you clear it.
• Your answer to the advertising measurement banner, in local storage, until you clear it.
• A short list of recent enquiry references sits in local storage so one enquiry is never counted twice.
• If we are testing two versions of a page, a first-party cookie remembers which version you saw, for up to 90 days.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser and install Google's opt-out add-on for Google Analytics. Clearing this site's data also clears your banner answer, so the banner asks again on your next visit.

Who we share it with

• Cloudflare, Inc., which hosts the site, holds the lead store and sends our emails.
• Google, when analytics or the Ads tag is on, which receives the events and, if you chose Accept, the conversion reports described above.
• Resend, Inc., only if the backup email service is switched on.
• The providers that run our back office, secure document storage, accounting and payments, each only to provide its service to us.
• Your accountant, lawyer or other adviser, with your consent as described above.
• For a family law matter, we pass it to our dedicated family law practice, Family Law Valuations. It is run by the same company, so your information does not leave Valuation Group Pty Ltd.
• Our own professional advisers and insurers, where we need advice about a matter.
• Anyone else you ask us to share it with, or where the law requires or authorises it, such as a subpoena or court order.

Storage outside Australia

Cloudflare, Google and Resend are United States companies, and Cloudflare runs data centres in many countries, so information may be held in the United States and elsewhere. Some back office providers may also hold data overseas.

Australian Privacy Principle 8 asks us to take reasonable steps so an overseas recipient does not breach the Australian Privacy Principles. We rely on established providers' contractual terms and security commitments.

How we protect it

Forms travel over an encrypted connection. Access to enquiry records and matter files is limited to the people who need it. Documents sit behind your matter's access-controlled link rather than in inboxes. No system is completely secure, and we cannot promise that any system is.

If a data breach involving your personal information is likely to result in serious harm, we will tell you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), following the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

How long we keep it

A valuation can be relied on or questioned long after it is issued, often when the asset is sold, which is why engagement records are kept that long. After that, we destroy or de-identify them.

Seeing or correcting your information

Ask us by email at valuations@valuationgroup.au or by phone on 0433 475 518 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5:30pm AEST). We may need to confirm your identity first, and we do not charge for a request. The OAIC's guidance is that an organisation should respond within a reasonable period, which in most cases will not exceed 30 calendar days. We aim to meet that. If we refuse access or a correction, we will tell you why in writing.

You can read this site without telling us who you are. We cannot quote for or prepare a valuation without knowing who we are dealing with.

Making a privacy complaint

Contact us first at valuations@valuationgroup.au or on 0433 475 518, and tell us what happened and what you would like us to do. We will look into it and reply in writing. The OAIC asks people to complain to the organisation first. If we do not respond within 30 days, or you are not happy with our response, you can lodge a complaint with the OAIC.

Changes to this policy

We update this policy when our systems, providers or obligations change. The date at the top shows the current version. See also our terms of use and disclaimer.