Privacy Policy

Puzzle Real Estate Pty Ltd trading as The Coast Real Estate

Puzzle Real Estate Pty Ltd trading as The Coast Real Estate (The Coast Real Estate, we, us or our) recognises the importance of protecting the privacy of individuals and their personal information.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information and how individuals may access or correct their personal information or make a privacy-related complaint.

By using our website, applications or services, or otherwise providing personal information to us, you acknowledge that we may collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. Where consent is required by law, including in relation to certain sensitive information, we will obtain that consent as required.

You are not generally required to provide us with your personal information. However, if you choose not to provide information that we reasonably require, we may not be able to provide certain services, process an application or transaction, provide access to certain activities or otherwise deal with your request.

We manage personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and other applicable laws.

What personal information do we collect?

In this Privacy Policy, "personal information" has the meaning given to it in the Privacy Act. Broadly, it means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not.

Depending on our relationship with you and the services we provide, the personal information we collect may include:

your name, address and date of birth;
telephone numbers and email addresses;
occupation and employment information;
company or business details;
identification information;
information about property you own, occupy, wish to sell, purchase or rent;
information provided in connection with a rental application;
financial and payment information;
information relevant to a property transaction;
information required to verify your identity;
information about your interactions and communications with us; and
other information reasonably necessary for us to conduct our business, provide our services or comply with our legal obligations.

We may collect personal information about:

our clients, prospective clients, business associates and their personnel;
sellers, purchasers, rental providers, renters and prospective renters;
individuals who enquire about, inspect or otherwise express an interest in properties;
individuals who attend open for inspections, auctions or other events conducted by us;
suppliers and their employees;
employees, contractors, consultants, former employees and prospective employees or contractors; and
other individuals who come into contact with The Coast Real Estate.

If you apply for employment or engagement with us, we may collect information about your employment history, qualifications, references and other information relevant to the recruitment process. We may collect this information directly from you or from third parties such as recruiters and referees.

Sensitive information and AML/CTF information

Some categories of personal information are classified as "sensitive information" under the Privacy Act and receive additional protection.

In some circumstances, we may collect sensitive information where it is reasonably necessary for our functions or activities and where the collection is permitted or required by law.

This may include information collected or generated as part of identity verification and customer due diligence processes required under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) (AML/CTF Act).

Depending on the circumstances, information collected for AML/CTF purposes may include identification and verification information, information relating to beneficial ownership and control, information relevant to politically exposed person or sanctions screening, and biometric information used for automated identity verification where applicable.

We will handle sensitive information in accordance with the Privacy Act and other applicable laws and will obtain consent where consent is required by law.

How we collect personal information

We aim to collect only personal information that is reasonably necessary for our functions and activities or otherwise permitted or required by law.

Where reasonable and practicable, we collect personal information directly from you.

We may also collect personal information from third parties or publicly available sources where permitted by law. These may include:

your professional advisers, including lawyers, conveyancers and accountants;
financial institutions;
credit reporting bodies and other information providers;
rental providers, renters, prospective purchasers or other parties to a property transaction;
referees or employers;
government agencies, regulators and publicly available registers;
identity verification and customer due diligence providers;
property portals and other service providers;
publicly available sources, including websites and social media; and
service providers that assist us in operating our website and digital services.

At or before the time we collect personal information, or as soon as practicable afterwards, we will take reasonable steps to make you aware of relevant matters concerning the collection where required by law.

We may collect personal information when you:

engage us, or an entity of which you are a beneficial owner engages us, to provide products or services;
contact or make an enquiry with us by telephone, mail, email, in person, through our website or through social media;
receive products, services or information from us;
complete an application, authority, agreement or other form;
access or use our website, applications, blogs or social media channels;
provide us with your business card or contact details;
attend an open for inspection, auction or other event conducted by us;
enquire about, inspect, negotiate for, purchase, sell, lease or rent a property;
apply to rent a property;
participate in an identity verification or customer due diligence process; or
otherwise interact with us in connection with our business or services.

Information collected through our website and digital services

When you use our website or other digital services, we may automatically collect certain technical and usage information. Depending on the technology being used, this may include:

your IP address;
browser and device information;
pages viewed and interactions with our website;
referring websites;
the date and time of your visit; and
other information about how our website and digital services are used.

We may use cookies, analytics tools and similar technologies to operate our website, understand how it is used, improve our services and, where permitted by law, assist with advertising and marketing.

Some of these technologies may be provided by third parties. Where third-party technologies collect, use or disclose personal information, we will take reasonable steps to ensure our use of those technologies is consistent with applicable privacy laws.

You may be able to control or disable certain cookies through your browser or device settings. Doing so may affect the operation or functionality of parts of our website.

Why we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information

We may collect, hold, use and disclose personal information for purposes including:

conducting and administering our business;
providing products, services and information requested from us;
acting as an estate agent or property manager;
communicating with you about our services and your dealings with us;
communicating with you about properties in which you have expressed an interest or other properties that may be relevant to you;
marketing properties for sale or lease;
facilitating property sales, purchases and leasing transactions;
processing rental applications;
managing rental properties, repairs and maintenance;
conducting open for inspections and auctions and implementing appropriate security measures;
verifying identity and undertaking customer due diligence;
meeting our obligations under the AML/CTF Act and other applicable laws;
undertaking appropriate checks where permitted or required by law;
responding to enquiries, complaints and feedback;
managing our relationships with clients, prospective clients, suppliers and service providers;
improving and developing our services, website, applications and business systems;
maintaining records;
protecting our legal rights and interests; and
complying with our legal and regulatory obligations.

Where permitted by law, we may also use or disclose personal information for related secondary purposes that would reasonably be expected in the circumstances.

These purposes may include:

providing information to utilities, financial institutions and other third parties on your behalf;
arranging for tradespeople or other service providers to contact you regarding repairs or maintenance;
engaging third-party providers to assist us in providing our services or operating our business;
facilitating the payment or release of rental bonds;
maintaining and operating our social media channels;
communicating with you about properties you have inspected or other properties that may be relevant to you;
providing and marketing our products and services; and
providing information about other products or services that may be relevant to you, where permitted by law.

How we use and disclose personal information

We will use and disclose personal information for the purposes for which it was collected and for other purposes permitted or required by law.

Where consent is required for a particular use or disclosure, we may seek that consent separately.

We do not sell or rent personal information to third parties.

We may disclose personal information to third parties where reasonably necessary for our business or services, or where permitted or required by law. These may include:

our employees, contractors and related companies;
sellers, purchasers, rental providers, renters and prospective parties to property transactions where relevant;
professional advisers, including lawyers, conveyancers and accountants;
tradespeople and other property service providers;
financial institutions and payment service providers;
rental bond authorities;
identity verification, customer due diligence and AML/CTF service providers;
technology, customer relationship management, property management, electronic signing, database, cloud storage, email, hosting, analytics and information technology providers;
property portals, advertising and marketing service providers;
debt collection and credit-related service providers;
insurers and professional advisers;
courts and tribunals;
government departments, statutory authorities and regulators;
AUSTRAC and other government or law enforcement agencies where required or authorised by law; and
other third parties where you have authorised us to make the disclosure or where disclosure is otherwise permitted or required by law.

Third parties may have their own privacy policies and practices governing their handling of personal information.

Direct marketing and advertising

We may use your personal information to communicate with you about properties, services, market information, newsletters and other information we reasonably believe may be relevant to you.

Where you provide us with your email address or other contact details and consent to receive marketing communications, we may use those details to send you property updates, new listings, market information, newsletters and information about our products and services.

Consent may be provided when you make an enquiry, register to inspect a property, attend an open for inspection or auction, complete a form, subscribe to communications or otherwise provide your contact details to us where we make it clear that those details may be used for marketing purposes.

In some circumstances, we may also send direct marketing communications where your consent can reasonably be inferred from your relationship or interactions with us, and where permitted by law.

We may use information about your enquiries, property inspections, property preferences and interactions with us to make the marketing communications we send more relevant to you.

We will not use or disclose sensitive information for direct marketing unless we have the consent required by law.

Electronic marketing communications will be sent in accordance with applicable laws. They will identify The Coast Real Estate as the sender and provide a means for you to unsubscribe.

You may opt out of receiving direct marketing communications from us at any time by:

using the unsubscribe facility included in the relevant communication; or
contacting us at office@thecoast.com.au.

We will action unsubscribe requests within the period required by law.

Opting out of marketing communications will not prevent us from contacting you where communication is reasonably necessary to provide services to you, administer an existing transaction or relationship, respond to an enquiry or comply with our legal obligations.

Social media

We may maintain a presence on social media platforms.

If you interact with us through social media, we may collect personal information you provide or make available through that interaction. Information you post publicly may also be visible to other users of the relevant platform.

Your use of a social media platform is also subject to the privacy practices and terms of the relevant platform provider.

Overseas storage and disclosure

We use third-party technology and service providers to operate our business. While much of our core business information, including information held through certain customer relationship management, electronic signing, Microsoft 365 and AML/identity verification services, is primarily stored in Australia, some service providers may store, process or access personal information using infrastructure or personnel located outside Australia.

Where we are likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients, those recipients may be located in countries including New Zealand, Singapore, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Philippines and countries within the European Union.

Overseas handling of personal information generally occurs because we use technology, cloud storage, software, communications, identity verification, AML/CTF compliance, marketing and other service providers in the operation of our business. We do not sell or rent your personal information to overseas organisations or other third parties.

The countries in which our service providers operate or process information may change from time to time as their infrastructure, subprocessors and service arrangements change.

Where required by the Privacy Act, we take reasonable steps before disclosing personal information to an overseas recipient to ensure that the recipient handles the information in a manner consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles, unless an exception under the Privacy Act applies.

You may contact us at office@thecoast.com.au if you would like further information about the overseas handling of personal information relevant to your dealings with us.

Security of personal information

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

These steps may include appropriate technical, physical and organisational security measures.

No method of transmitting or storing information is completely secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted over the internet or stored electronically.

We retain personal information for as long as it is reasonably required for the purposes for which it was collected and to meet our legal and regulatory obligations.

When personal information is no longer required and we are not required by law to retain it, we will take reasonable steps to destroy it or ensure it is de-identified.

Notifiable data breaches

If we become aware of a data breach involving personal information, we will assess and respond to the breach in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act.

Where the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme applies and a breach is likely to result in serious harm to affected individuals, we will make the notifications required by law, including to affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Access to and correction of personal information

Subject to exceptions under the Privacy Act, you may request access to personal information we hold about you.

You may also ask us to correct personal information if you believe it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.

To request access or correction, please contact us at office@thecoast.com.au.

We may need to verify your identity before providing access to or correcting personal information.

We will respond to requests within a reasonable period and in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act.

If we do not agree that information should be corrected, you may ask us to associate a statement with the information indicating that you consider it to be inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, as provided for under the Privacy Act.

Quality of personal information

We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information we collect, use and disclose is accurate, up to date and complete and, in the case of use or disclosure, relevant to the purpose for which it is being used or disclosed.

We encourage you to contact us if your personal information changes or if you believe information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete.

Change in control of The Coast Real Estate

If all or part of our business is sold, transferred, restructured, merged or otherwise changes ownership or control, personal information may be disclosed or transferred to prospective or actual purchasers, transferees, advisers or insolvency practitioners where reasonably necessary for the transaction and permitted by law.

Any handling of personal information in connection with such a transaction will remain subject to applicable privacy laws.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, technology, our services, our systems or our business practices.

The current version of this Privacy Policy will be available on our website.

We recommend reviewing this Privacy Policy periodically.

Privacy complaints

If you have a question, concern or complaint about our handling of personal information or our compliance with the Privacy Act, please contact us at:

The Coast Real Estate
Email: office@thecoast.com.au

We may ask you to provide your complaint in writing and to provide sufficient information for us to investigate it.

We will investigate privacy complaints and respond within a reasonable period, generally within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may be able to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, our privacy practices, or would like to request access to or correction of your personal information, please contact:

The Coast Real Estate
Puzzle Real Estate Pty Ltd
Email: office@thecoast.com.au

Last updated: 1 October 2026