Privacy Policy

Privacy matters to us — professionally and personally. Much of our work is confidential by nature, and the trust of the people and businesses we work with depends on us handling personal information carefully. This policy explains what we collect, why, and how we look after it. We manage personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

In this policy, “we”, “us” and “Sentient” mean Sentient Search Pty Ltd.

Who this policy covers

We collect and hold personal information about three groups of people:

• Candidates — people we represent, approach or assess for roles, including people who have not applied to us directly.

• Clients — the businesses and people who engage us to run searches.

• Referees — people who provide references or feedback about candidates.

What we collect

Candidates. Contact details, career history, qualifications, resume and profile information, salary and remuneration expectations, work rights, interview notes and our assessment records, reference feedback, and communications with us.

Clients. Contact details, role and organisation information (including job descriptions, team structures and reporting lines), engagement terms, and billing details.

Referees. Contact details, job title, and the feedback you provide about a candidate.

We only collect information that is reasonably necessary for our work as a search and recruitment practice. We don’t ask for more than we need.

How we collect it

Most information comes directly from you, through conversations, interviews, email, our website forms, or the documents you share with us.

Because we are a search practice, we also identify and research potential candidates who have not applied to us. This means we may collect publicly available information about you from sources such as LinkedIn and other professional networks, company websites, industry publications and referrals from our network — before we have spoken with you. When we approach you, we will be open about who we are and why we’re in touch, and if you’d rather not be contacted, we will respect that and can remove your details on request.

Our website also collects limited technical information (such as analytics data and cookies) to help us understand how the site is used. You can control cookies through your browser settings.

Why we collect it

We use personal information to: assess and represent candidates for roles; run searches and deliver our services to clients; check references; maintain relationships with our network; send occasional insights or updates you’ve opted in to receive; meet our legal and contractual obligations; and manage our business.

Our commitment on confidentiality

We will not present you to a client, or share your identifying details with a client, without speaking with you first. Confidential searches work both ways: candidates are told who the client is before any substantive discussion, and clients are told who we are approaching. Consent before representation is how we work.

Who we share information with

We disclose personal information only as needed to do our work:

• To clients — candidate information, with the candidate’s knowledge and consent, for roles we are engaged on.

• To referees and from referees — to check and confirm suitability.

• To service providers — such as our CRM and software providers, IT support, and professional advisers, under obligations that protect your information.

• Where required by law.

We do not sell personal information to anyone.

Overseas disclosure

We run international searches, so personal information is sometimes shared with or collected from people and organisations outside Australia — for example, when representing a candidate for a role with an overseas-headquartered client, or benchmarking talent across markets. Where we do this, we take reasonable steps to ensure your information is treated consistently with the APPs, and where practical we will seek your consent before disclosing your information to an overseas recipient.

How we hold and protect it

Your information is held in our secure recruitment CRM and business systems, protected by access controls, and accessible only to the partners and those working under our direction. We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

We keep personal information only as long as it is needed for the purposes described in this policy or as required by law, after which it is deleted or de-identified. If you’d like your details removed from our systems, just ask.

Access and correction

You can request access to the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct anything that is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete. Contact us using the details below and we’ll respond within 30 days. In limited cases we may not be able to provide access — for example, where reference feedback was given in confidence — and if so, we’ll explain why.

Marketing and insights

If you’ve subscribed to our talent insights or updates, you can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email or by contacting us. We won’t add you to marketing lists without your consent.

Complaints

If you believe we’ve mishandled your personal information, please contact us first — we take this seriously and will respond within 30 days. If you’re not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au or 1300 363 992.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be available on this page, with the date of the last update shown above.

Contact

Privacy contact: Katie Osborne, Partner

katieo@sentientsearch.com.au +61 402 064 199

Level 24, 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000