Privacy Policy

About this policy

Pic Network Pty Ltd (“Pic Network”) is the company across two real estate brands, Woodards and RT Edgar. It provides franchising and head office services to both networks of independently owned and operated real estate offices (“Offices”). In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” means Pic Network and every Woodards and RT Edgar Office.

This policy explains how we collect, use, share and protect personal information, and how you can access it or make a complaint. It applies to sellers, buyers, landlords, renters, rental applicants and anyone who enquires with us, as well as our suppliers, contractors, franchisees and job applicants.

We follow the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. Each Office is responsible for the information it collects and has its own privacy contact, with support from head office. Employee records are handled under our employment policies.

What we collect

We only collect what we need to provide our services or meet the law. Depending on how you deal with us, this may include:

• Contact details: name, addresses, email and phone numbers.
• Identity and AML information: date of birth, ID document details, who you act for and who owns an entity, politically exposed person (PEP) and sanctions status, and source of funds and wealth (see section 4).
• Financial details: employer, income, bank and payment details, and for companies, ABN or ACN and financial statements.
• Rental application details: ID, income, rental history, references, tenancy database checks, and who will live in the property.
• Property details: properties you own, sell, buy, rent or are interested in, including photos and videos of a property.
• Records of our dealings with you: emails, calls, messages and notes.
• Business and job application details: for franchisees, suppliers and contractors, business, ABN and financial details; for job applicants, your résumé, qualifications, references and any checks you agree to.
• Online information: how you use our websites, collected through cookies and similar tools (see section 6).

Sensitive information. We only collect sensitive information, such as health information, where we need it and you consent, or where the law requires it. AML checks involve sensitive information, including PEP and sanctions status, and biometric information, such as matching your face to your ID photo. We only collect biometric information with your consent.

You don't have to give us your information, but if you don't, we may not be able to help you. Under AML laws, if we can't verify your identity, we may be unable to act on a sale, purchase or lease.

How we collect it

We collect most information directly from you, for example when you enquire, attend an inspection, make an offer, apply for a rental or list a property.

We may also collect it from others where you agree or the law allows. This includes real estate portals, tenancy databases, your lawyer, conveyancer or lender, referees, identity verification providers such as First AML, public registers and social media. Where practical, we'll let you know when we've collected your information from someone else.

You can deal with us anonymously for general enquiries. For most services, including any sale, purchase or lease, we need to know who you are. If we receive information we didn't ask for and don't need, we'll destroy or de-identify it.

How we use and share it

We use your information to provide our services, such as selling, buying, leasing and managing property, assessing rental applications, preparing contracts and arranging repairs. We also use it to keep in touch with you, meet our legal obligations and run our business. We only use it for other purposes with your consent or where the law allows.

We may share your information with:

• Pic Network and other Offices in the same brand, for head office support, compliance and reporting;
• other parties to your transaction, such as buyers, sellers, landlords and renters;
• your and their lawyers, conveyancers, lenders, valuers, insurers and strata managers;
• our service providers, including tradespeople, IT, software, cloud and AI providers, marketing agencies, payment processors, First AML and debt collectors;
• real estate portals and tenancy databases;
• government bodies and regulators, including AUSTRAC, the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority, Consumer Affairs Victoria, land titles offices, the ATO, police and courts; and
• a buyer or new owner if all or part of our business or an Office is sold, merged or restructured.

We don't sell your information. We don't share customer information between the Woodards and RT Edgar networks. We only use or share government identifiers, such as licence or passport numbers, where the law requires it.

Anti-money laundering checks

Since 1 July 2026, real estate agents have had obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth). Before we can act on some sales, purchases and leases, we must verify your identity and check who you act for, who owns any entity involved, where the funds come from, and whether you are a PEP or subject to sanctions.

We use First AML to collect and verify this information securely. First AML stores it in Australia. You can read the First AML Privacy Policy.

We may have to report some matters to AUSTRAC. The law prevents us from telling you if we have made, or need to make, a suspicious matter report. We must keep AML records for seven years after our dealings with you end.

AI and automated decisions

Many of the systems we use now include artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. These include:

• Automated replies to customers. Some Offices use AI and automation to answer property enquiries and acknowledge rental applications and maintenance requests through our websites, real estate portals, email and SMS, including after hours. Some of these messages are sent without a staff member checking them first. You can ask to speak with a staff member at any time.
• AI inside our property management and sales systems. This helps staff draft replies, read and enter invoices, check tenancy rules, prioritise follow-ups and send reminders.
• General AI assistants, such as ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot. Staff use these to draft messages and advertising copy, virtually furnish property photos and process invoices, and check the results before they are used.
• AI in rental application platforms. Some platforms score applications or calculate rent affordability to help property managers compare them.
• AI in identity checks. Our AML provider uses AI to review possible PEP, sanctions and adverse media matches. Anything it can't clearly rule out goes to a person.
• Prospecting tools. These use property and ownership data to suggest which owners our agents should contact.

Tools used across our network. Offices use some or all of these systems. Each Office can tell you which ones it uses.

These tools may use your name, contact details, enquiry, property details and, for rentals, your application. We require AI tools used with customer information to be set up so the provider can't use it to train their AI models.

Automated decisions. Some Offices use computer programs to make, or help make, decisions that could significantly affect you.

Decisions made by a computer program alone:

Decisions where a computer program does something substantially and directly related to the decision (it helps a person decide):

For these decisions, a person makes the final call on your application or transaction. For any automated decision, you can ask us to explain it or have it reviewed by a person.

Marketing, cookies and online advertising

We may send you property news and updates. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails or SMS, or by contacting us.

Our websites use cookies and similar tools to understand how the sites are used, improve them and show you relevant ads. Some of these can identify your device. You can turn cookies off in your browser, but parts of our websites may not work properly.

We advertise on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google. These platforms may use cookies and your activity to show you our ads and find people similar to our clients, under their own privacy policies. Offices may also share customer contact details with these platforms to show our ads to existing customers and people with similar interests. You can ask the Office not to include you, or email [email protected]. You can manage ad settings on each platform.

Overseas disclosure

Some of our service providers store or process information outside Australia:

We take reasonable steps to make sure overseas recipients protect your information to Australian standards, including written terms that limit how they use it.

Keeping your information safe

We hold information electronically, in cloud-based systems, and in paper files at our Offices. We take reasonable steps to protect it from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, such as access controls, secure storage, confidentiality agreements and staff training.

For AML checks, we don't keep copies of your ID documents. We only record the details needed to show we've completed our checks. For rental applications, we may keep a copy of your ID with your application. Under Victorian rental laws, we destroy or de-identify an unsuccessful applicant's information within 30 days after the property is leased (or 6 months if you agree we can consider you for other properties), and a former renter's information within 3 years after the tenancy ends.

We keep information only as long as we need it or the law requires, then destroy or de-identify it. AML records are kept for seven years.

If a data breach is likely to cause you serious harm, we'll tell you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Accessing, correcting and deleting your information

You can ask the Office you dealt with, or head office, for a copy of your information or to correct it. We'll check your identity first and usually respond within 30 days. Making a request is free, though we may charge a reasonable fee for providing copies, and will tell you first.

We can only refuse where the Privacy Act allows, for example where access would affect someone else's privacy or safety, or where the law prevents it. If we refuse, we'll explain why in writing and tell you how to complain.

You can also ask us to delete information we no longer need. We'll do so unless we must keep it by law, such as AML, tenancy or trust account records.

Complaints

If you're concerned about how we've handled your information:

1. Contact the Office you dealt with first.
2. If you're not satisfied, contact head office using the details below.
3. If you're still not satisfied, you can complain to the OAIC at oaic.gov.au, on 1300 363 992, by email to [email protected], or by post to GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001.

We'll acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days and aim to resolve it within 30 days.

Contact us

We review this policy at least once a year and whenever our systems or the law change. The latest version is always on our website.