About the Office
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About the Office of the Privacy Commissioner
Our purpose
Our purpose is to promote and protect privacy in Australia.
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Who We Are and what we cover
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is an independent Office which has responsibilities under the federal Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
The Act provides protection for:
- Personal information about you that is handled by Australian and ACT government agencies;
- Personal information about you held by all large private sector organisations, all private sector health service providers and some small businesses;
- Credit worthiness information held by credit reporting agencies and credit providers; and
- Personal tax file numbers used by individuals and organisations.
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Related Legislation
The Privacy Commissioner also has responsibilities under the following federal laws:
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What We Do
Our Office is structured in the following way:
The Privacy Enquiries Line
The Privacy Enquiries Line gives general assistance:
- about the Privacy Act and privacy issues more generally and promotes best practice in privacy standards;
- to individuals about their rights under the Privacy Act and related legislation; and
- to Australian and ACT government agencies and private sector organisations on how to comply with the Privacy Act and related legislation.
Complaint handling and audits
The Compliance section investigates complaints from individuals about interferences with privacy under the Privacy Act against Australian and ACT government agencies and private sector organisations, including health service providers, credit providers and credit reporting agencies.
Compliance also investigates possible breaches of the:
In addition, the section can audit:
- Australian and ACT government agencies
- credit provider and credit reporting organisations
- certain records of telecommunications organisations
- tax file number recipients
- and, at their request, other private sector organisations covered by the Privacy Act
The Commissioner also has the power to initiate own motion investigations about potential breaches of privacy that do not relate to a particular complainant.
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Policy
The Policy section:
- provides guidance and advice,to Australian and ACT government agencies and private sector organisations on privacy issues;
- examines and makes submissions on proposed legislation and makes comments on inquiries that have significant privacy implications; and
- also seeks to inform itself of technological and social developments that affect individual privacy.
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Corporate and Public Affairs
The Corporate and Public Affairs section assists the Office in communicating with stakeholders through publications, media relations, secretariat support, speech writing, events and the Office web site.
All Office publications are available free of charge from this web site www.privacy.gov.au/publications.
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You can contact us by:
| Telephone |
1300 363 992
(cost of a local call) operates between the hours of 9am - 5pm (EST). Monday to Friday |
| TTY |
1800 620 241
(this number is dedicated for the hearing impaired only, no voice calls) |
| Post |
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001 |
| Facsimile |
+61 2 9284 9666 |
| E-mail |
privacy@privacy.gov.au |
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Privacy Commissioner, Karen Curtis
Karen Curtis was appointed as Privacy Commissioner for five years from 12 July 2004. Karen has had a policy interest in privacy for some time. She was appointed by the Governor General to the Privacy Advisory Committee in December 2000 and in her previous position as Director, Industry Policy, of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) she had responsibility for privacy from a business perspective.
Karen was with ACCI, a peak industry association representing over 350,000 Australian businesses, for seven years. In that time she had responsibility for a range of industry policy and small business issues affecting the competitiveness of Australian business including innovation, electronic commerce, telecommunications, regulatory reform, corporate social responsibility, food policy, government purchasing, water policy, energy policy, and environmental policy including climate change.
In 1998 and 1999, Karen was the inaugural Executive Director of Australian Made Campaign Limited which relaunched the Australian Made Logo Scheme in 1999.
She is a member of the Consultative Committee for the National Judicial College, and has previously been a Councillor on Standards Australia's General Council, and a member of numerous government committees including the ACCC Small Business Advisory Group, the National Small Business Forum and the Government Business Climate Change Dialogue. She is Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Karen was a Director of Small Enterprise Telecommunications Limited for four years, including two years as Chair.
Prior to joining ACCI, Karen held positions with the federal government where she provided policy advice on industry policy and S&T issues. Karen is a graduate of the University of Queensland in history, politics and law.
Karen's community involvement has included Chair, ACT Junior Girls Hockey, Member of the ACT Sport and Recreation Ministerial Advisory Committee, and she is a Director of the Daramalan College Board in the ACT.
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Deputy Privacy Commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim
Mr Timothy Pilgrim has been Deputy Privacy Commissioner since February 1998.
His career in public sector management spans 20 years and several government agencies.
Before taking up his appointment as Deputy Privacy Commissioner, Mr Pilgrim held a number of senior management positions in the Australian Taxation Office including the Small Business Program and the Child Support Agency.
He has extensive experience in corporate management, covering fields such as human resource management, industrial relations and parliamentary liaison. More broadly, at the corporate level Mr Pilgrim was responsible for providing high level advice on strategies for implementing large scale cultural change.
Timothy's achievements as Deputy Privacy Commissioner at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner include close involvement in developing the private sector provisions of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), which included widespread consultation with community, business and government organisations. He also played a key role in implementing the private sector provisions which took effect on 21 December 2001. Timothy has primary responsibility for oversight of policy development and public relations functions as well as managing the Office's corporate and administrative operations.
Prior to joining the Public Service, Mr Pilgrim's career was in the wine industry where he worked as an assistant winemaker and held a range of junior management positions within the industry.
Mr Pilgrim holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sydney University.
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Assistant Privacy Commissioner, Mark Hummerston
Mark Hummerston was appointed Assistant Privacy Commissioner in November 2006. He has primary responsibility for overseeing the compliance activities of the Office.
Mark has an extensive background in public sector management, having worked in the NSW and Queensland public sectors and in local government. In particular Mark has worked with independent integrity agencies - as Executive Director of the Crime and Misconduct Commission in Queensland and as Manager, Assessments with the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.
In local government he was the Director Governance, Management and Information Services at Randwick City Council in Sydney and prior to that held various management positions with the Northern Sydney Area Health Service and at Royal North Shore Hospital.
Mark has considerable experience in leadership, corporate governance and change management. He has led large-scale projects, including organisational reform, replacement of business systems and cultural change. He also has experience in corporate management, including human resources, finance, information technology, communications and legal services.
Mark has an MBA from Southern Cross University.
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