Client Service Charter

Purpose of this Charter

This Charter provides details of the service standards which the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (the Office) seeks to achieve and how you, our client, can assist us.

Who we are and what we do

The Office is an independent statutory office which seeks to promote and protect privacy in Australia.

The Office falls under the portfolio responsibility of the Australian Government Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The Office is created by, and our functions are set out in, the Privacy Act (the Act).

Generally, the Act provides protections for your personal information held by organisations or agencies that are subject to the Act.

The Office performs the following roles:

• providing general guidance and information about the Act and privacy issues;
• investigating complaints either from individuals or on the Office's own motion about possible breaches of the Act;
• conducting audits of Australian and ACT government agencies, credit providers and credit reporting agencies and, on request, other private sector organisations;
• developing policy advice, reports and submissions on privacy-related issues; and
• promoting awareness of privacy rights and responsibilities.

Our Strategic Plan 2007-09 commits us to four overarching goals:

1. High quality results.
2. Increased awareness of privacy choices and obligations within the community.
3. Robust relationships.
4. A confident and competent workforce.

Who our clients are

Our clients are any individual or organisation with whom we interact.

Agencies and organisations with responsibilities under the Act include:

• Australian and ACT Government Ministers and agencies.
• All private sector organisations with a turnover greater than $3 million, all private sector health service providers and some small businesses (see our website at www.privacy.gov.au for information about which small businesses are covered)
• Credit providers and credit reporting agencies.
• Any organisation or individual handling personal tax file numbers.
• Any organisation or individual handling old minor criminal conviction information.

The service standards you can expect from us

At all times the Office will seek to meet the following service standards:

Accessibility

• Our Office hours are 9.00 am - 5.00 pm Monday to Friday [1] . You can make contact with any of our staff via our Privacy Enquiries Line on 1300 363 992 (cost of a local call from a landline) during our Office hours, or you can contact us by mail, fax or email (see our contact details on the last page).
• Individuals who have a hearing impairment or speech difficulties can contact us via TTY 1800 620 240.
• If your first language is not English you can use an interpreter from the Translating and Interpreting Service (phone 131 450) to assist communication with us. We will pay the TIS costs.
• Our website includes information pages in 11 different languages and we are able to handle enquiries in those languages.
• Our publications are available on our website in accessible formats at no charge.
• Our website (www.privacy.gov.au) contains comprehensive information and is usually available 24 hours a day.

Quality

• To the best of our ability, we will provide consistent, accurate, impartial and up-to-date information.
• To the best of our ability, when providing written information, we will make it easy to understand.
• We will seek to ensure that our website, www.privacy.gov.au, provides up to date and accurate information.

Courteous and helpful service

• We will deal with you courteously and sensitively.
• To the best of our ability, we will deal with your requests as quickly as possible.
• Phone enquiries: Our enquiries staff will try to help you with your enquiry directly or will refer your call to a senior officer if necessary.

At times if our staff are busy with other calls, your call will be diverted to our answering service. If you leave a message we will endeavour to return your call promptly.

If it is not a matter our office can deal with, we will try to refer you to someone else who can help you.

• Correspondence: If you have sought information in writing from us, we will endeavour to send an initial response within 10 working days of receiving the request.
• Our website includes a "Complaint Checker" to help individuals determine whether they have a privacy complaint about an agency or organisation that may be able to be investigated by the Privacy Commissioner.
• Audits: When we audit an agency or organisation, we will advise the agency or organisation as soon as possible of the audit findings. We will conduct the audit so as to cause minimal disruption to the operations of the agency or organisation.

Openness

• If you lodge a complaint with our Office about a possible privacy breach by an organisation or agency, we will advise you of our procedures for handling that complaint and keep you informed of progress.
• We will give complainants and respondents adequate and fair opportunity to provide comments to us in relation to complaints about a possible privacy breach.
• If we audit your agency or organisation, we will inform you about the audit process and provide you with an opportunity to comment on preliminary findings.
• In developing significant policy advice, guidelines or research papers we will generally consult widely, give reasonable timeframes for feedback, and explain our processes.

Privacy and confidentiality

• We will handle any personal information you provide to us in accordance with the Act. (See our privacy policy at www.privacy.gov.au/policy/index.html.)

How you can assist us

To help us provide our service to you, please assist us by:

• Treating our staff courteously.
• Providing our staff with accurate and full information.
• Complying with reasonable requests from our staff e.g. providing the Office with written information to support your complaint in relation to a privacy breach about an organisation or agency.

If you are dissatisfied with our performance in line with the standards

If you are not satisfied with our level of performance in line with the standards in this Charter:

• Advise the staff member with whom you are dealing.
• If the staff member does not address your concerns to your satisfaction, ask to speak to their supervisor or another senior officer.
• If you are still not satisfied, please put your complaint in writing to us. We will endeavour to send a response within 10 working days of receiving your complaint.

If, after following these steps you believe that your complaint about our performance has not been dealt with satisfactorily or you are dissatisfied at any time with our handling of your complaint you may contact the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman's services are free. You can contact his office on 1300 362 072 or visit www.comb.gov.au.

Privacy Complaint Review

If you have lodged a complaint with the Office about a possible privacy breach by an organisation or agency and you consider that the process which this Office used to make its decision was unfair there are several ways you can seek review:

You can submit an application to the Federal Court under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act. Appeals must be made within 28 days of the date of our final decision and usually incur an application charge. Contact the Federal Court registry in your State or Territory for more information or visit www.fedcourt.gov.au/contacts/contacts.html.

You can make a complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman. See contact details above.

Access to your personal information and documents

You have the right to seek access to your personal information under the Privacy Act and a range of other Office documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

Enquiries regarding access to personal information or Office documents should be directed to the Freedom of Information Officer at our contact details below.

Feedback and suggestions for improvement

We welcome feedback on our performance, processes, and suggestions for improvement from our clients and the public. You can tell the person you have been dealing with (or that person's supervisor) or the Director, Corporate and Public Affairs.

Accountability

We will report on the general operation of this Service Charter in our Annual Report.

Contact details

Phone: 1300 363 992
(local call rates apply except from mobile and pay phones which may incur higher charges)

TTY: 1800 620 241
(this number is dedicated for the hearing impaired only, no voice calls)

Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS): 131 450
(If you don't speak English or English is your second language and you need assistance to communicate with us call the Translating and Interpreting Service and ask for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. Apart from the local call cost this is a free service to you.)

Fax: 02 9284 9666

Email: privacy@privacy.gov.au
(for information on sending secure emails go to our website at: http://www.privacy.gov.au/contact/securemail/index.html)

Postal Address: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001

Website address: www.privacy.gov.au

Website feedback form: www.privacy.gov.au/contact/form.php

Office of the Privacy Commissioner

Privacy Enquiries Line 1300 363 992 - local call (calls from mobile and pay phones may incur higher charges)
TTY 1800 620 241 - no voice calls; Fax + 61 2 9284 9666; GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001.

About the Office Information Sheet - Client Service Charter.
Web HTML, Word and PDF published March 2008
ISBN 978-1-877079-59-7
© Commonwealth of Australia 2008

www.privacy.gov.au

[1] Australian Eastern Standard Time or during daylight saving in NSW / ACT Australian Eastern Daylight Time

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