Site Changes

On 1 November 2010 the Office of the Privacy Commissioner was integrated into the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and a new website established at www.oaic.gov.au.

Note 1: Major changes to the Privacy Act 1988 will come into effect in March 2014. Agencies, businesses and not for profits need to start preparing for these changes. For more information go to our privacy law reform page at www.oaic.gov.au
Note 2: From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date. For new privacy content visit the www.oaic.gov.au website.

About privacy

This section provides a basic introduction to what privacy is and what the Privacy Act 1988 covers.

In this section:

What is privacy?
Find out about different types of privacy and which types our Office can help with.
Privacy Act snapshot
Get a short overview of what the Privacy Act covers and how it works.
Who's covered?
The Privacy Act covers a number of different agencies and organisations. Find out more...
Who can help me?
There are plenty of places that can help you with privacy. Find out more...
Links
Look here for a wide range of Australian and international privacy related links.
Community attitudes
Find out about our research into attitudes to privacy.
History
Get a snapshot of the history of Australian privacy regulation.