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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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.

Community attitudes

2007 Research into Community attitudes towards Privacy in Australia (released 28/08/07)
2004 Research into Community attitudes towards Privacy in Australia (released 26/10/04)
2001 Research into Community, Business and Government attitudes towards Privacy in Australia (released 31/7/01)

2007 Research into Community attitudes towards Privacy in Australia

Background

The Office commissioned Wallis Consulting Group in 2007 to conduct research into community attitudes towards privacy. The study, Community Attitudes to Privacy 2007, aims to understand Australians’ changing awareness and opinions about privacy laws, how they apply to government and business and how individuals view a range of emerging issues, in particular, identity fraud and theft and the use of closed circuit television.

Please note that a revised report of the study now appears on this website, replacing the earlier version of the report that had appeared here prior to 26 September 2007. Details of the amendments made in the revised report appear here.

Research Results

Community Attitudes to Privacy 2007 - PDF (as revised 26/09/07)

Community Attitudes to Privacy 2007 Methodological Report - PDF

2004 Research into Community attitudes towards Privacy in Australia

Background

The Office commissioned Roy Morgan Research, in March 2004, to investigate community attitudes towards privacy. The Company conducted a nation-wide telephone study by calling 1,507 adults during May 2004. This study was in part a replication of a similar study conducted in 2001.

Three of the questions asked in the 2004 survey were verified by re-asking them to a further 1214 respondents in a second round questioning. The majority of questions in the 2004 survey were repeated from the 2001 survey. Respondents interviewed were representative of the adult population nationwide, and results were weighted by age, sex and region using census data.

Research Results

2004 Community attitudes towards privacy in Australia - HTML, PDF

2001 Research into Community, Business and Government attitudes towards Privacy in Australia

The Research Project

During May 2001, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner used qualitative and quantitative research to investigate the understanding, behaviours and attitudes of individuals, businesses and federal government agencies in Australia towards privacy, and to identify emerging trends.

The research project was split into two components:

Community research (fully government funded)
Business and federal government agency research ( partially funded by Privacy Partners & Privacy Project Sponsors)

The research was completed by July 2001, and enabled the Office to take a highly focused approach to issues and communications management to ensure all Australians and organisations know about their new privacy rights and responsibilities.

Research Results

Community attitudes towards privacy in Australia - HTML, PDF

Business attitudes towards privacy in Australia - HTML, PDF

Government attitudes towards privacy in Australia - HTML, PDF

Objectives of Research

The key objectives of the research were to:

Part I (Community)

Identify and analyse the perceptions, behaviours and expectations of individuals in relation to privacy, including perceptions of costs and benefits

Part II (Business & Federal Government)

Identify and analyse the perceptions, behaviours and expectations of business and federal government agencies in relation to privacy
Identify operational and strategic barriers and needs of business in relation to complying with current (at the time) and proposed responsibilities under the Privacy Act and amendments, and adopting a privacy best practice approach
Identify operational and strategic barriers for federal government agencies in meeting their responsibilities under the Privacy Act, and putting in place a privacy best practice approach

In addition, both parts were to:

Identify key stakeholder concerns
Test our current positioning concepts/messages.
Identify segments of the relevant markets, and appropriate communication channels for the provision of information, training, and products to those segments.

Methodology

Methodology includes: focus groups and CATI telephone interviews for the community research; in depth interviews and telephone interviews for the business research; and focus groups and self-completion questionnaires for the government research.

Reference Committee

A reference committee consisting of key stakeholders, sponsors and members of the OFPC has been established to provide broad guidance for the project. The committee provides feedback and broad direction to the project and will be given the opportunity to guide the research tools and examine both the interim reports, and the final report.

Privacy Partners and Privacy Project Sponsors

The Office will be getting some assistance with resources for the Privacy Business and Government project from our major contributors, Privacy Partners: PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Australian Information Industry Association, Freehills, and Centrelink, and Privacy Project Sponsor, the Australian Taxation Office. Support from these organisations means that we are able to take a far more thorough look at the attitudes and behaviours of those organisations responsible for meeting the requirements of the Privacy Act.