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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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

Australian and ACT government agencies

Australian and ACT government agencies are bound by the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) in the Privacy Act. State and local government bodies are not covered, except for ACT agencies. There are also exceptions for intelligence agencies and government business enterprises.

Among other things, the IPPs cover the collection, security, quality, use and disclosure of personal information that Australian and ACT agencies hold. Please visit the Government section on our website for further information on agencies.

If you think that an Australian or ACT agency has breached the IPPs, you can complain to us. But generally, before you do, you need to try to resolve the problem with the agency directly.