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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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

Private sector organisations

Our Office can investigate complaints against private sector organisations, including all private health service providers that are subject to the National Privacy Principles (NPPs).

The NPPs set the standards for the way many private sector organisations and all private health service providers handle personal information.

There are exemptions in the Privacy Act for the media, political parties and for information held in employee records. Information Sheet 12 -2001 Coverage of and Exemptions from the Private Sector Provisions provides more information on those exemptions.

If you think an organisation has breached the NPPs, you can complain to us. But generally, before you do, you need to write to the organisation and try to resolve the problem directly.