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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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

An organisation has recorded an opinion about me that I don`t agree with. Is there anything I can do?

There may be circumstances where an organisation has recorded an opinion about you that you disagree with. The Privacy Act deals with 'personal information' which in the Act can include information or an opinion about an identifiable individual.

An example of when an organisation might record an opinion is when a doctor or health professional records their opinion of their patient's health. The patient may disagree with the doctor's diagnosis, but if the record contains an accurate reflection of the doctor's professional opinion, it would be difficult to establish that the opinion is 'incorrect' as such.

In any case where an individual and an organisation disagree over whether the information is accurate, complete or up-to-date, the Privacy Act says that the individual can ask to have a statement associated with the information stating that the individual believes that the information is not accurate, complete or up-to-date. Also see FAQ 6.