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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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

Who can help me if I am not happy about the way my real estate agent* or landlord is handling my personal information?

Some real estate agents and landlords are covered by the Privacy Act and some are not. We can investigate a complaint against an agent or landlord if:

they are covered by the Privacy Act
your complaint is about the way they handle your personal information.

Who is covered by the Privacy Act

An agent with an annual turnover of more than $3 million is covered by the Privacy Act. Generally, the Act will not apply to agents that have an annual turnover of less than $3 million. There are some exceptions to this general rule.

Example 1: an agent that trades in personal information (receives money or some kind of benefit from collecting or giving out personal information) may be covered by the Privacy Act, even if it has an annual turnover of less than $3 million.

Example 2: a landlord will usually not be covered by the Privacy Act. However, if they are conducting real estate activities as a business which has a turnover of more than $3 million, they will be covered.

Always ask questions

If you want to know whether an agent or landlord is covered by the Privacy Act, you can ask them or check their website and see if they have a privacy policy. If they are covered by the Privacy Act they should have a privacy policy and must make it available to you.

More information

Your state or territory Fair Trading / Consumer Affairs office, tenants' organisation or Real Estate Institute may also be able to help you.

Fair Trading / Consumer Affairs:

http://www.business.gov.au/Business+Entry+Point/Business+Topics/Fair+trading/Fair+trading+laws+ in+your+state+or+territory.htm

Tenants' Organisations:

http://www.tenants.org.au/publish/linksStateTenantOrganisations/index.php

Real Estate Institute of Australia:

http://www.reiaustralia.com.au/

* Including property managers