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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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

Can a Australian or ACT government agency disclose my personal information to my partner or another family member?

In general, no.

If an agency did not tell you when collecting your personal information that it may disclose it to your partner or to another family member, and if you have not given your permission for this to happen, then usually the agency cannot make such a disclosure.

However, there are some limited circumstances in which an agency may disclose your information to your partner or to another person. For example, an agency may disclose your personal information to another person if this is necessary to prevent or lessen a threat of death or injury to yourself or someone else, or if the agency is required to do so by a specific law.

Someone at the agency should be able to tell you why the disclosure has been made. Alternatively, most Australian and ACT government agencies have a Privacy Contact Officer, who may be able to provide you with an explanation, or advise you of the procedure for lodging a complaint.