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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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

When should an agency or Privacy Contact Officer approach the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for advice?

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner responds, where possible, to agency requests for advice on matters with significant privacy implications. The Office expects to be consulted on notable new policy proposals, cabinet submissions and pieces of draft legislation that have significant privacy implications.

The types of issues upon which to consult the Office include:

Proposals for increased levels of identification or authentication of identity potentially involving personal information, measures to combat identity fraud, and initiatives involving the sharing of personal information between Australian or State government agencies or with the private sector;
Health sector proposals, particularly in relation to electronic health records, other online heath initiatives and proposals relating to unique patient identification numbers;
Government online activities, and information and communications technologies developments, that may involve the handling of personal information - particular issues here include data security, individual digital signature certificates and web seals;
Proposals for additional data-matching using the tax file number, or new, large-scale, cross-agency data matching;
Whole of government approaches to service delivery; and
Privacy issues related to national security initiatives.

The Privacy Act has been in operation within the Australian and ACT public sectors for a number of years. We expect that agencies are now able to resolve many of their own privacy-related issues in consultation with their PCOs, for more information refer to FAQ 1 As a Australian or ACT government employee, where can I..... This is particularly so when privacy questions relate to the on-going implementation or management of existing programs.

We encourage agencies and their PCOs to make use of the generic advice available in the Guidelines to the Information Privacy Principles, and other information provided on our website. We also encourage PCOs to utilise the Government PCO Network, which serves as an invaluable source of collective experience and learning in relation to Australian public sector privacy.

, PDF of steps that agencies are strongly encouraged to follow before approaching the Office for advice.