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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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

What should an organisation tell me when it is collecting personal information about me?

Organisations might collect personal information from you in a number of ways, such as in person, over the phone or over the Internet. Whatever method is used to collect the information, the organisation needs to take reasonable steps, at the time, or as soon as practicable afterwards, to make you aware of a number of things including:

its name and how you can contact them;
why they are collecting the information;
any consequences if you do not provide the information;
what other organisations your information might usually be given to; and
that you can access personal information held about you by the organisation.

If this information is obvious (eg/ on a form that is given to you to complete) or you are aware of the information already, the organisation doesnï¿½t need to tell you these things again specifically.

The things an organisation needs to tell individuals when their personal information is being collected are fully set out in National Privacy Principle (NPP) 1.3.

For more general information about what the Privacy Act means for you go to My Privacy, My Choice - Your New Privacy Rights.