Yes, you have a general right to access all the personal information an organisation holds about you, although there may be some access limitations on information collected before 21 December 2001 if the organisation has not used the information since then.

An organisation can also refuse to give you access for other reasons, for example, a threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of someone else or where access is prevented by another law. Even then, an organisation must consider giving you limited access to the information through an intermediary.

The Privacy Commissioner has suggested ways organisations can give access to the personal information they hold about individuals. These include you looking over your records and making notes, taking a copy of those records with you, or having them explained to you. You will need to discuss the way you have access with the organisation. In most cases, unless there is a good reason, the organisation should give you access in the way you have requested it.

In most cases you can expect to be given access to information about you within 30 days, and sooner if possible, however there is no time frame set out in the Privacy Act. An organisation must not charge you to make a request to access information it holds about you but it may charge a reasonable fee to provide you with the information.

For more information about access and private sector organisations go to National Privacy Principle 6; Information Sheet 10 - Application of the NPPs to Information Already Held; Guidelines to the National Privacy Principles and the information sheets on Access and Correction and Access and the Use of Intermediaries.

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

You can also get access to information held by a Commonwealth or ACT government agency. For more information, go to the Plain English Guidelines to Information Privacy Principles 4 -7 and the Information Privacy Principles.