If you are an Australian, ACT or Norfolk Island government employee and you handle personal information, then you need to comply with the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) in the Privacy Act.

The IPPs set out how government agencies may collect, use, store and disclose personal information. To find out more about the IPPs, check out How do we comply?

It may not always be immediately obvious how the Privacy Act impacts on your work. The Privacy Act will probably apply if you do any of the following:

• Supervise staff
• Handle personal information about someone in your agency
• Develop policy that may impact on the handling of personal information
• Deal with clients and handle their personal information
• Undertake fraud investigations
• Design forms for the collection of personal information
• Develop or manage outsourcing contracts
• Manage and develop IT systems
• Monitor staff use of internet and email facilities
• Work on a hotline or in a call centre.

If you perform any of these activities, then the Privacy Act affects you and you need to be aware of your agency's responsibility to protect personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Your agency's Privacy Contact Officer will be able to tell you more about your responsibilities under the Act.