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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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

My criminal record

Criminal record information is classed as 'sensitive information' in the Privacy Act. Sensitive information is a subset of personal information which is given additional protections.

Criminal records may also be covered by the Spent convictions scheme. This scheme allows people with old minor convictions not to disclose information about them in some circumstances after a certain period of time. The scheme also provides protection against that information being used and disclosed in an unauthorised way.

The Privacy Commissioner has the power to investigate breaches of the spent convictions scheme. To find out more about making a privacy complaint, see Complaints.