The Office assists agencies, organisations and individuals to understand their rights and obligations under the Privacy Act by releasing a wide range of guidance material. The most important of these are our series of Guidelines and Information Sheets. Some key pieces of guidance material are outlined below.

Guidelines to the National Privacy Principles (September 2001)

To assist organisations in understanding their obligations under the Privacy Act 1988, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (the Office) has developed a set of guidelines that give organisations helpful information about the National Privacy Principles (NPPs). For organisations that want more detailed explanations, good practice or compliance tips, the Office has also released a number of information sheets. Organisations subject to the provisions of the Privacy Act will need to comply with the NPPs or an approved privacy code when handling personal information.

• Guidelines to the National Privacy Principles - HTML, PDF

Guidelines to the Information Privacy Principles (October 1994)

The Privacy Act 1988 recognises the importance that individuals place on the manner in which Federal and ACT government agencies treat their personal information and imposes stringent standards to which agencies must comply. Within the Act, 11 Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) govern the collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information by Federal and ACT government agencies, as well as providing individuals with certain rights to access their personal information and correct errors.

These guidelines discuss how agencies can meet their IPP obligations when handling personal information. They provide a detailed discussion and analysis of each IPP, with explanation given as to the meanings of the various terms and expressions used. Federal and ACT government agencies should find these a valuable resource in understanding their obligations under the IPPs and implementing privacy compliant practices.

• Guidelines to Information Privacy Principles 1-3 - PDF
• Guidelines to Information Privacy Principles 4-7 - PDF
• Guidelines to Information Privacy Principles 8-11 - PDF

Guidelines on Privacy Code Development (September 2001)

The following version of the Code Development Guidelines includes the prescribed standards, as referred to in section 18BB(3)(a)(i) of the Act. Section 18BB(3) of the Privacy Act says that before a code has procedures for making and dealing with complaints can be approved, the Privacy Commissioner must be satisfied that the procedures meet the prescribed standards. The prescribed standards can be found in Appendix A.

• Guidelines on Privacy Code Development - HTML, PDF