28/7/04

Two new website initiatives that make it easier to know about privacy rights were launched today by the Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner's website now includes multilingual web pages that make information about privacy rights available in 11 languages.

It also has a new online interactive site called ComplaintChecker that helps people to work out for themselves whether the Commissioner is likely to be able to investigate their complaint.

"Knowing about privacy rights is important and the multilingual web pages and the ComplaintChecker will give people clear, short and usable information about their rights" said Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis.

"The great feature of the new multilingual web pages is that non-English speakers can email the Office in one of the 11 languages to organise to speak by phone with a representative of the Office and an interpreter. This will make contacting the Office much easier for non-English speakers seeking information or wishing to make a privacy complaint.

The ComplaintChecker will also assist people in understanding how to make a complaint if they think their personal information may have been misused. "The new ComplaintChecker asks a person step by step questions about their problem. It tells them in a matter of minutes if the Office is likely to investigate the matter, without them needing to read detailed information about the application of the Privacy Act.

"I believe that the Complaint Checker and the multilingual web pages will help people to better know their privacy rights" said the Commissioner.

The multilingual web pages are available in 11 languages including Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Italian, Korean, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese and can be accessed from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner's home page at:

• http://www.privacy.gov.au/privacy_rights/languages/

The Complaint Checker can be found on the Office's website at:

• www.privacy.gov.au/privacy_rights/ComplaintChecker/