Your right to privacy

How privacy affects you

We are bound by strict confidentiality and secrecy provisions in social security, families, health, child support, redress and disability services law. These provisions limit how we use your information and when and to whom it can be released. We also have obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.

What is privacy

The Privacy Act contains 13 Australian Privacy Principles. These regulate the way we collect, store, provide access to, use and disclose personal information.

The Privacy Act gives you rights, including:

being told generally what kind of information we are collecting and how we collect it
being told generally why your personal information is being collected
your personal information can only be collected for a lawful purpose
finding out what information we hold about you and have it corrected if it is incorrect, out of date or incomplete, the Freedom of Information Act 1982 also supports this
advising that your personal information must be stored securely and protected from interference or misuse.

To find out how we use your personal information, read our privacy policy.

If you have concerns about how we've collected, managed or disclosed your personal information, you can read our privacy policy. It can give you details about our approach to your privacy. You can also call our Complaints and Feedback line on 1800 132 468 or the TTY phone on 1800 810 586.

Why we collect and use your information

When we collect your personal information it must be directly related to, or reasonably necessary for, one or more of our functions or activities.

The legislation we administer gives us the authority to collect your personal information.

In addition to requesting information from you, we may also obtain information about you and your family from other government agencies and third parties.

Any personal information we get from a third party is treated the same as if you provided it.

The collection of your personal information is detailed in our privacy policy.

Use of information

Your personal information will be used in accordance with the Privacy Act. It won't be used for any purpose other than why it was collected.

We may use your personal information if:

it's authorised or required by law
you've consented to the use
the use meets one of the other exceptions in the Australian Privacy Principles.

When your personal information is collected, you'll usually be advised of its intended use at the point of collection. Your information may also be used by our other services, as authorised or required by law.

When we share your information

Your personal information won't be disclosed to any other person, body or agency unless:

you give us permission
it's authorised or required by law
it meets one of the other exceptions in the Australian Privacy Principles.

From time to time it may be necessary to disclose your personal information to third parties. The circumstances surrounding why, who and when your information may be disclosed are outlined in our privacy policy.

Our privacy notices

These privacy notices outline how we'll manage your personal information in connection with the:

You can read more about privacy, on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s (OAIC) website.

If you aren’t happy with how we've handled your privacy concerns you can also contact the OAIC directly. The OAIC is independent and can investigate privacy complaints.

Please contact us in the first instance. We value your feedback and concerns and will make an effort to improve our services. The OAIC will generally ask us to conduct our own inquiry first and pass any findings on to them.

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