Site Changes

On 1 November 2010 the Office of the Privacy Commissioner was integrated into the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). An interim website for the OAIC is available at www.oaic.gov.au. This site (privacy.gov.au), which only contains information related to the OAIC's privacy function, will be maintained until a combined site is established.

Information about the new Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: www.oaic.gov.au

How do we comply?

Australian, ACT and Norfolk Island government agencies must comply with the Information Privacy Principles or ‘IPPs' in the Privacy Act. The IPPs set out how agencies may collect, use, store and disclose personal information.

We provide plenty of guidance material to help you comply with the IPPs:

Find out how to comply with the IPPs by reading our IPP Guidelines:
Guidelines to the Information Privacy Principles 1 - 3
Guidelines to the Information Privacy Principles 4 - 7
Guidelines to the Information Privacy Principles 8 - 11
Planning a project or initiative that may involve the handling of personal information? You may want to do a privacy impact assessment. Our Privacy Impact Assessment Guide will help.
If your agency has suffered an information security breach, you should take appropriate action to mitigate associated risks. Check out our Guide to Handling Personal Information Security Breaches.
Want some general tips on good privacy practice and how to comply with the Privacy Act? Take a look at 10 steps to protecting other people's personal information.
See how the Privacy Act is applied in practice. Read our complaint case notes.
Still got questions? Chances are someone's asked them before. Take a look at our frequently asked questions for government.