Privacy & freedom of information

Privacy

Victorian and Commonwealth government departments and agencies must comply with laws about how they collect, use and store personal information about people.

These laws protect the privacy of things like:

• information in medical records
• information you give to government agencies and local councils
• information you give to some businesses
• the installation, use and maintenance of surveillance devices and the communication and publication of surveillance records
• unauthorised listening to or recording of communications passing over telephone lines.

Privacy principles

Almost all Victorian government agencies, statutory bodies and local councils must follow the 10 information privacy principles set out in the Information Privacy Act 2000 (link below). These are:

• how/when information is collected
• how information is used and disclosed
• how the quality (accuracy) of the information is maintained
• how the information is kept secure
• the openness and availability of organisations' privacy policies
• individuals’ ability to access and correct their personal information
• the use of unique identifiers, such as tax file numbers
• the option of anonymity wherever lawful and practicable
• the transfer of personal information outside of Victoria
• the collection of sensitive information, such as membership of groups or criminal record.

Each agency is required to:

• manage personal information according to the privacy principles
• have an accessible privacy policy
• have a method of dealing with complaints about breaches of privacy.

Privacy complaints

If you have a privacy complaint about a government department or statutory authority you should first complain directly to that department. If you are not satisfied with their response you can contact the state or federal privacy commissioners.

The Victorian Privacy Commissioner (also known as Privacy Victoria) (link below) oversees the way state and local government agencies handle your personal information, apart from health information. (Health information privacy complaints are handled by the Health Services Commission. See 'Complaints about healthcare' (link below) for details.)

Individuals whose personal information is held by a state or local government agency can complain to the Privacy Commissioner about an act or practice that may interfere with their privacy. The Privacy Commissioner will try to conciliate (resolve) complaints.

A serious breach of privacy may result in a compliance notice from the Privacy Commissioner to the organisation.

Where conciliation is not possible or fails, complaints may go to the General List of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (link below). If the tribunal upholds a complaint, it can issue an order that information be corrected and order compensation of up to $100,000.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (link below) assists with complaints about privacy issues about Commonwealth or ACT government agencies, consumer credit reporting, tax file numbers and old convictions. You can also complain if you think a private business has not handled personal information about you properly. You need to complain directly to the organisation involved first and give it 30 days to respond.

Freedom of information

There are separate freedom of information (FOI) laws for the state government and for federal government. These laws ensure that anyone in the community can get copies of all or part of government files, if they ask.

You have the right to look at files that relate to a government department or agency if:

• you are in dispute with a department
• you are simply interested
• you want to check that the records are accurate.

Each government department has its own FOI officer. Contact departments directly if you want to make an FOI application. Be precise about what you want to see.

There is often a small fee to pay to cover the cost of making copies of documents, as well as an application fee. You can ask not to pay the fees if it is going to cause you hardship. Your application may not be accepted if you do not pay the fee or if you are not clear enough about the documents you want.

Victoria's Freedom of Information Act 1982 (link below) says that government department or agency must respond to you within a certain time. The agency has no more than 45 days after accepting your application to let you know its decision.

See the Freedom of Information Online website (link below) for more information about FOI requests to Victorian government departments and agencies, or the Australian Attorney-General's website (link below) for information about FOI requests to federal departments and agencies.

Complaints about FOI requests

If you are not given the documents that you want, or the material given is incomplete or censored (where certain parts of the document are deleted), you can appeal to the General List at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) (link below). The list can order the government department or agency concerned to hand over the documents. To find out whether the General List can hear a dispute, contact the government body you are dealing with and ask what appeal rights exist in your case.

The Victorian Ombudsman (link below) provides an independent, impartial and free service that deals with certain FOI matters relating to Victorian government departments, statutory authorities and local councils, particularly where agencies fail to respond within 45 days to a request and where agencies advise that a document does not exist or cannot be located. Officers of the ombudsman can give advice or help to lodge complaints.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman (link below) can investigate complaints about the actions of Australian Government agencies. The ombudsman’s services are free.

More information

About VLA – FOI, privacy & complaints

Charter of human rights

Complaints about government departments

Complaints about health care

VLA website privacy statement

Related websites

Australian Attorney-General – freedom of information (new window)

Commonwealth Ombudsman (new window)

Office of the Privacy Commissioner (new window)

Freedom of Information Online (new window)

Ombudsman Victoria (new window)

Privacy Victoria (new window)

VCAT – General List (new window)

Related legislation

Freedom of Information Act 1982 (new window)

Information Privacy Act 2000 (new window)

How we can help

Call Victoria Legal Aid’s (VLA) Legal Information Service for free information over the phone about the law and how we can help you with your legal problem. You can speak to a legal information officer in English or ask for an interpreter. Phone (03) 9269 0120 or 1800 677 402 (country callers), Monday to Friday from 8.45 am to 5.15 pm.

VLA’s other free legal services include:

• advice at VLA offices and other locations across Victoria
• lawyers who are on ‘duty’ to help at many courts and tribunals.

For some civil matters we can provide you with a lawyer to help you run your case.

To find out more about any of our legal services see What we do.