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Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)

The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) sets out rules of conduct called Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) which establish standards for the collection and handling of 'personal information' (as defined by the Act) by Commonwealth agencies. The APPs comprise a code of conduct for privacy of personal information in areas [Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) s 14] including:

  • the manner and purpose of collection
  • requests from individuals, or from other people, agencies or bodies
  • storage and security of information
  • availability of information and access to it
  • alteration of information held by agencies
  • obligation to maintain accurate information
  • the permitted uses of information
  • limits on agencies disclosing information held by them.

Under the Act agencies must comply with the APPs and a breach of an APP by an agency is deemed to be an interference with the privacy of an individual [s 13]. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) may issue a public interest determination to allow practices which would otherwise be a breach (eg. publication of Telstra's white pages telephone directory).

The APPs and many useful publications about them and about how to make a complaint about breaches of them are available from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's website.

Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)  :  Last Revised: Thu Jan 5th 2017
The content of the Law Handbook is made available as a public service for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice. See Disclaimer for details. For free and confidential legal advice in South Australia call 1300 366 424.