Privacy when providing services
Some community organisations, including those that have contractual arrangements with government (eg. funding agreements) may be required to comply with privacy laws.
Privacy reforms on the horizon
The Federal Government has recently made changes to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). These changes include new Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). The changes, including the new principles, will commence in March 2014. Not-for-profit organisations will need to consider how they apply, both generally and to any fundraising activities. The PilchConnect Guide: Privacy for Victorian not-for-profit organisations has not yet been updated to reflect these changes. For more information about these changes go the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
If you would like to keep informed of changes to the law (including any changes to privacy laws), you can sign up to PilchConnect's e-bulletin at www.pilch.org.au/subscribe or like us on Facebook.
PilchConnect Guide: Privacy for Victorian not-for-profit organisations
PilchConnect has produced a Guide which describes the obligations in the following Acts:
- Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) which sets out the National Privacy Principles (Federal NPPs) and the Information Privacy Principles (Federal IPPs)
- Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic) which sets out the Information Privacy Principles (Victorian IPPs), and
- Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) which sets out the Health Privacy Principles (Victorian HPPs).
Additional information
There are other legal issues that cross over with privacy that are not addressed in the PilchConnect Guide: Privacy for Victorian Community Organisations. These include the following areas of law:
- Confidentiality - In some circumstances you may have an obligation to keep certain information confidential. This can be because of:
- an agreement containing confidentiality obligation
- the commercial or secret nature of the information itself, or
- the circumstances in which the information was obtained.
PilchConnect has produced some general information on confidentiality laws. Go to Protecting your name, idea and material.
- Surveillance - Federal and State laws regulate surveillance, recording, monitoring and interception of communications, including when these are done in the workplace. The laws cover video, audio, computer, telephone and tracking (eg. GPS) surveillance. For information go to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
- Direct marketing and research - The Spam Act 2003 (Cth) regulates how you send promotional emails and other commercial electronic messages, while the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth) and related industry standards regulate telemarketing and telephone research. For information go to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and/or the Do Not Call Register website.
- Freedom of information (FOI) - If someone has asked to access their information or told you they have a right to it under FOI laws, you will need to consider if that legislation applies to your organisation (eg. if your organisation holds personal information as a result of a contract between it and the government). For information go to the Victorian Government's Freedom of Information online and/or the Australian Government's Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.