About the Office
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About the Office of the Privacy
Commissioner
Our purpose
Our purpose is to promote and protect privacy in Australia.
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Who We Are and what we cover
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is an independent Office which has
responsibilities under the federal Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
The Act provides protection for:
- Personal information about you that is handled by Australian and ACT government agencies;
- Personal information about you held by all large private sector organisations, all private sector health service
providers and some small businesses;
- Credit worthiness information held by credit
reporting agencies and credit providers; and
- Personal tax file numbers used by individuals and
organisations.
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Related
Legislation
The Privacy Commissioner also has responsibilities under the following
federal laws:
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What We Do
Our Office is structured in the following way:
The Privacy Enquiries Line
The Privacy Enquiries Line gives general assistance:
- about the Privacy Act and privacy issues more generally and promotes best
practice in privacy standards;
- to individuals about their rights under the Privacy Act and related
legislation; and
- to Australian and ACT government agencies and private sector organisations
on how to comply with the Privacy Act and related legislation.
Complaint handling and audits
The Compliance section investigates complaints from individuals
about interferences with privacy under the Privacy Act against Australian and
ACT government agencies and private sector organisations, including health
service providers, credit providers and credit reporting agencies.
Compliance also investigates possible breaches of the:
In addition, the section can audit:
- Australian and ACT government agencies
- credit provider and credit reporting organisations
- certain records of telecommunications organisations
- tax file number recipients
- and, at their request, other private sector organisations covered by the
Privacy Act
The Commissioner also has the power to initiate own motion investigations
about potential breaches of privacy that do not relate to a particular
complainant.
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Policy
The Policy section:
- provides guidance and advice,to Australian and ACT government agencies and
private sector organisations on privacy issues;
- examines and makes submissions on proposed legislation and makes comments on
inquiries that have significant privacy implications; and
- also seeks to inform itself of technological and social developments that
affect individual privacy.
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Corporate and Public Affairs
The Corporate and Public Affairs section assists the Office in communicating
with stakeholders through publications, media relations, secretariat support,
speech writing, events and the Office web site.
All Office publications are available free of charge from this web site www.privacy.gov.au/publications.
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You can contact us by:
| Telephone |
1300 363 992
(cost of a local call) operates between the hours of 9am -
5pm (EST). Monday to Friday |
| TTY |
1800 620 241
(this number is dedicated for the hearing impaired only, no
voice calls) |
| Post |
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001 |
| Facsimile |
+61 2 9284 9666 |
| E-mail |
privacy@privacy.gov.au
|
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Privacy Commissioner, Karen Curtis
Karen Curtis was appointed as Privacy Commissioner for five years from 12
July 2004. Karen has had a policy interest in privacy for some time. She was
appointed by the Governor General to the Privacy Advisory Committee in December
2000 and in her previous position as Director, Industry Policy, of the
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) she had responsibility for
privacy from a business perspective.
Karen was with ACCI, a peak industry association representing over 350,000
Australian businesses, for seven years. In that time she had responsibility for
a range of industry policy and small business issues affecting the
competitiveness of Australian business including innovation, electronic
commerce, telecommunications, regulatory reform, corporate social
responsibility, food policy, government purchasing, water policy, energy policy,
and environmental policy including climate change.
In 1998 and 1999, Karen was the inaugural Executive Director of Australian
Made Campaign Limited which relaunched the Australian Made Logo Scheme in 1999.
She is a member of the Consultative Committee for the National Judicial
College, and has previously been a Councillor on Standards Australia's General
Council, and a member of numerous government committees including the ACCC Small
Business Advisory Group, the National Small Business Forum and the Government
Business Climate Change Dialogue. She is Member of the Australian Institute of
Company Directors. Karen was a Director of Small Enterprise Telecommunications
Limited for four years, including two years as Chair.
Prior to joining ACCI, Karen held positions with the federal government where
she provided policy advice on industry policy and S&T issues. Karen is a
graduate of the University of Queensland in history, politics and law.
Karen's community involvement has included Chair, ACT Junior Girls Hockey,
Member of the ACT Sport and Recreation Ministerial Advisory Committee, and she
is a Director of the Daramalan College Board in the ACT.
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Deputy Privacy Commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim
Mr Timothy Pilgrim has been Deputy Privacy Commissioner since February
1998.
His career in public sector management spans more than 20 years and several
government agencies.
Before taking up his appointment as Deputy Privacy Commissioner, Mr Pilgrim
held a number of senior management positions in the Australian Taxation Office
including the Small Business Program and the Child Support Agency.
He has extensive experience in corporate management, covering fields such as
human resource management, industrial relations and parliamentary liaison. More
broadly, at the corporate level Mr Pilgrim was responsible for providing high
level advice on strategies for implementing large scale cultural change.
Timothy's achievements as Deputy Privacy Commissioner at the Office of the
Privacy Commissioner include close involvement in developing the private sector
provisions of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), which included widespread
consultation with community, business and government organisations. He also
played a key role in implementing the private sector provisions which took
effect on 21 December 2001. Timothy has primary responsibility for oversight of
policy development and public relations functions as well as managing the
Office's corporate and administrative operations.
Prior to joining the Public Service, Mr Pilgrim's career was in the wine
industry where he worked as an assistant winemaker and held a range of junior
management positions within the industry.
Mr Pilgrim holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sydney University.
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Assistant Privacy Commissioner, Mark
Hummerston
Mark Hummerston was appointed Assistant Privacy Commissioner in November
2006. He has primary responsibility for overseeing the compliance activities of
the Office.
Mark has an extensive background in public sector management, having worked
in the NSW and Queensland public sectors and in local government. In particular
Mark has worked with independent integrity agencies - as Executive Director of
the Crime and Misconduct Commission in Queensland and as Manager, Assessments
with the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.
In local government he was the Director Governance, Management and
Information Services at Randwick City Council in Sydney and prior to that held
various management positions with the Northern Sydney Area Health Service and at
Royal North Shore Hospital.
Mark has considerable experience in leadership, corporate governance and
change management. He has led large-scale projects, including organisational
reform, replacement of business systems and cultural change. He also has
experience in corporate management, including human resources, finance,
information technology, communications and legal services.
Mark has an MBA from Southern Cross University.
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