Public Interest DeterminationsPart VI of the Privacy Act gives the Privacy Commissioner the power to determine that an act or practice of an Australian or ACT Government agency, or a private sector organisation, which may constitute a breach of an Information Privacy Principle, a National Privacy Principle or an approved privacy code, shall be regarded as not breaching that principle or approved code for the purposes of the Act. The power for the Privacy Commissioner to issue Public Interest Determinations (PIDs) in relation to applications by Australian and ACT Government agencies has existed for some years. The Privacy Commissioner's power to issue determinations in relation to private sector organisations came into effect with the amendments to the Privacy Act in December 2001. These amendments also give the Privacy Commissioner the power to make a Temporary Public Interest Determination (TPID), in limited circumstances, where an application for a PID contains matters of an urgent nature.
Register of Public Interest DeterminationsThe listing of Public Interest Determinations and Temporary Public Interest Determinations below constitutes the Register of Determinations which the Privacy Commissioner is required to keep in accordance with Section 80E of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Determinations no longer in operation are found in the Publications Archive section of this website.
Register of Temporary Public Interest Determinations
Public Interest Determination Procedure GuidelinesThe Privacy Commissioner has issued Public Interest Determination Procedure Guidelines to assist Australian and ACT public sector agencies and private sector organisations who are considering, or making, applications for a Public Interest Determination (PID) or a Temporary Public Interest Determination (TPID) under the Privacy Act. Following the amendments to the Privacy Act, which commenced in December 2001, the Office reviewed, consulted upon and revised these guidelines. The guidelines now take account of the new provisions in the Privacy Act in relation to PIDs and TPIDs. For those considering making an application for a PID or a TPID, the Office strongly encourages them, whether an Australian/ACT Government agency or a private sector organisation, to discuss the matter with our Office in the first instance. The revised guidelines, dated November 2002 are available in PDF or Word format. Note: The previous Guidelines have been placed on the Archives page. Notices of current applications for Public Interest DeterminationsThere are no current applications.Note on new procedures for when a PID comes into effectAs a result of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (Cth), any public interest determinations come into effect on the day they are issued by the Privacy Commissioner, rather than at the end of the 15-day disallowance period as described at paragraphs 5.5-5.6 of the Office's PID Guidelines (revised November 2002). By way of explanation, section 80(2) of the Privacy Act purports to vary the effect of section 48 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. The effect of s 80(2) has, in the past, been that PIDs have only come into effect when the disallowance period passes. However, when the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 was enacted, section 48 of the Acts Interpretations Act was repealed. As section 80(2) is dependent on section 48 of the Acts Interpretations Act, the former section does not have any effect. The Office is currently revising its PID Guidelines to reflect this change. However, the determinations would still be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny and the disallowance process. |