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Complain to the organisation or agency first
If you’re concerned your personal information has been mishandled, you first need to complain to the organisation or agency you think has mishandled it. If they don’t respond to your complaint within 30 days or you’re not happy with their response, you can lodge a complaint with us.
Check if you can complain to an external dispute resolution scheme
Before making a complaint with us, you may be required to complain to an approved external dispute resolution (EDR) scheme first. An approved EDR scheme may be able to help with your privacy complaint as well as other complaints you might have.
EDR schemes have been approved to deal with privacy complaints about:
- an electricity, gas or water provider (in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria or Western Australia)
- a financial service provider
- public transport (in Victoria)
- a telecommunications provider
- tolling (in New South Wales, Queensland or Victoria).
View a full list of approved EDR schemes.
For example, if you have a privacy complaint about how your bank has handled your personal information, you should contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) – who is an approved EDR for banks and financial services. As an approved EDR under the Privacy Act, AFCA has the power to deal with your privacy complaint. AFCA might also be able to assist you with other (non-privacy) complaints at the same time, such as complaints about the financial services provided or other interactions you may have had with the bank.
Read more about the EDR schemes we recognise and the type of privacy-related complaints they handle.
How to lodge a privacy complaint with us
The Privacy Act 1988 requires that your complaint to us must be made in writing. We can’t take your complaint over the phone.
If you are unable to access our online form, you can also download the form (DOCX, 63 KB) and email it to us at oaicintake@oaic.gov.au or print out a copy and submit it to us via post at:
GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001.
Download the privacy complaint form (DOCX, 63 KB)
Our privacy policy sets out the personal information we collect when you lodge a complaint with us and how we deal with that information.
You can nominate someone to represent you in your privacy complaint, including a lawyer. You will need to complete the form below and submit it to us when you submit your complaint to us.
- Privacy Complaint Authorised Representative Form (DOCX, 71 KB)
- Privacy Complaint Authorised Representative Form (PDF, 166 KB)
You can withdraw your complaint at any time without penalty.
What your written privacy complaint must include
If you decide to lodge a privacy complaint with us, it is important that you provide all the information required in our online form. This includes:
- your name
- your contact details
- the name of the organisation or agency you’re complaining about – without a valid organisation or agency name, we can’t progress your complaint
- a description of your privacy complaint (what happened and when)
- a copy of your written complaint, or details of a verbal complaint, made to the organisation or agency and their response
- any reference numbers or identifiers from when you made your complaint to the organisation or agency
- any action the organisation or agency you complained to has taken to fix the problem
- a statement of what outcome you’d like to resolve your complaint.
- also include the organisation or agency’s ABN if you know it
If your complaint involves credit reporting, please include a copy of your credit report. (See also Complaints about Credit Reporting.)
When handling a complaint, the OAIC will consider all the information that you have provided. The OAIC is not required to seek more information than that which is available, and case officers are entitled to decide how to handle a complaint based on the material available to them. This may include a decision to decline to investigate a complaint or to proceed to an investigation.
Help lodging a complaint
If you need:
- hearing or speech assistance, contact us through the National Relay Service
- a translator, contact us through the Translating and Interpreting Service
For all other help, you can email us at oaicintake@oaic.gov.au or call our Enquiries Line on 1300 363 992.
Make a complaint for someone else
You can lodge a complaint on behalf of someone else if they give their consent, written authority and there are otherwise no limitations for you to act on someone else’s behalf (such as the existence of court orders).
When you lodge the complaint, you must include a copy of the person’s written authority for you to act on their behalf. You must include this form to enable us to talk to the right person:
