An Australian Government agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) must publish a range of information on its website as part of its Information Publication Scheme (IPS). This includes the agency’s structure, functions, appointments, annual reports, consultation arrangements, and details of the agency’s freedom of information (FOI) officer. Information routinely released through FOI requests and routinely provided to parliament must also be published online.

We are committed to taking a proactive approach to publishing information. Our IPS Agency Plan outlines our approach to the scheme and what we will include in our IPS entry.

You can find the categories of information we publish in our IPS entry below, along with links to the information or documents.  If you have any difficulty accessing any information please contact us.

See Access our information to learn how to request access to other information we hold which is not published through the IPS or elsewhere on our website. Information we've released under FOI requests is available on our FOI disclosure log.

Required information

Agency IPS plan

The OAIC is required under section 8(2)(a) of the FOI Act to publish the OAIC Agency IPS plan.

Who we are

The OAIC is required under sections 8(2)(b) and 8(2)(d) of the FOI Act to publish information about the organisation and structure of the agency, the location of offices, governance arrangements, senior management team and statutory appointments. This information is available on the pages set out below.

What we do

The OAIC is required under ss 8(2)(c) and 8(2)(j) of the FOI Act to publish a description of the functions and powers of the agency, and the rules, guidelines, practices and precedents relating to those functions and powers (that is, operational information).

Operational information

Our functional delegations and authorisations are included on the Operational information page.

Our FOI ‘operational information’ is found throughout this website, particularly in the following sections:

Our Privacy ‘operational information’ is found throughout this website, particularly in the following sections:

General operational information is found throughout this website, in particular in the sections listed below.

Our reports and responses to parliament

The OAIC is required under ss 8(2)(e) and 8(2)(h) of the FOI Act to publish Annual reports laid before the Parliament, and other information routinely provided to the Parliament. Our reports and responses to parliament are found through our Corporate information page. That page includes links to our Annual Reports and our responses to the Senate orders in relation to file lists and grants and appointments and vacancies.

Routinely requested information and FOI disclosure log

The OAIC is required under ss 8(2)(g) and 11C of the FOI Act to publish information to which the agency routinely gives access in response to FOI requests and the disclosure log of information that has been released under the FOI Act. Information that can be published resulting from freedom of information requests and any routinely released information from such requests is found in our FOI disclosure log.

Consultation arrangements

The OAIC is required under s 8(2)(f) of the FOI Act to publish information about consultation arrangements that enable members of the public to comment on specific policy proposal for which the agency is responsible.

The OAIC employs a range of external consultation mechanisms, including through the release of issues or discussion papers, the use of blogs and other social media tools.

Contact us

The OAIC is required under s 8(2)(i) of the FOI Act to publish contact details of an officer (or officers) who can be contacted about access to the agency’s information under the FOI Act. We have comprehensive information about how you can make contact with us on the Contact us page, including in relation to freedom of information requests and this IPS entry.

Other information

Our priorities

Under s 8(4) of the FOI Act, the OAIC publishes information about our corporate and strategic plans.

Our finances

Under s 8(4) of the FOI Act, the OAIC publishes information about our finances, including information relating to pay and grading structures in the agency, procurement procedures, tendering and contracts.

  • Information about our budget
  • Details of our major contracts are listed on the Australian Government’s AusTender site
  • Information about our pay and grading structures is found in our enterprise agreement. The enterprise agreement, together with information about our financial delegations and authorisations, can be found under Corporate information

Our lists

Under s 8(4) of the FOI Act, the OAIC publishes information about agency contracts, grants and appointments, links to datasets published by the agency, information held in registers required by law, and other lists and registers relating to the agency’s functions.

Our submissions

The OAIC’s Publication of submissions policy can be found on our website.

Under s 8(4) of the FOI Act, the OAIC publishes information about our submissions to parliamentary committees and other inquiries.

Our policies

Under s 8(4) of the FOI Act, the OAIC publishes our corporate policies. A selection of OAIC policies are available under Plans, policies and procedures.