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The Privacy Act

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The Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) was introduced to promote and protect the privacy of individuals and to regulate how Australian Government agencies and organisations with an annual turnover of more than $3 million, and some other organisations , handle personal information.

The Privacy Act includes 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), which apply to some private sector organisations, as well as most Australian Government agencies. These are collectively referred to as ‘APP entities’. The Privacy Act also regulates the privacy component of the consumer credit reporting system, tax file numbers, and health and medical research.

In this section

Rights and responsibilities

Who is covered by the Privacy Act 1988

Review of the Privacy Act

Read our Privacy Act review submission and statements

History of the Privacy Act

Changes to the Privacy Act 1988 since it began, in brief

Commissioner-initiated investigations

A list of recent investigations opened by the OAIC

Privacy regulations

Regulations issued under the Privacy Act 1988

Rules and guidelines

Legally binding rules and guidelines

Credit reporting

Consumer credit reporting under the Privacy Act 1988

Health and medical research

Rules and guidelines for health and medical research

Tax file numbers

Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015 and other obligations

Privacy assessment powers

We audit privacy practices to help ensure personal information is protected

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