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Government work
The federal public sector has been subject to privacy regulation since 1988. The
private sector regime does not alter the obligations of Commonwealth government agencies. They are still required to comply with the eleven IPPs set out in the
Privacy Act and ensure their contracts require the same standard from contractors.
Further information on the regulation of the federal government agencies is available on our Federal
regulation page. State agencies are regulated by State regimes, or, in the absence of such a regime, the
NPPs (unless they have been prescribed as
exempt).
A contracted service provider
must meet the requirements on information handling contained in its
Commonwealth contract. It must also meet
the standards in the
NPPs (or an applicable approved industry code) in certain circumstances. These standards may be different from - or more onerous than - the contractual obligations. For example, the standard of information handling for health information under the NPPS may be higher than under the Commonwealth contract. If there's a higher standard under the NPPs or code, that standard applies
unless it's inconsistent with the Commonwealth contract. For more on how the IPPs and NPPs affect contractors,
see our
summary.
There are also special rules under the
private sector regime for Commonwealth government contractors.
Commonwealth contractors
- Contractors must at all times comply with their obligations under the
Commonwealth contract (which essentially includes the IPPs).
- If the NPPs or an applicable code provide for a higher degree of
protection than that provided under the contract then this higher level of
protection will apply.
- You must also ensure that under any subcontract the
subcontractor meets the same information handling standards.
State or Territory contractors
-
State and Territory privacy legislation may apply to State or Territory public sector agencies. For example, Victoria's
Information Privacy Act 2000 applies to Victorian public sector bodies and the NSW
Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998
applies to NSW public sector agencies.
-
If you are contracting with a State agency, State or Territory legislation or regulations concerning the privacy of personal information may apply
to you. For more, see the Privacy Commissioner's overview at:
www.privacy.gov.au/act/states.html.
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