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Privacy complaint form
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Privacy complaint form
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Privacy complaint form

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About this form

You can use this form to lodge a privacy complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

The OAIC can investigate privacy complaints from individuals about Australian Government agencies, and private sector organisations covered by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).

You can also make a complaint to the OAIC about the handling of your personal information by ACT public sector agencies under the Information Privacy Act 2014 (ACT).

Additionally, you can use this form to make a complaint under a privacy code, complaints relating to spent convictions, tax file numbers, data-matching activities, health identifiers, student identifiers, anti-money laundering law and personal property securities law. A complaint under any of these laws must be submitted in writing, either via this form, an email, by fax or in a letter. Please refer to our contact us web page for our contact details. Please note that we do not investigate complaints about state, territory or local government agencies. Please see our state and territory privacy law page for further information. If you want to complain about an Australian Government agency’s actions under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, please complete our FOI Complaint form, available here.
If you are unsure about whether you can complain to the OAIC, please use our Complaint Checker.

You can save this form at any point and return to complete it within 3 days. To save your form, click on the Save For Later button on the top right-hand corner of this form. If you do not submit your saved form within 3 days, your saved information will be permanently erased.

Refreshing your browser will clear any information that you have not saved. If you need to refresh your browser while completing this form and wish to keep your changes, please save the form first.

Your personal information

We will handle your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles.

If the OAIC makes inquiries into or investigates your complaint, we will usually disclose the information you give us, including a copy of your complaint, to the entity you have complained about (the respondent).

We may also disclose your information to others who have information relevant to your complaint, if necessary.

What will we do with your information?

We will use the information you have provided to assess your complaint, conduct the investigation and conciliate. If the OAIC makes inquiries into or investigates your complaint, we will usually disclose the information you give us, including a copy of your complaint, to the entity you have complained about (the respondent). We may also disclose your information to others who have information relevant to your complaint, if necessary. If we think we may need to disclose your information to an overseas entity to handle your complaint, we will discuss this with you first. In case of a challenge to a decision by the OAIC, we may need to disclose some information to a review body, for example a court or tribunal.

What information will we collect?

We may need to collect further information from you in order to investigate your complaint. If you do not provide this information to the OAIC, it may affect how we handle your complaint. In some circumstances, it may mean we decide not to investigate your complaint further. We will usually collect information about you from the respondent. We may also collect information about you from others if they have information relevant to your complaint.

Accessing your information

If you would like to access to the information about you that the OAIC holds, please contact the enquiries line at enquiries@oaic.gov.au. More information is available on the Access our information page on our website.

If you have any questions about the personal information we collect and how we will handle your information, please contact us or see our privacy policy.

Privacy complaints may be subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

Getting started

Before the OAIC can investigate your complaint you must first have complained to the agency or organisation and given it an opportunity to resolve your complaint. This will generally involve writing to the agency or organisation and giving it 30 days to respond.
Please respond to the following statement:

I have complained to the agency or organisation about my privacy issue and given them 30 days to respond. *
It is only in exceptional circumstances that the OAIC will investigate complaints where you have not complained to the respondent.
You need to be aware that if you continue with this form the OAIC may still decline to investigate until you have complained to the respondent.
Please indicate the date you complained to the agency or organisation. If you do not know the exact date, please enter an approximate date.

Getting started

Privacy complaint form
Fields marked with * are required
Have you taken this complaint to another dispute resolution body? *
Please select the dispute resolution body you have taken this complaint to: *
In some circumstances, the OAIC may not investigate a complaint if another body is already dealing with your complaint. Please give details of your complaint and attach copies of relevant documents at the end of this form.
Is it dealing with your complaint?
Individuals can only make complaints about the mishandling of their own personal information, unless they have authorised someone to act on their behalf.

Please answer the following: *

Your details

Privacy complaint form
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Your details – the complainant

(You must provide at least one contact method)
Preferred contact method *
Do you have someone you would like to represent you in your complaint? *

Your representative’s details

(You must provide at least one contact method)
Preferred contact method *

Your details

Privacy complaint form
Fields marked with * are required

Your details – the representative

(You must provide at least one contact method)
Preferred contact method *

Details of the complainant (the person you are representing)

(You must provide at least one contact method)
Preferred contact method *

Respondent details

Privacy complaint form
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Respondent

I am complaining about *

Private sector organisation

Please select the organisation you are complaining about. *

Not all private sector organisations are covered by the Act. As part of the complaint process we will check to see if we have jurisdiction.
Other details

Australian Government Agency

Please select the Australian Government agency you are complaining about. *
Other details

ACT

Unsure

As part of your complaint we will check to see if under the Privacy Act we are able to investigate the respondent you are complaining about. Please provide the respondent’s details you have.

Respondent reference or ID number

If you are complaining about more than one respondent:

Your complaint

Privacy complaint form
Fields marked with * are required

Details of your complaint

Please describe how you think your privacy has been interfered with. It will assist us if you can explain:
•What happened •When it happened (including dates) •What personal information of yours was affected •Who did it (include names of individuals involved if known) •How and when you found out about it •What response, if any, have your received from the Respondent?
The clearer your explanation is the more easily we will be able to assist you. The box below will expand as you type.
What action would you like the Respondent to take to resolve your complaint? * The OAIC generally tries to resolve complaints through conciliation between you and the respondent.

Supporting documents

Is your complaint about an incorrect credit information file? *
For complaints about incorrect credit information files, please attach a copy of your complete credit file. We will be unlikely to progress the complaint without it.
If you do not have a copy of your complete credit file we will need to obtain a copy on your behalf.
Do you give permission for OAIC staff to obtain a copy of your credit information file from either Equifax Australia, Experian Information Solutions or Dun & Bradstreet? *
For complaints about incorrect credit information files, please attach a copy of the complainant’s complete credit file. We will be unlikely to progress the complaint without it. These may be available from Veda Advantage Information Services and Solutions by phoning 1300 762 207, (02) 9464 6000, Dun & Bradstreet on 132333 or the Tasmanian Collection Service on (03) 6223 4555
You may attach relevant information that supports the complaint. If you are representing someone, you may wish to attach evidence that you are authorised to represent them.
For all complaints please attach any correspondence with the respondent about the privacy complaint.
Do you have any electronic documents that you want to send electronically with this form?
Attachments
File:
Do you have any paper documents which you would like to send to the office in support of your complaint?
After you have submitted this form electronically, please print it and attach it to your documents so we can relate them to your electronic application.

You can then post the documents relating to your complaint to:

Dispute Resolution Branch
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001

Review submission

Privacy complaint form
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Submitting your complaint

Please review the information that you have provided about your complaint. If you would like to change anything, you can return to the relevant section by using the Go Back button.

The ‘Save’ button allows you save a draft copy of this form to the Department of Industry Innovation and Science's secure server so that you can return to it later. NOTE: you have 3 days to complete your form.
When you are ready to submit your form, click:
The ‘Submit’ button will submit your application to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner for processing.


Once you submit your form, you will be taken to a confirmation page. This page will provide a receipt number for your submission, and you will be able to download a copy of your completed form or have a copy sent to an email address of your choice.