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Representative complaint form
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Representative complaint form

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Background

On 10 February 2014, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (Department) (now the Department of Home Affairs) published a detention report on its website in error. The report contained the personal information of persons who, as at 31 January 2014, were in immigration detention facilities or in the community under residence determination, or alternative places of detention (Data Breach).

The personal information was removed from the Department’s website on 19 February 2014 and from The Internet Archive on 27 February 2014.

On 30 August 2015, a representative complaint was made to the Commissioner on behalf of all of 9,258 persons whose information was published by the Department in error (Representative Complaint).


What is a representative complaint?

A representative complaint is a complaint made by an individual under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) on behalf of other individuals who have similar complaints about an act or practice that may be an interference with their privacy. The Commissioner may make a declaration that class members are entitled to compensation for any loss or damage suffered by reason of the act or practice the subject of the complaint.


Why is this form important?

In order to make a determination about the Representative Complaint, including whether any of the persons whose personal information was published in the Data Breach are entitled to compensation for any loss or damage suffered, the Commissioner needs information from you.

If you were affected by the Data Breach and do not provide information of the kind described below, the Commissioner may conclude that you have not suffered any loss or damage as a result of the Data Breach and you may not receive compensation.

If you do not consent to the Representative Complaint being made on your behalf and do not want to be part of it, you can opt out of the Representative Complaint at any time by submitting the Response Form below.


What do class members need to do?

If you believe you were affected by the Data Breach, you have three options. Those options are set out on the next page.


Your personal information

We will handle your personal information in accordance the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act)’s Australian Privacy Principles.
The OAIC will need to provide a copy of your submission to the Department of Home Affairs (formerly the Department of Immigration and Border Protection) to allow it to respond to your claim.

Collection of your information

We will collect your personal information from you or your authorised representative directly, in order to assess your claim. We may need to seek further information from you or your authorised representative for this purpose. If you do not provide this further information to the OAIC where requested, it may affect our assessment of your claim.

We may also collect personal information about you, which is relevant to your claim, indirectly from the Department of Home Affairs (previously the Department of Immigration and Border Protection) (Department) and other Commonwealth Government agencies involved in this process, including Comcover and the Department of Finance.

Some of the information we collect from you may be sensitive information. Sensitive information includes information about race, ethnic origin, political opinions, health, religious or philosophical beliefs and criminal history. Personal and sensitive information is collected for the purposes of enabling the OAIC to process your claim and to verify any evidence you submit in support of your claim.

Use and disclosure of your information

We will use the information you provide us to assess whether you may be entitled to compensation or some other remedy due to any loss or damage you have suffered, based on the evidence you provide. This may include review of your personal information by contractors engaged to assist us with this matter.

We will disclose the information you provide us to the Department, to provide the Department with an opportunity to comment on your claim, and to match the identifying information you provide with the Department’s records to confirm you are a class member. We may also disclose your personal information to other Commonwealth Government agencies involved in this process, including Comcover and the Department of Finance.

If you provide your personal information to us in a language other than English, we will also disclose your personal information to our contracted interpreting services provider for translation.

We may also disclose your personal information to an external review body, including the Administrative Appeals Tribunal or Federal Court of Australia, if a complainant, or the respondent, seeks an external review of the Commissioner’s determination.

Further information

For further information about how we will handle your personal information please see our privacy policy.
If you have any questions about the personal information we collect and how we will handle your information, please contact the OAIC at repcomplaint@oaic.gov.au or enquiries@oaic.gov.au.

Complaint options

Representative complaint form
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Complaint options

Please select one of the following options: *
If you believe you suffered loss or damage as a result of the Data Breach, and want the opportunity to potentially recover compensation for that loss or damage, you need to provide the Commissioner with information about your loss or damage:
(a)
You should provide all the information you consider to be relevant to the loss or damage you suffered.
(b)
The information may be in the form of a statutory declaration or signed statement in your own words. Statutory declarations or signed statements in a standard form will be given little weight.
(c)
The information may include evidence from the time of the Data Breach or when you first found out about the Data Breach, such as medical reports, that contain details about how you felt or reacted to the Data Breach and any treatment you received. Medical reports prepared after the date of this Notice will be given little weight.
(d)
Letters written on your behalf, which are not in your own words, will be given little weight.
(e)
The Commissioner may not consider information that is provided after the deadline below.
If you were affected by the Data Breach but did not suffer any loss or damage, you will not be entitled to compensation and you can ignore this form.
If you do not want to be part of the Representative Complaint can OPT-OUT of the complaint. Only complete this section if you would like to OPT-OUT.

If you were affected by the Data Breach and wish to opt-out of the Representative Complaint, please fill in the information requested in the form below.

If you opt-out of the Representative Complaint, any determinations made by the Commissioner in relation to the Representative Complaint, including any determination relating to damages, will not apply to you.

If you have known about the Data Breach for more than 12 months, and have not already made an individual complaint to the Commissioner about it, the Commissioner may decide not to investigate any new complaint made by you if you opt-out of the Representative Complaint.

Your details

Representative complaint form
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Class member details

Have you been known by any other names?
Date of birth
Have you already lodged a complaint with the OAIC about this data breach? *

Contact Details

Address where you currently live
Do you have a representative that you want us to communicate with on your behalf? *

Representative Details

Submit your form

Representative complaint form
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Evidence of loss or damage

Please upload any evidence of loss or damage in an electronic document here:
Attachments
File:
You must send any information by 4.00 pm on 19 October 2018.

Confirmation of opt-out

Please confirm that you want to opt-out of the Representative Complaint.

If you OPT-OUT of the Representative Complaint, any determinations made by the Commissioner in relation to the Representative Complaint, including any determination relating to damages, will not apply to you.

If you have known about the Data Breach for more than 12 months, and have not already made an individual complaint to the Commissioner about it, the Commissioner may decide not to investigate any new complaint made by you if you opt-out of the Representative Complaint.

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