Privacy when providing services
Some community organisations, including those with revenue over $3mil, and those that have contractual arrangements with government (eg. funding agreements) may be required to comply with privacy laws.
It is best practice to assume that all privacy laws apply to your group.
Privacy reforms
The Federal Government has recently made changes to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). These changes include new Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). The changes, including the new principles, will commence in March 2014. For more information on the abckground to the changes go the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Not-for-profit organisations need to consider how the new laws apply to them. The PilchConnect Guide: Privacy for Victorian not-for-profit organisations has not yet been updated to reflect these changes but will shortly be released in an updated form. Norton Rose Fulbright has provided a Manual to assist organisations dealing witht the new laws, discussed below.
Privacy Compliance Manual
Norton Rose Fulbright has generously provided a Privacy Compliance Manual for use by Australian charities and not-for-profits when transitioning to the new privacy laws and APPs. To download the manual, go to the Privacy Compliance Manual home page, where you will be asked to complete a form to grant access to the Manual.
PilchConnect Guide: Privacy for Victorian not-for-profit organisations
Updated Guide coming soon.
Additional information
**This information has not been updated to reflect new laws commencing March 2014.**
There are other legal issues that cross over with privacy that are not addressed in the PilchConnect Guide: Privacy for Victorian Community Organisations. These include the following areas of law:
- Confidentiality - In some circumstances you may have an obligation to keep certain information confidential. This can be because of:
- an agreement containing confidentiality obligation
- the commercial or secret nature of the information itself, or
- the circumstances in which the information was obtained.
PilchConnect has produced some general information on confidentiality laws. Go to Protecting your name, idea and material.
- Surveillance - Federal and State laws regulate surveillance, recording, monitoring and interception of communications, including when these are done in the workplace. The laws cover video, audio, computer, telephone and tracking (eg. GPS) surveillance. For information go to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
- Direct marketing and research - The Spam Act 2003 (Cth) regulates how you send promotional emails and other commercial electronic messages, while the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth) and related industry standards regulate telemarketing and telephone research. For information go to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and/or the Do Not Call Register website.
- Freedom of information (FOI) - If someone has asked to access their information or told you they have a right to it under FOI laws, you will need to consider if that legislation applies to your organisation (eg. if your organisation holds personal information as a result of a contract between it and the government). For information go to the Victorian Government's Freedom of Information online and/or the Australian Government's Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.