21 Aug 2017
When you join the Australian Public Service, you are joining a team of people who are entrusted to protect the personal information of our community.
Depending on your role and the agency you’re working with, you may come into contact with a lot of personal information, or a little.
But regardless of how much information you handle, Australians expect you to respect and protect their privacy. And their trust is vital to ensure confidence in transacting with government services.
In your day-to-day work, you’ll need to handle personal information within the requirements of the Privacy Act.
Personal information is information about someone that identifies, or could reasonably identify that person. This could include a person’s identity information, medical information, financial or employment details.
Protecting and respecting the personal information you work with means:
- Being transparent with the public about what you and your agency are going to do with their personal information.
- Understanding how to handle personal information in line with your agency’s privacy policy.
- Understanding your agency’s obligations under the Privacy Act, including how to collect, use, disclose and secure personal information.
- Understanding what to do, and who to tell, if there is a data breach.
- Be aware of other legislative obligations that might apply to information handling in your agency.
If you need more information about how to protect personal information, talk to your agency’s privacy officer or contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
