Presentation to the Local Authorities Revenue Management Association – October 2012

The role of the Office of the Information Commissioner

Today’s presentation

1. The role of the OIC2. Overview of the RTI Act and IP Act3. Important privacy concepts4. Resources5. Where to go for help

What is the OIC?• Independent statutory body

• Established under the Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) (RTI Act) and the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) (IP Act)

• Promotes access to government-held information and protects people’s personal information held by the public sector.

OIC structureQueensland community

Queensland Parliament

Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee

Information Commissioner

RTICommissioner

PrivacyCommissioner

First AssistantInformation

Commissioner

Manager, Corporate& Executive Services

• External Review • Privacy functions (IP Act)

• Info and Assistance

• Performance Monitoring

• Training and stakeholder relations

• Corporate and business support

Decision-making functions• OIC conducts independent merits reviews of RTI

and IP decisions

• Reconsideration of all aspects of the original decision

• Encourages early and informal resolution

• Can require agencies to hand over documents

• Can examine witnesses under oath or affirmation

Privacy functions• Privacy complaints

• Referral to QCAT if cannot be mediated

• Waive or modify privacy principles obligations

• Issue compliance notices if agency has contravened privacy obligations

Support functions• Promotes awareness of the RTI and IP Acts

• Provides information and assistance to agencies and public

• Produces guidelines to assist with interpretation of the RTI and IP Acts

• Monitors and reports on agency compliance

• Conducts training and education programs

RTI Act: A new approach

RTI Act: A new approachPush model:Government information will be released

administratively as a matter of course, unless there is a good reason not to, with applications under this Act being necessary only as a last resort

- Preamble to the Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld)

Important privacy conceptsObject of the IP Act: to provide for the fair collection and handling of personal information in the public sector environment AND a right of amendment.

Agencies are obliged to comply with the privacy principles when handling personal information: • Information Privacy Principles (IPPs)

• Transfer out of Australia rules

• Contracted service provider rules

IPPsSet of rules about how agencies must:

• Collect• Store• Use• Disclose• Handle• Dispose of

the personal information they hold

Transfer out of Australia• Risk that personal information may not be

appropriately protected

• S.33 IPA only allows transfer in certain situations eg where individual agrees

• Consider s.33 before placing personal information online or transferring/collecting it over the internet eg cloud computing, social networking, online survey tools

Contracted service providers

• Agency should ensure contractor is required to comply with the IP Act.

• Once bound, the contracted service provider assumes the privacy obligations as if it were the agency.

Consequences of a privacy breach

• Privacy complaints – QCAT can make compensation orders of up to $100,000

• Information Commissioner can issue compliance notices, conduct reviews into PI practices and report to Parliament

These powers extend to bound contracted service providers

Training

Online information privacy training now available – contact our Training and Stakeholder Relations team for more details and to register:

training@oic.qld.gov.au

SupportOIC Enquiries Service

3234 7373 enquiries@oic.qld.gov.au

Guidelines and other resources available on OIC website: www.oic.qld.gov.au

Questions?