The Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIPA) provides for the protection of personal information and for the protection of the privacy of individuals. 

The Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIPA) provides for the protection of health records and information.

Great Lakes Council is required to comply with the provisions of both Acts. It has adopted a Privacy Plan of Management which sets out how Council will meet its obligations under these Acts.

What is personal information?

Personal information is any information or an opinion about an indivdiual whose identity is apparent or can be readily ascertained from the information or opinion (Section 4 of the Act).

What is not personal information? Any information about an individual that is contained in a publicly available publication is not "personal information" and is not covered by PPIPA.

What type of personal information does Council collect? In order to deliver services to the community Council collects a range of personal information.  This information may include:

• names, address and contact details;
• property ownership information;
• credit card/bank account details for those who have provided this information to make payments.

From time to time Council may gather demographic details such as age, income and education/employment information.  Council may collect information that is required for a specific purpose.  Information collected will only be used for the purpose for which it was collected, unless authorisation is provided for additional purposes.

What does it cost?

There is no charge to make an application for access to personal information held by Council about yourself.  A written application is required.  Contact Council's Privacy Contact Officer to discuss this process or other matters related to this Act.