Privacy
Protection for your personal information
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) must comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).
This Policy contains information about DFAT's collection, use, disclosure and storage of personal information, including sensitive information, and how individuals may access and correct personal information that we hold.
We take your privacy seriously and make all efforts to protect your personal information from misuse, interference and loss; and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. If you wish to make a complaint about the Department's handling of your personal information, please refer to the Complaints section of this Policy.
This Policy is relevant to people whose personal information is collected, stored, used or disclosed by DFAT including:
You have the option of not identifying yourself, or using a pseudonym, when dealing with the Department, for example, to make an enquiry or complaint. However, in circumstances where we are required or authorised to deal with an identified individual by or under law, or where it is impracticable for us to deal with you anonymously or pseudonymously (such as when you apply for a passport, scholarship or employment) this option will not be available to you.
Personal information held by the Department includes, but is not limited to, personal contact details such as names and addresses, information about citizenship, dates and places of birth, photographs of people, financial information provided by contractors and consultants, employment history details of staff and contractors and details provided by individuals registering on the Smartraveller website.
Sensitive information held by the Department includes, but is not limited to:
In this policy, personal information and sensitive information has the meaning given to these terms in the Privacy Act.
The Department's role is to advance the interests of Australia and Australians internationally. Personal information is collected where it is necessary for, or directly related to, the performance of our functions and activities. These include:
Some examples of why we might collect your personal information include:
Information collected for a primary purpose may sometimes be used or disclosed for a related secondary purpose. For example, information collected from contractors during a tender process may be used as part of an evaluation or review of a particular aid project delivered by that contractor. Personal information collected from scholarship recipients may be used to invite those recipients to alumni events. Employee information collected to administer an individual's employment may be used or disclosed during a workplace investigation initiated by that individual.
The Department collects personal information only by lawful and fair means. It is our usual practice to collect personal information directly from you or your authorised representative when you deal with us by telephone, letter, email, face-to-face or online. In particular, when you use one of the websites maintained by the Department, including dfat.gov.au, www.passports.gov.au, smartraveller.gov.au, foreignminister.gov.au, trademinister.gov.au and embassy.gov.au and their sub-domains, we may collect the personal information provided to us via online forms on these websites including when you subscribe to a list, register your travel details or purchase a publication. We do not collect your personal information when you only browse our website.
We may collect personal information from another source including a third party where you consent, where it is unreasonable or impractical to collect the information only from you or where we are required or authorised to do so by law. For example, we collect the name and contact detail of guarantors provided by passport applicants on their passport application forms as it is unreasonable or impractical to collect this information directly from a guarantor. We may collect personal information from third parties or publicly available sources in the course of assessing competitive tender and grant applications.
The Department may collect 'sensitive information' about you where you have consented, where the collection is required or authorised by law or where the Department is otherwise permitted under the Privacy Act including where we reasonably believe that the collection is necessary for our diplomatic or consular functions or activities.
We take steps to protect the personal information we hold against misuse, interference and loss; and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. These steps include password protection for electronic files, securing paper files in locked cabinets and physical access restrictions.
Personal information held by the Department in Commonwealth records is managed securely through our recordkeeping system. Staff members across the Department have access to personal information on a need-to-know basis only. When no longer required to be retained as part of a Commonwealth record, personal information is destroyed in accordance with the Archives Act 1983.
How we use and disclose personal information
Your personal information will only be used and disclosed for the purpose for which it was collected, or otherwise in accordance with the Privacy Act. For example, we use and disclose personal information collected to provide Consular assistance to those who seek it, to assess an application, respond to enquiries or to make referrals. Sometimes, we will pass your personal information to other government agencies or organisations, including overseas governments or organisations, for the purpose of assisting with your enquiry or application. We only use and disclose personal information (for example, to another Australian government agency) for the purpose for which it was collected (the primary purpose) unless one or more of the following applies:
The following are some examples of how we may use and disclose personal information:
The Department's core functions include the provision of consular assistance to Australian citizens and the administration of the Australian aid program. In order to fulfil these functions, it is likely that some personal information will be disclosed to overseas recipients. For example, we may disclose your name and travel details to a foreign emergency service so that they may locate or assist you in the event of a crisis or emergency in that country. We operate a network of offices via our overseas posts in order to deliver our services globally.
We do not disclose your personal information to any overseas recipient unless one of the following applies:
If you wish to access personal information we hold about you, or to correct that personal information, please email or write to us at the contact details listed below outlining your request. The Department will allow access or make the changes unless we are required or authorised under the Privacy Act, the Freedom of Information Act 1982 or other relevant law to refuse access or correction.
If you receive emails via a subscription to one of our mailing lists, you are able to manage your subscription or opt-out (unsubscribe) from further emails using the links provided in the message. If you are unable to find opt-out instructions or you continue receiving messages after opting out, please send an email to subscription.management@dfat.gov.au for assistance.
We take your privacy seriously and make all efforts to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, and loss; and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. If you are concerned about the Department's handling of your personal information, contact the Department's central privacy area, and send your complaint in writing to either the mail or email address listed below
If you make a complaint we will gather as much relevant background information as possible in the circumstances. In order to assist the Department in its consideration of your complaint please provide as much information as possible in describing how you think your privacy has been interfered with, including:
If the alleged privacy breach involves personal information which does not belong to you we will ask you for evidence that you have authority to act on behalf of the person whose information is in issue before proceeding any further. Your complaint will be considered by a departmental officer who has not been involved in the conduct about which you are complaining.
We will provide a written response to your complaint. If a breach of the APPs has been identified as a result of your complaint, we will advise you of the findings and proposed follow up action which may include, for example, an apology, targeted staff training, revised security or storage arrangements, or amendment of forms to prevent similar situations arising.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may wish to submit a complaint to the Office of the Information Commissioner in Sydney:
Telephone: 1300 363 992
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Mail: Director of Privacy Case Management
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW
You may also complain directly to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) rather than to the Department. If you make a complaint directly to the OAIC the OAIC may recommend that you try to resolve the complaint directly with the Department in the first instance.
Telephone: +61 2 6261 1111
Email: privacy@dfat.gov.au
Mail: Director, Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
RG Casey Building
John McEwen Crescent
BARTON ACT 0221
From time to time, we will review and revise this Privacy Policy. We reserve the right to amend this policy at any time and any amendments will be notified by posting an updated version on our website.