Introduction

The Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 provides the people of NSW with rights in relation to the collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information by public sector agencies. Personal information collected by the Office of the Children’s Guardian will be managed in accordance with this Act.

The Act defines personal information as:
Information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database and whether or not recorded in material form) about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion. (Section 4)

Unsolicited information

When you visit our website to read pages or download information, we do not collect any information about you.

For security purposes we use software programs to monitor network traffic and identify unauthorised attempts to up-load or change information or otherwise cause damage. It is a criminal offence to interfere with computers or data. We may disclose data which provides evidence of such offences to law enforcement agencies.

Solicited information
By contacting us via the Complaints or Room Bookings sections of this website, you will be providing us with personal information needed to contact or reply to you. This information will be held at our office at Level 13, 418a Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills NSW, and disposed of in accordance with the State Records General Disposal Authority for Administrative Records.

Under the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 1989, you may apply to access these records we hold about you, and to apply to amend or correct information which is inaccurate, irrelevant, out of date, incomplete or misleading.

E-mail messages

Your e-mail messages will be:

• (a) retained and stored electronically in accordance with standards and authorities under the State Records Act 1998 which fix variable retention periods depending on the transaction which is recorded.

• (b) used and disclosed for the purpose of replying to you and subject to the requirements of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.

Electronic mail is not a secure form of communication and we cannot guarantee that your message will not be viewed by someone else when being sent to us. We strongly recommend that you write to us if the information you wish to provide is highly confidential.

More information about privacy
The Office of the Children’s Guardian has prepared a Privacy Management Plan, describing the steps taken to protect privacy and the procedures to be followed when people seek internal review of conduct, which they claim breaches an information protection principle or a privacy code of practice. A copy of the plan can be obtained from our office by ringing the Administration Manager on (02) 8219 3600.

For more information about the NSW privacy legislation call Privacy NSW on 9268 5588 or visit the Privacy NSW website at www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/pc.