Australian Coat of Arms - Print Version

Full Privacy Statement

This privacy statement applies to the australia.gov.au website only. It tells you how we collect information from you and how we use it.

The australia.gov.au website is managed by the Department of Finance and Deregulation.

Information Collected

Australia.gov.au collects personal information that you choose to give us, for example your email address.

If you visit our site to read or download information, we record, through our log files, the following information for statistical purposes:

  • Your server address and associated country
  • Your top level domain name (eg .gov, .com, .edu, .org, .au, .nz etc)
  • The pages you accessed and the documents you downloaded
  • The search terms you used
  • The date and time you visited the site
  • The previous site you visited
  • Your operating system (eg Windows, Mac)
  • The type of browser you use (eg Internet Explorer).

No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs.

Use of Your Personal Information

We will only record your email address if you send us a message or you subscribe to a mailing list such as our media alert service. Any personal information you provide to us, including your email address will only be used or disclosed for the purpose for which you have provided it. Your personal information will not be added to a mailing list or used or disclosed for any other purpose without your consent.

We do not share information about you with other government agencies or other organisations without your permission unless it:

  • is necessary to provide you with a service that you have requested;
  • is required or authorised by law; or
  • will prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to somebody's health.

If we ask you for personal information in order to provide you with a service that you have requested then we will tell you how we intend to use that personal information if you choose to give it to us.

Cookies are pieces of information that a website can transfer to an individual's computer. This site does not use cookies. 

Access to Your Personal Information

You may gain access to personal information about you that we hold. You can have us correct any errors or delete the information we have about you.

You may opt out of any further contact from us.

To protect your privacy and the privacy of others, we may have to gain evidence of your identity before we can give you access to information about you or change it.

How to Contact Us

If at any time you believe we have not adhered to the principles referred to in this privacy statement or have any other comments, please Contact Us.

If you do not wish to send your comments by email then please write to the following postal address:

Manager, australia.gov.au
Australian Government Information Management Office
Department of Finance and Deregulation
John Gorton Building
King Edward Terrace
Parkes ACT 2600
AUSTRALIA

Obligations for Australian Government agencies

With respect to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information, we are bound by the Information Privacy Principles of the Privacy Act. We also follow the Guidelines for Federal and ACT Government Websites issued by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has issued a number of Guidelines, including the Guidelines to the Information Privacy Principles, which apply to all Australian Government Departments and Agencies.

For more information about privacy obligations for Australian Government agencies please visit:

Multi-Layered Privacy Notices

The Multi Layered Privacy Notices format used by australia.gov.au takes up the recommendation of the Privacy Commissioner in Recommendation 19 and 20 of Getting in on the Act: The Review of the Private Sector Provisions of the Privacy Act 1988. These recommendations support the development of short form privacy notices.

Multi-Layered Privacy Notices have also been endorsed by Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in 2003, further developed in the Berlin Memorandum, and endorsed in Opinion WP 100 by the Article 29 Committee of European Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners.

Multi-Layered Privacy Notices are based on the work of the Center for Information Policy Leadership.

For more information about the multi-layered privacy notice format used in australia.gov.au please visit: