Privacy and Requests for Information

The Privacy and Personal Information Act 1998 (PPIPA) and the Health Records Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIPA). Council is required to adhere to the information protection principles which cover the collection, storage, use and disclosure of (and access to) personal information. These principles do not apply to companies or businesses, only to individuals. The PPIPA requires all Councils to prepare a Privacy Management Plan (PDF, 395KB)outlining their policies and practices to ensure compliance with the requirement of that Act and the HRIPA.

In particular, the object of this plan is to inform the community about how their personal information will be used, stored and accessed after it is collected by the Council.

Council staff have an obligation to handle personal information and understand when they can and cannot disclose, use or collect information.

For more information please visit the Information & Privacy Commission NSW Website.

What is “personal information”?

“Personal information” is defined in Section 4 of the PPIPA as follows:

Personal information is defined to mean information or an opinion about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion. This information can be on a database and does not necessarily have to be recorded in a material form.

What is not “personal information”?

“Personal information” does not include “information about an individual that is contained in a publicly available publication”. Personal information, once it is contained in a publicly available publication, ceases to be covered by the PPIPA.

Section 4A of the PPIPA also specifically excludes “health information”, as defined by Section 6 of the HRIPA, from the definition of “personal information”, but includes “health information” in the PPIPA’s consideration of public registers (discussed below). “Health information” is considered in Part 4 of this Plan.

Where the Council is requested to provide access or make a disclosure and that information has already been published, then the Council will rely on the provisions of the relevant Act that authorises Council to hold that information and not the PPIPA (for example, Section 8 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act).

Council considers the following to be publicly available publications:

An advertisement containing personal information in a local, city or national newspaper
Personal information on the Internet
Books or magazines that are printed and distributed broadly to the general public
Council Business papers or that part that is available to the general public
Personal information that may be a part of a public display on view to the general public

Information published in this way ceases to be covered by the PPIPA.

Council’s decision to publish in this way must be in accordance with PPIPA.

What Personal Information is held by Council

The Council holds personal information concerning Councillors, such as:

Personal contact information
Complaints and disciplinary matters
Pecuniary interest returns
Entitlements to fees, expenses and facilities

The Council holds personal information concerning its customers, ratepayers and residents, such as:

Rates records
DA applications and objections
Various types of health information (see below)

The Council holds personal information concerning its employees, such as:

Recruitment material
Leave and payroll data
Personal contact information
Performance management plans
Disciplinary matters
Pecuniary interest returns
Wage and salary entitlements
Health information (such medical certificates and workers compensation claims)

Public Registers

A public register is defined in Section 3 of the PPIPA:

“…public register means a register of personal information that is required by law to be, or is made, publicly available or open to public inspection (whether or not on payment of a fee).”

Further information can be found in Council’s Privacy Management Plan(PDF, 395KB) including Council’s Public Register Table (see Appendix 7).

What types of Health Information is held by Council

The following is a non-exhaustive list of examples of the types of health information and circumstances in which Councils may collect health information in exercising their functions:

Tree pruning/removal application where residents approach Council for a reconsideration or reassessment of a tree pruning/removal application on medical grounds
Issuing of clean up orders which may include recording information about a residents health, GP professional contact details or involvement with mental health services
Volunteer programs where volunteers are asked to disclose health conditions which may preclude them from some types of volunteer work
Meals on wheels programs where residents may be asked for medical or dietary requirements, e.g. allergies for catering purposes
Seniors bus outings where information may be collected on special medical needs
Councils may provide respite and social support services collecting information that is consistent with the client intake and referral record system
Information on families for the purposes of children’s services. e.g. history of illness, allergies, asthma, diabetes, epilepsy etc
Physical exercise classes
Some Councils run Podiatry services
Information may be collected through a healthy community program
Children’s immunization records
Family counsellor/youth support workers records

Under Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 a member of the public may request this information and an assessment would be made whether the information is publicly available or not.

Information will be disposed of in accordance with the State Records Act 1998 (General Disposal Schedule).