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Privacy Act 2020

Complaints, investigations, and proceedings - Investigations by Commissioner

85: Compulsory conferences of parties to complaint

You could also call this:

"When you complain, the Commissioner might call a meeting with you and others to help resolve the issue."

Illustration for Privacy Act 2020

If you make a complaint, the Commissioner might call a meeting with you and the other people involved. They can do this by sending you a notice to attend at a certain time and place, or by another method that you all agree on. The Commissioner wants to help you resolve the issue.

The meeting is to figure out what the problems are and to try to get everyone to agree on a solution. This way, the complaint can be settled without needing to go further.

If someone does not show up to the meeting when asked, the Commissioner can issue a summons that requires them to attend. The rules about summons in the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 apply to this kind of summons, which means it is a formal request to attend.

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Part 5Complaints, investigations, and proceedings
Investigations by Commissioner

85Compulsory conferences of parties to complaint

  1. At any time during an investigation of a complaint, the Commissioner may call a conference of the parties—

  2. by sending each of them a notice requesting their attendance at a specified time and place; or
    1. by any other means agreed by the parties.

      1. The objectives of a conference are—

      2. to identify the matters in issue; and
        1. to try to obtain agreement between the parties on the resolution of those matters in order to settle the complaint.

          1. If a person fails to comply with a request under subsection (1) to attend a conference, the Commissioner may issue a summons requiring the person to attend a conference at a time and place specified in the summons.

          2. Section 159 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 applies to a summons under this section as if it were a witness summons issued under that section.

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