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Privacy Act 2020

Complaints, investigations, and proceedings - Investigations by Commissioner

95: Special procedure relating to intelligence and security agency

You could also call this:

"What happens when you complain about a spy agency and they might have broken privacy rules"

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If you make a complaint about an intelligence and security agency, the usual rules do not apply. This is because the agency deals with sensitive information. If the Commissioner investigates and thinks the agency has interfered with someone's privacy, they must write a report to the agency. The report will say what the Commissioner thinks and why they think it. The Commissioner can also make recommendations to the agency.

The Commissioner can ask the agency to say what they plan to do about the report. If the agency does not do anything adequate, the Commissioner can send the report to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister can then show the report to the House of Representatives.

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Part 5Complaints, investigations, and proceedings
Investigations by Commissioner

95Special procedure relating to intelligence and security agency

  1. Nothing in section 85, 91, 93, 94, or subpart 3 applies to—

  2. any complaint made under this Part in relation to an action of an intelligence and security agency; or
    1. any investigation conducted under this Part in relation to an action of an intelligence and security agency.

      1. If, after completing an investigation, the Commissioner is of the opinion that an action of an intelligence and security agency is an interference with the privacy of an individual, the Commissioner must provide to the intelligence and security agency a report setting out—

      2. that opinion; and
        1. the reasons for that opinion.

          1. A report provided under subsection (2) may include any recommendations that the Commissioner considers appropriate.

          2. When making a report under subsection (2), the Commissioner may request the intelligence and security agency to notify the Commissioner within a specified time of any steps the agency proposes to take in response to the report and to any recommendations included in the report.

          3. If, within a reasonable time after any report is made, the intelligence and security agency has taken no steps in response to the report that the Commissioner considers to be adequate and appropriate, the Commissioner may send a copy of the report to the Prime Minister.

          4. As soon as practicable after receiving a report under subsection (5), the Prime Minister may present the report, or any part of the report, to the House of Representatives.

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