Department of Treasury and Finance Personal Information Protection Policy

Background

The Personal Information Protection Act 2004 (the Act) commenced operation on 5 September 2005. The following policy statement addresses the principles that are applied by the Department of Treasury and Finance (the Department) in order to protect your personal information.

Information Collected

The Department primarily collects personal information in order to discharge the following functions:

• The collection and administration of State taxes and the administration of a number of grants, subsidies and rebates paid to Tasmanians under (inter alia) the Land Tax Act 2000, the Land Tax Rating Act 2000, the Pay-roll Tax Act 1971, the Duties Act 2001, the Taxation Administration Act 1997, and the First Home Owner Grant Act 2000. For further information on personal information protection and the State Revenue Office, see this link.
• The authorisation of the sale and supply of liquor in licensed premises and in non-licensed premises under the authority of liquor permits, and the monitoring and investigation of the operation of licensed and permitted premises, under the Liquor Licensing Act 1990.
• The regulation and control of gaming, and the investigation and resolution of complaints relating to the conduct of gaming, under the Gaming Control Act 1993.
• The administration of tenders and contracts.

The type of personal information the Department collects includes names, addresses and telephone numbers, together with any specific information about a person that may be required for the purpose of discharging departmental functions.

The Department takes reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate, complete and up to date. Where practicable, the Department will check on the accuracy of your personal information before it is used.

Sensitive Information

Sensitive information includes things like health information, criminal record, racial origin and sexual preferences. Generally, the Department will only collect sensitive information with your consent if it is necessary, or if the collection of that information is required by law.

Anonymity

If you are making a general enquiry, it may not be necessary to identify yourself. If you want to obtain a service, however, identification may be necessary.

Unique Identifiers

The Department does not assign unique identifiers to people unless it is necessary for us to carry out our functions efficiently or is required by law. Nor does the Department adopt as our unique identifiers the unique identifiers from another organisation. The Department may, however, collect the unique identifiers assigned to you by another organisation, but will not disclose these without lawful authority.

Access to and correction of information collected

The Act provides that you can access your personal information held by the Department.

If you consider the personal information to be incorrect, incomplete, out of date or misleading, you can request that the information be amended.

Requests to access or correct your personal information held by the Department will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1991. For further information see this page, or contact the Department’s Freedom of Information Coordinator by mail (21 Murray Street Hobart TAS 7000), by telephone (03 6233 2071) or by email: (foi@treasury.tas.gov.au) for further information.

Depending upon the nature of the request a fee may be charged for this service.

If you are not satisfied with the handling or outcome of your request for access to your personal information (or the Department’s correction of your personal information), you can lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman's Office can be contacted on 03 6233 6217, or 1800 001 170 (cost of local call outside Hobart area), and by email at ombudsman@justice.tas.gov.au.

Use and Disclosure of Personal Information

Departmental staff are only provided with (or have access to) the information that is necessary for them to carry out their functions within the Department. All staff are bound by confidentiality requirements.

Personal information will be used only for the purpose described in the Information Collected section above. Your personal information will only be disclosed with your consent, or if it is required by or authorised by law. For example, there may be a need or requirement to disclose some or all information the Department collect to contractors and agents of the Department, law enforcement agencies, courts, or other public sector bodies.

The Act also permits the disclosure of "basic personal information" (that is, name, address, date of birth and gender) that is collected in conjunction with the provision of a service to other public sector bodies for data quality purposes.

Some de-identified personal information the Department has collected may be used in research, statistical analysis, state or national reporting, awareness programs, public statements or training, but not in a way to compromise the protection of personal information.

Personal information in written submissions on policy matters or matters of public consultation may be disclosed in reports that are made public, unless the submission was made and/or accepted on a confidential basis.

Security of Personal Information

The Department uses a number of procedural, physical, and technical safeguards, including access controls, secure methods of communication and back-up and recovery systems to protect information from misuse and loss, unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.

Generally, there is an intention that information is destroyed or permanently de-identified when it is no longer required, but this can only be done in accordance with processes approved by the State Archivist under the Archives Act 1983.

September 2005