Support Centre

Western Australia

Summary

Law: Freedom of Information Act 1992 (No. 76 of 1992) ('the FOI Act'). Please note that the FOI Act only applies to public bodies. Private organisations are subject to the federal Privacy Act 1988.

Regulator: Office of the Information Commissioner ('OIC')

Summary: There is no separate, territorial level private sector data protection law in Western Australia. Furthermore, unlike other Australian states and territories, there is only limited regulation of privacy and confidentiality in the public sector. There have, however, been proposals to introduce legislation that would address data handling in the public sector that may have an impact on private organisations that are contracted with the Western Australian Government. At present, such proposals are still in discussion. In addition, the Health and Disability Services Complaints Office is an independent statutory authority within the jurisdiction that is tasked with handling complaints.