Value proposition

We promote and uphold privacy and information access rights

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is the independent national regulator for privacy and freedom of information. Our purpose is to uphold privacy and information access rights.

As an independent statutory agency, the OAIC’s work is of national significance and plays an important role in shaping Australia’s information handling landscape across the economy – from government, digital platforms and the online environment, to health, finance and telecommunications.

We are an agency within the Attorney-General Department’s portfolio with responsibility for:
• privacy functions under the Privacy Act 1988 and other legislation
• freedom of information, in particular review of decisions made by agencies and ministers under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.