ABS Privacy Policy for Statistical Information

The ABS collects personal information to produce statistics. ABS statistics help provide governments, businesses and communities with the information they need to inform important decisions on a wide range of economic, social, population and environmental matters. 

The ABS also collects personal information to help us run our surveys. This includes using your contact details to stay in touch with you during data collection and to improve our business practices. 

We collect only the personal information we need to produce statistics for Australia, and to maintain contact with you as part of our data collection activities.

Please see ‘Your personal information – statistical purposes’ page for the types of personal information we collect for statistical collections.

We collect personal information in several ways:

• Directly from you (either when we approach you or when you contact us)
• From a member of your household, employee at your workplace or your business representative when they are completing one of our surveys
• From other government agencies and data custodians that make their data available to us

We use your personal information only to perform our work under the Census and Statistics Act 1905 and the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975. This can include combining your information with other sources of data to help policy makers and researchers gain a better understanding of Australia. This is known as data integration. This often helps reduce the number of questions you need to answer when completing a survey.

The ABS will not share any personal information provided for statistical purposes in a way that is likely to identify you, unless:

• we are returning it to you;
• you have consented;
• you would reasonably expect, or have been told, that we usually disclose information of this kind; or
• it is required or authorised by law

The ABS will not disclose your personal information to any overseas entity or for compliance or regulatory uses.

Security

We take the security of your personal information seriously. We set strict standards for protecting your privacy, and the security and confidentiality of your information.

We secure all our information in accordance with the Protective Security Policy Framework. The cyber security controls for our IT systems comply with the Australian Signals Directorate's (ASD) Information Security Manual. ABS systems that store and process statistical data are subjected to independent security assessments by independent ASD certified security assessors.

Retention and Deletion

Identifiable information, such as name and address, is deleted when no longer needed in accordance with the Administrative Functions Disposal Authority and our records authorities (2001/00000540 and 2007/00105946).

Privacy Impact Assessments

We assess the impact of our activities on your individual privacy. These assessments are called Privacy Impact Assessments they help the ABS to:

• design new processes,
• manage change, and
• keep your information safe. 

We conduct these assessments whenever we change how we collect, use or store your personal information. 

Our legislative responsibility

Our staff are legally bound to protect your data. It is an offence to reveal any information collected under the Census and Statistics Act 1905. Breaching this requirement can result in heavy penalties, including significant fines and imprisonment. We also comply with all relevant federal legislation including the:

• Privacy Act
• Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975
• Archives Act 1983

Third-party partnerships

We sometimes engage third-party providers to support our statistical operations, including services such as call centre support, IT software, and applications. These providers are legally bound to meet privacy standards and our expectations. They will also have their own privacy policies, processes and security protections which we review to ensure their approach to privacy reflects our own. When we partner with third-parties who will handle personal information, our responsibilities include establishing contractual arrangements and ensuring appropriate security assessments and privacy assessments are in place. 

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information. We will take all reasonable steps to address your request. In some cases, we won’t be able to provide your personal information as we have:

• destroyed the physical forms, and
• deleted personal identifiers (such as name and address) from the statistical data, which we do as soon as possible.

We are committed to protecting your privacy. We will treat any accidental or unauthorised disclosure of your personal information seriously and respond to it promptly.
If you wish to make a complaint, we will take the following steps:

• Acknowledge your contact within five working days of receiving your complaint
• Ask for more information to help with our investigation if required
• Respond to you within 30 days

If the matter is complex and our investigation is expected to take longer than 30 days, we will let you know and provide you with a new timeframe.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you can request a review be undertaken by the ABS Privacy Officer or you may refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.