I’m not sure why you think the Privacy Act would compel anyone to supply information since its purpose is to ensure that it isn’t except in appropriate circumstances.
The 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) commenced on 12 March 2014. They regulate the handling of personal information by Australian government agencies and private sector organisations with an annual turnover of $3 million or more (“APP Entity”). The 13 APPs are contained in schedule 1 to the Privacy Act 1988.
This Act compels such an APP Entity to have a clearly expressed and up to date policy about its management of personal information. The policy must include the following information (amongst other things):-
- the kinds of personal information that the entity collects and holds;
- how the entity collects and holds personal information;
- the purposes for which the entity collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information;
- how an individual may access personal information about the individual that is held by the entity and seek the correction of such information;
- how an individual may complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles, or a registered APP code (if any) that binds the entity, and how the entity will deal with such a complaint.
My strata company is an APP and in breach of the Act because it has never published a privacy policy. The unpublished version, prepared by a lawyer who was simultaneously arguing that the Privacy Act prevented the strata company (and the lawyer’s real client – the strata manager), states:
The Strata Company is subject to a number of obligations under the Strata Act. These obligations will override the Privacy Act to the extent of any inconsistency.
Assuming the legislation in other Australian states also obligates the strata company to allow strata records to be inspected the above applies everywhere.