Source: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-archive/foi-guidelines-archive/part-7-amendment-and-annotation-of-personal-records-v1-3
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 07:48:46
Document Index: 358662206

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 7', 'art 7', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 2', 'art 10', 'art 3', 'art 4']

Part 7 — Amendment and annotation of personal records v1.3| Office of the Australian Information Commissioner - OAIC
Part 7 — Amendment and annotation of personal records v1.3
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Version 1.3, October 2014
Making amendment decisions
Recording and notifying amendment decisions
Implementing amendment decisions
Making and implementing annotation decisions
7.1 There are two Acts that allow individuals to seek access to their personal information and to have the information corrected or annotated — the FOI Act and the Privacy Act. Part V of the FOI Act gives individuals the right to apply to an agency or minister to amend or annotate an incorrect record of their personal information kept by the agency or minister. The Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Privacy Act give individuals the right to request an agency to correct their personal information held by the agency. An agency is also required by the APPs, independently of any request from an individual, to take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information it holds is correct.
7.2 The amendment and annotation provisions in the FOI Act and Privacy Act operate alongside one another. Agencies are not required to advise individuals to proceed with an amendment request under the FOI Act rather than the Privacy Act. However, the FOI Act procedures, criteria and review mechanisms differ in important respects from those applying under the APPs. Those differences are considered below at [7.6]—[7.9].
7.8 The complaint options available to the individual under the FOI Act and APP 13 also differ. Under the FOI Act, an individual may apply for IC review of an agency’s or minister’s failure to amend or annotate a record in accordance with the person’s request. The Information Commissioner may exercise the agency’s or minister’s discretion to amend or annotate a record. Under the Privacy Act, an individual may complain to the Commissioner about an APP entity’s failure to take reasonable steps to correct personal information. After investigating, the Commissioner may find that an agency has failed to take reasonable steps to correct personal information or to comply with the minimum procedural requirements under APP 13. The Commissioner may make a determination to that effect, and require, for example, the entity to correct the personal information or to comply with the minimum procedural requirements (Privacy Act s 52).
7.9 It is open to an individual to decide whether to make an application under the FOI Act or a request under APP 13. Agencies could ensure, in appropriate cases, that people are made aware of both options and the substantive differences. An agency could refer to the FOI Act in the agency’s APP Privacy Policy (which they are required to publish under APP 1). More detailed information could be provided by an agency in other ways — such as a separate document that sets out the procedure for requesting correction of personal information, through an ‘Access to information’ icon on the agency’s website,[2] or on a case-by-case basis as the need arises. An agency could draw attention to the more flexible procedure for correcting their personal information. As explained in Part 3 of these Guidelines, agencies should consider establishing administrative access arrangements that operate alongside the FOI Act and that provide an easier and less formal means for individuals to make information access requests (including requests to correct personal information).
7.10 The remainder of this Part deals with the amendment and annotation provisions in the FOI Act. For more information about the operation of APP 13, see the APP Guidelines, Chapter 13.
By contrast, a person does not need to have had access to a record of personal information to seek correction under the Privacy Act (APP 13).
7.29 Agencies and ministers should apply the same electronic communication procedures that apply to access requests under Part III to applications under ss 48 and 49 for amendment and annotation of personal information. Specifically, an agency or minister should accept an application by email, and should accept an email address for service of notices.
7.34 An agency should apply its own procedures to satisfy itself of the person's identity before deciding whether to amend the record. Agencies should only seek the minimum amount of personal information required to establish the person’s identity.
7.45 It is important that government records are as accurate as possible. Incorrect information recorded by an agency can have significant adverse consequences for individuals, including in relation to their eligibility for services or benefits.[15] An agency may be satisfied that a record of personal information is incorrect, but find it difficult to establish what the correct information is with certainty. In these circumstances, the agency should record the closest possible approximation of the correct information.[16] When an agency receives an application for amendment of personal records, it is not necessary that the agency be satisfied that the new information proposed by the applicant is correct before it can amend its record under s 50.[17] If the agency makes a finding that the information is incorrect, it should amend the record in accordance with the applicant’s request if:
there is no other amendment that is more likely to be correct.[18]
7.46 It is open to an agency or minister to amend a record, under s 50, in a way that is different to the amendment proposed by the applicant, provided it is more likely to be correct than any other amendment option. For example, an agency may determine that an applicant’s recorded date of birth is incorrect but be unable to determine with certainty that the new date proposed by the applicant is correct. In this case, the agency should record the closest possible approximation of the correct date, whether this is the date proposed by the applicant, or another date that the agency believes, on reasonable grounds, is closer to the correct date. If the exact date of a person’s birth cannot be established with certainty, a key consideration should be consistency of dates across the records of multiple government agencies.[19]
7.48 The fact that an amendment of a record may benefit an applicant, and provide an incentive to make an amendment application, is not a matter that can ordinarily be given much weight. It is not generally evidence for or against the correctness of the personal information in a record.[20]
7.50 Where an agency or minister decides not to amend the record, they must give the applicant written notice of the decision. The notification should set out what evidence (for and against the request) the decision maker examined, the weighting given to the evidence and the reasons for refusal. The notification must also include information about the applicant's review rights and right to complain to the Information Commissioner about how the request was handled (s 26 as applied by s 51D(3)). For further guidance on writing notifications, see Part 3 of these Guidelines.
7.51 The agency or minister has the onus of justifying the decision if it is reviewed by the Information Commissioner (s 55D(1)). The agency or minister need not prove the information was correct, but must establish that the Commissioner should affirm the decision or give a decision that is adverse to the applicant.
7.55 Information on a paper document could be corrected by ruling through the incorrect information and writing the correct information next to it, above or below it. Include explanatory words such as: 'Amended on (insert date) under s 50 of the FOI Act', and cross-reference it to the amendment by adding the words 'see folio (x) of file (x)'. If there are a large number of amendments, it would be useful to pre-print stickers with the appropriate wording.
7.66 Agencies are encouraged to ensure that the existence of an annotation is clearly displayed on the cover of the applicant's active paper files and flagged on electronic files such as a central customer database. This will assist future users of the records by drawing their attention to the information the applicant has supplied.
7.67 An agency or minister may transfer an amendment or annotation application to another agency or minister who holds the documents requiring amendment or annotation or where the relevant documents contain subject matter which is more closely related to the other agency’s or minister’s functions (s 51C(1)).
7.68 The receiving agency or minister must agree to accept the transfer before it can take place — and, as a general rule, can be expected to agree to a transfer, unless there are exceptional circumstances. The Information Commissioner expects agencies and ministers will agree, unless there are exceptional circumstances. For further information on transfers see Part 3 of these Guidelines.
7.69 Certain requests for amendment or annotation of personal information must be transferred as follows.
Table 1: Transfer requirements for documents originating with or received from an agency listed in Schedule 2
Document originated with…
and the document is more closely connected with…
the document must be transferred to…
an exempt agency listed in Division 1, Part I, Schedule 2 (eg. Auditor-General, Australian Government Solicitor, or security intelligence agency) the functions of the exempt agency the responsible portfolio department (s 51C(2)(c)).
an exempt agency that is a part of the Department of Defence listed in Division 2, Part I, Schedule 2 (eg, Australian Signals Directorate) the functions of the exempt agency the Department of Defence (s 51C(2)(d)).
an agency exempt in respect of particular documents, as listed in Part II or Part III of Schedule 2 (eg, documents in respect of commercial activities) documents for which the agency is exempt the agency (s 51C(3)).
7.70 Because transfers to Schedule 2 agencies are mandatory, agencies and ministers should carefully examine the documents connected with an application for amendment or annotation early in the assessment process to ensure that they do not overlook any documents requiring transfer. For detailed advice about exempt and partly exempt agencies, see Part 2 of these Guidelines.
Transfer of applications involving multiple documents
7.71 Where a person applies for amendment or annotation of personal information held in multiple documents, a transfer provision may apply to one or more of the documents. In that case, the agency or minister can treat the application as though the person had applied separately to amend or annotate each document to which a transfer provision applies (s 51C(4)).
7.75 The provisions in Part III of the FOI Act for extending the processing period for access requests do not apply to requests for amendment or annotation. However, an agency or minister may apply to the Information Commissioner in writing for an extension of the processing period after the initial period has expired (s 51DA(3)). An agency or minister can also seek the applicant's informal agreement to an extension of time. If the applicant agrees to an extension the agreement will not be binding (unlike an agreement with an applicant on an access request under s 15AA). The applicant is entitled to treat the agency’s failure to decide within the 30 days as a deemed refusal under ss 51DA(1)–(2) and to apply for review by the Commissioner (see Part 10 of these Guidelines). However, the applicant's prior agreement is a factor that the Commissioner would take into account in deciding whether to give the agency an extension of time under s 51DA(3).
7.76 An agency should not normally seek an applicant's agreement to an extension of time longer than 30 days. If the agency believes a longer extension will be needed, it would be more appropriate to apply for an extension under s 51DA(3). The Commissioner may grant a period of extension that the Commissioner considers appropriate (s 51DA(4)). The Commissioner may also impose any conditions the Commissioner considers appropriate (s 51DA(5)). If the agency or minister fails to make a decision within the extended period or to comply with a condition, the decision is treated as a deemed refusal at the end of the extended period (s 51DA(7)).
Table 2: Time of receipt based on mode of delivery
Time of receipt (processing period commences on following day)
Pre-paid post to a specified address of the agency or minister The time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post[21]
Delivery to a central or regional office The date of delivery
Electronic communication to a specified email or fax address The date the communication is capable of being retrieved by the agency at the specified email or fax address.
7.78 The time of receipt of electronic communications derives from s 14A of the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 , which provides that an email or similar electronic communication is received at the time it is capable of being retrieved by the addressee. This is assumed to be the time it reaches the addressee's designated electronic address (this day could be a weekend or public holiday). This rule may be varied by a voluntary and informed agreement between the sender (the applicant) and the addressee (the agency or minister).
7.79 As noted above at [7.75]–[7.76], an agency or minister can seek an extension of time from the Information Commissioner if the initial 30-day period has expired (s 51DA(3)). In deciding whether to allow an extension of processing time, the Commissioner will take into account any non-working days falling within the original period.
7.81 The FOI Act does not require agencies and ministers to acknowledge receipt of a request for amendment or annotation of personal information. However, it is good administrative practice for agencies and ministers to acknowledge receipt of an amendment or annotation request within 14 days, as required with FOI access requests.
7.82 Like access decisions under Part III of the FOI Act, all decisions on the amendment of records held by agencies must be made by the responsible minister, the principal officer of the agency or persons authorised under s 23 of the Act to make those decisions (see Part 3 of these Guidelines).
7.83 Requests made to ministers are treated differently. Section 23 does not provide for a minister to authorise decision makers. In practice, however, it is open to a minister to authorise a staff member in the minister’s office or the responsible portfolio department to act on the minister’s behalf. It would be prudent for such arrangements to be in writing. A decision maker in these circumstances will be acting as an agent of the minister and the decision will be regarded as a decision of the minister.
7.84 There are no charges for processing applications for amendment or annotation of records because they concern the applicant’s own personal information (reg 5 of the Charges Regulations). For further guidance on charges see Part 4 of these guidelines.
[2] See the OAIC's Guidance for agency websites: ‘Access to information’ web page at www.oaic.gov.au.
[15] An agency should also be mindful of its obligation under the Privacy Act to take reasonable steps to ensure the quality of the personal information it collects, uses or discloses, independent of any amendment request from an individual.
[18] See ‘K’ and Department of Immigration and Citizenship [2012] AICmr 20 [39].
[19] See ‘AM’ and Department of Immigration and Border Protection [2013] AICmr 73 [21].
[20] See ‘A’ and Department of Immigration and Border Protection [2013] AICmr 7 [26].
[21] Acts Interpretation Act 1901 , s 29.