The Law Handbook 2024

1112 Section 12: Government and the individual Complaints of breaches of the Commonwealth Spent Convictions Scheme may be made to the Australian Information Commissioner. Exclusions under the scheme Exclusions under the Commonwealth Spent Convictions Scheme are limited to specific organ­ isations that need to know about particular offences for special purposes. For example, if a person is applying for a position involving the care and control of children, the potential employer can find out about any sex offence convictions, or convictions for offences where the victim was a child. If an agency is excluded, it should explain this fact, and what it means for the person concerned. State and territory schemes Some states and territories have their own spent convictions schemes for state offences. This now includes Victoria since the enactment of the Spent Convictions Act 2021 (Vic), which operates retrospectively, meaning that it applies to convictions that were imposed before, on or after the day on which the Act came into operation. A specific scheme providing for the expungement of historical homosexual offences that are not criminal offences today has operated in Victoria since September 2015 (see www.justice.vic.gov.au/ expungement-scheme) . For further information about spent convictions, see ‘Spent convictions’ in Chapter 3.9: Understanding criminal records. See also www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/ your-privacy-rights/more-privacy-rights/criminal- records . For Victorian offences, see also www.justice. vic.gov.au/spent-convictions. Personal property securities The Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (‘ PPS Act ’) established a national register for personal property and security interests. The PPS Act and PPS register commenced operation in May 2011 (for more information, visit www.ppsr.gov.au) . ‘Personal property’ means property other than land, buildings or fixtures that form a part of land. It can include tangibles (e.g. cars, crops and machinery) and intangibles (e.g. contract rights and intellectual property). A personal property security is created when a ‘secured party’ takes an interest in personal property as security for a loan or other obligation or enters into a transaction that involves the supply of secured finance. A ‘secured party’ is a person or entity that has a security interest in the collateral of someone else (the grantor). ‘Collateral’ is personal property (consumer or commercial) with a security interest attached. Registrations on the PPS register can include: • data about the grantor’s property or collateral; • a person’s name and date of birth; • data about the secured party, although the secured party’s details are not searchable. Grantors must be notified when a secured party makes a registration against them. The PPS Act protects grantors, secured parties and others from misuse of the register (e.g. illegitimate searches and registrations), with civil penalties to protect people’s privacy. A breach of certain limitations is also an interference with privacy under the PA 1988. A breach may also give rise to damages. Telecommunications The telecommunications sector is regulated by the PA 1988, the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth) (‘ Telecommunications Act ’) and the Telecommun­ ications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth) (‘ TIA Act ’). These Acts set out specific obligations, which include prohibiting a telecommunications provider from disclosing personal information (subject to limited exemptions). These obligations are in addition to telecommunications providers’ obligations to comply with the APPs (see ‘Summary of the Australian Privacy Principles’, above). The Telecommunications Act provides for the registration of telecommunications codes under a self-regulatory framework. These codes are developed by the industry through the Communications Alliance and may be registered with the Australian Communications and Media Authority ( ACMA ). ACMA must consult the OAIC on the codes when it deals with privacy matters. There are several privacy obligations in telecommunications codes registered and guidelines issued by ACMA. These include calling number display (G522:2016), handling of life-threatening and unwelcome calls (C525:2006), and integrated public number database (C555:2007). For more information about Telecommunications Act codes and standards currently in force,