South Australian state government agencies may apply to the Privacy Committee of South Australia for an exemption to one or more of the IPPs.
Exemptions are considered if there is a legitimate need to use or disclose personal information outside of the Public Sector (Data Sharing) Act 2016 (external site) (external site), the Information Sharing Guidelines and the Information Privacy Principles Instruction (IPPI) (external site) (PDF) (external site) (PDF). The Committee considers these requests on a case-by-case basis and will grant an exemption where it is in the public interest to do so.
Clause 4 of the Proclamation (Attachment 1 of the IPPI) provides the Committee this authority.
A formal request for an exemption from the IPPI can be made using the Information Privacy Principles Exemption Request Form (DOC).
Submissions must be made to the Presiding Member of the Committee.
Presiding Member
Privacy Committee of South Australia
Address: c/- State Records of South Australia
GPO Box 464
ADELAIDE SA 5001
Email privacycommittee@sa.gov.au
If other agencies require a parallel exemption, the agency making the submission must attach evidence of an agreement with the other parties.
If the project or activity involves the use of personal information for research and requires the approval of other government committees in accordance with approved guidelines, such as research, ethics or governance committees, these approvals must be obtained prior to submitting a request for exemption from the IPPI.
Often agencies need to extend an exemption beyond its expiry date (for example, the timeframe for a project has been extended).
To seek an extension, agencies must write to the Committee and address the following factors if relevant:
- whether the initiative has been delivered as previously described and whether it has been effective
- if any issues have arisen relating to the management of personal information or the project more generally
- if any changes have been implemented since the project commenced or changes that are proposed to be implemented, including partners to the agreement
- why it continues to be in the public interest for the exemption to be in place
- the required length of the extension
- other options that have been considered
- anything else the agency considers the Committee should know.
A copy of the previous submission and exemption should be attached.
Where one agency is submitting the request on behalf of a group of agencies, supporting documentation should be attached from each participating agency.
The Committee generally meets eight times a year. Submissions made will be considered at the next Committee meeting (if submitted at least two weeks before the next meeting).
Please contact the Executive Officer at privacycommittee@sa.gov.au for further information about exemption and extension processes, meeting dates and submission deadlines.
Approved exemptions are public documents and the text will be published in the Committee’s Annual Report.