15-02 – Disclosure of Information by Councils to NBN Co Limited for the delivery of the National Broadband Network
What’s new or changing
- The Attorney General has approved the making of a public interest direction under section 41 of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (the PPIP Act), titled ‘Direction on the Disclosure of Information by Councils to NBN Co Limited for the delivery of the National Broadband Network’.
- The public interest direction was signed by the NSW Privacy Commissioner on 7 November 2014 and has effect for a period of 18 months.
What this will mean for your council
- The direction permits a council to disclose the address of a land owner, collected by a council for rating purposes, to NBN Co for the purpose of providing written notice to land owners of its intention to inspect the land, install and maintain the NBN facilities.
Key points
- Under the public interest direction, a council may disclose personal information of land owners to NBN Co on condition that:
- NBN Co has approached the council in writing;
- The council is satisfied that the information is to be used by NBN Co for the proper and lawful function/s of that agency in accordance with Clause 17 of Schedule 3 to the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth); and
- The council is satisfied that the personal information is reasonably necessary for the exercise of NBN Co’s function/s with respect to the inspection of land, installation and maintenance of NBN facilities.
Where to go for further information
- For more information see the public interest direction on the Information and Privacy Commission’s website at http://www.ipc.nsw.gov.au/public-interest-directions.
Steve Orr
Acting Chief Executive