{"id":"F2018L01418","name":"Privacy (Australian Honours System) Public Interest Determination 2018","slug":"privacy-australian-honours-system-public-interest-determination-2018","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":98105,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2018L01418-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Privacy (Australian Honours System) Public Interest Determination 2018","content":"![](image.001.png)\n\nPrivacy (Australian Honours System) Public Interest Determination 2018\n\nI, Angelene Falk, Australian Information Commissioner, make the following determination under subsection 72(2) of the Privacy Act 1988.\n\nDated: 5 October 2018\n\nSigned\n\nAngelene Falk\n\nAustralian Information Commissioner\n\n    Name\n\nThis is the Privacy (Australian Honours System) Public Interest Determination 2018.\n\n    2. Commencement\n\nThis determination commences on the day of its registration on the Federal Register of Legislation maintained under section 15A of the Legislation Act 2003.\n\n    3. Authority\n\nThis determination is made by the Commissioner under subsection 72(2) of the Privacy Act 1988.\n\n    4. Definitions\n\nNote: A number of expressions used in this determination are defined in the Act, including the following:\n\n(a) agency;\n\n(b) APP entity;\n\n(c) Australian Privacy Principle;\n\n(d) breach;\n\n(e) Commissioner; and\n\n(f) personal information.\n\nIn this determination:\n\nAct means the Privacy Act 1988.\n\nApplicant means the Department of Home Affairs.\n\nAustralian citizen has the meaning given by the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.\n\nOOSGG means the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General.\n\nOrder of Australia means the Order of Australia established by the Constitution of the Order of Australia 1975.\n\nPermanent resident has the meaning given by the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.\n\nPM&C means the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.\n\n    5. Repeal of this determination\n\nThis determination is repealed 10 years from the day on which this determination commences.\n\n    6. Application for a public interest determination\n\n    (1) The Applicant is an agency and an APP entity.\n    (2) The Applicant has applied under section 73 of the Act for a public interest determination under section 72 of the Act in relation to the act or practice set out in section 7.\n\n    7. Act or practice\n    (1) This determination applies to the disclosure by the Applicant of the personal information set out in subsection (2) to the OOSGG and PM&C for the purpose of verifying the Australian citizenship or permanent residency status of individuals who are the subjects of nominations for membership or honorary membership of the Order of Australia.\n\n    (2) The personal information referred to in subsection (1) is limited to confirmation that:\n\n    a nominee is an Australian citizen and the date when the nominee became an Australian citizen;\n    a nominee is a permanent resident; or\n    the Applicant has no record that a nominee is an Australian citizen or permanent resident.\n\n    (3) This determination applies to the disclosure by the Applicant of the personal information set out in subsection (4) to the OOSGG and PM&C for the purpose of verifying the Australian citizenship status of individuals who are the subjects of consideration for other awards in the Australian honours system.\n\n    (4) The personal information referred to in subsection (3) is limited to confirmation that:\n\n    the individual is an Australian citizen and the date when the individual became an Australian citizen; or\n    the Applicant has no record that the individual is an Australian citizen.\n\n    8. Public interest determination\n    (1) I make this determination that I am satisfied of the following matters:\n\n    the act or practice set out in section 7 breaches or may breach Australian Privacy Principle 6.1; and\n    the public interest in the Applicant doing that act, or engaging in that practice, outweighs to a substantial degree the public interest in adhering to that Australian Privacy Principle.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains its original narrow scope. It was designed specifically to allow citizenship verification for honours nominations, and it does exactly that without expanding into broader information sharing or additional purposes."},"complexity_factors":["Very short document (8 sections, approximately 2 pages)","Only 6 defined terms in the interpretation section, plus 6 references to existing definitions in the parent Act","No nested exceptions or conditional logic — the permission is straightforward and narrowly scoped","Single purpose legislation with clear temporal limit (10-year sunset clause)","Minimal cross-referencing — only refers to specific subsections of the Privacy Act 1988 and Australian Citizenship Act 2007 for definitions"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument lets the Department of Home Affairs disclose limited citizenship/residency details about people nominated for Australian honours to the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor‑General and PM&C, creating a narrow exception to the Privacy Act so nominees’ eligibility can be checked without consent. The Information Commissioner approved it as a time‑limited (10‑year), purpose‑restricted measure that only confirms citizenship, citizenship date, permanent residency, or absence of records."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The determination confines disclosures to specific, narrowly defined confirmations of citizenship or residency and limits recipients and purposes to verifying honours nominations and other honours consideration (s7). It also includes a 10‑year repeal (s5). The text shows the determination implements the Applicant's request under the Act (s6) and does not indicate any expansion or contraction beyond that request."},"complexity_factors":["Narrow, specific scope of personal information authorised for disclosure (s7(2), s7(4))","Two distinct recipient agencies are named (OOSGG and PM&C) and two related purposes: Order of Australia nominations and other honours consideration (s7(1),(3))","Formal public‑interest balancing is required because the act may breach APP 6.1 (s8(1)) — introduces legal judgement about competing interests","Automatic repeal after 10 years creates a fixed temporal limit (s5)","Statutory cross‑references to the Privacy Act and defined terms require readers to consult the Act for full effect (s3, s4)","Made in response to an applicant agency request under the Act (s6) — procedural dependence on ss72–73"],"plain_english_summary":"This determination allows the Department of Home Affairs to disclose limited citizenship or permanent‑residency confirmations to the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor‑General and to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet for verifying nominees and candidates in the Australian honours system. It records that those disclosures may breach Australian Privacy Principle 6.1 but concludes the public interest in making them substantially outweighs privacy adherence. The authorisation is time‑limited and is repealed ten years after commencement."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/privacy-australian-honours-system-public-interest-determination-2018","history":"/api/acts/privacy-australian-honours-system-public-interest-determination-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/privacy-australian-honours-system-public-interest-determination-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/privacy-australian-honours-system-public-interest-determination-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/privacy-australian-honours-system-public-interest-determination-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/privacy-australian-honours-system-public-interest-determination-2018/documents"}}