status (for example, open/closed, etc.), and complaint outcomes.
If no such
document currently exists, I request that a document be created by extracting
this information from the OAIC’s relevant databases or complaint management
systems. Scope: 1 July 2020 to the date of this request.
2. Documents (including internal guidance, policy documents, briefings, advice
or similar) that relate to charities’ use of wealth screening, commercial profiling
tools, data enrichment services, or predictive fundraising analytics in relation to
donors or supporters (including tools such as Experian Mosaic, Roy Morgan
Helix, or similar products). This includes, but is not limited to, documents that
consider how such practices engage obligations under the Australian Privacy
Principles (for example APP 1, APP 3 and APP 5). Scope: 1 July 2022 to the date
of this request.
3. Documents that discuss any consideration of conducting a Commissioner-
initiated investigation, sector-wide inquiry, or other systemic review into
charities’ use of wealth screening, commercial profiling tools, data enrichment
services, or predictive fundraising analytics in relation to donors or supporters.
This item is limited to internal OAIC documents and excludes correspondence
with external parties. Scope: 1 July 2022 to the date of this request.
I do not seek access to individual complaints or any information that would
identify individual complainants. I agree to the names and direct contact details
of non-senior staff being removed.
On 19 December 2025, we sent you an acknowledgment of receipt of your request and
we asked if you would agree to an extension of time of 30 days due to the end-of-year
office shutdown.
On the same date, you replied as follows:
Dear OAIC - FOI,
Thank you for your email regarding FOIREQ25/00539. I agree to the 30-day extension,
extending the due date for my request to 11 February 2026.
Yours sincerely,
Ada
Request timeframe
Your FOI request was received by the OAIC on 13 December 2025 and the due date
would have been 12 January 2026. However, you agreed to a 30-day time extension due
to the office shutdown. Therefore, the decision on your FOI request falls due on 11
February 2026.
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Decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in
relation to FOI requests on behalf of the OAIC.
I have made the decision to:
• fully release 2 documents, and
• refuse part three of your request as documents could not be found, do not exist,
or have not been received by the OAIC.
Searches undertaken
The FOI Act requires that all reasonable steps be taken to locate documents within
scope of an FOI request.
The following line areas of the OAIC conducted searches for documents relevant to
your request:
• Regulatory Action
• Privacy Complaints and Complainant Services
Searches were conducted in the following OAIC document storage systems:
• the OAIC’s case management system - Resolve
• the OAIC website
As a result of these searches, one document was located meeting part two of your
request. This document is publicly available at Privacy for not-for-profits, including
charities | OAIC.
No documents were located meeting part one or part three of your request. However,
the relevant line area advised that some of the information falling within scope of part
one of the request exists as data within a database.
Having consulted with the relevant line areas, and having reviewed the search and
retrieval efforts, I am satisfied that reasonable searches have been undertaken for your
request.
Reasons for decision
Material taken into account
In making my decision, I had regard to the following:
• your FOI request dated 13 December 2025
• consultation with relevant line areas in the OAIC
• the FOI Act
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• the Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under
section 93A of the FOI Act to which regard must be had in performing a function
or exercising a power under the FOI Act (FOI Guidelines)
Access to edited copies with irrelevant and exempt matter
deleted (section 22)
In accordance with section 22 of the FOI Act, an agency must consider whether it is
possible to prepare an edited copy of the documents subject to an FOI request, where
material in the documents has been identified as exempt, or irrelevant, to the request.
I have determined that there is no exempt or irrelevant material.
Creation of a document in response to your FOI request (section
17)
Pursuant to section 17 of the FOI Act, I have made a decision to create one document in
response to your request. I have made a decision to grant full access to this document.
Under section 17 of the FOI Act, if an FOI request is made for a document that could be
produced by using a computer ordinarily available to the agency for retrieving or
collating stored information, an agency is required to deal with the request as if it was a
request for written documents to which the FOI Act applies.
The FOI Guidelines explain at 3.235 that section 17 may require an agency to produce a
written document of information that is stored electronically and not in a discrete
written form, if it does not appear from the request that the applicant wishes to be
provided with a computer tape or disk on which the information is recorded. Examples
include a transcript of a sound recording, a written compilation of information held
across various agency databases, or the production of a statistical report from an
agency’s dataset. The obligation to produce a written document arises if:
• the agency could produce a written document containing the information by
using a ‘computer or other equipment that is ordinarily available’ to the agency
for retrieving or collating stored information (s 17(1)(c)(i)), or making a transcript
from a sound recording (s 17(1)(c)(ii)) and
• producing a written document would not substantially and unreasonably divert
the resources of the agency from its other operations (s 17(2)).
If those conditions are met, the FOI Act applies as if the applicant had requested
access to the written document and it was already in the agency’s possession.
Part one of your request sought access to:
Documents containing aggregated statistics on privacy complaints where the
respondent was a charity, including (where recorded) the number of complaints
received per year, Australian Privacy Principles cited or at issue, complaint
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status (for example, open/closed, etc.), and complaint outcomes.
If no such
document currently exists, I request that a document be created by extracting
this information from the OAIC’s relevant databases or complaint management
systems. Scope: 1 July 2020 to the date of this request
The Privacy Complaints and Complainant Services team advised me that some of the
material sought is not available in a discrete form but instead is able to be produced in
a written document through the use of a computer.
Consequently, a a report has been created with the following columns:
• Year Received
• Open Status
• Case Outcome
• Count (number of cases)
I note that your scope includes the APPs cited for each complaint. The report does not
capture this information and would require manual searching of each record to identify
this information. To manually search each record to include this information would be
an unreasonable burden on the relevant line area.
Documents cannot be found, do not exist or have not been
received – Section 24A of the FOI Act
Section 24A(1) of the FOI Act provides that an agency may refuse a request for access
to a document requested under the FOI Act if all reasonable steps have been taken to
find the document and the agency is satisfied that the document/s cannot be found,
have not been received by the OAIC, or do not exist.
With regard to the part three of your request that seeks access to documents
discussing any considerations of undertaking reviews of certain tools used by charities,
I have made the decision to refuse this part of your request under section 24A of the FOI
Act. I have made this decision on the basis that all reasonable steps have been taken to
find the documents you have requested but they cannot be found, have not been
received by the OAIC, or do not exist.
Release of documents
The relevant document meeting part one of your request is attached.
I have not included a copy of the document meeting part two of your request, as it is
publicly available at Privacy for not-for-profits, including charities | OAIC.
Please see the following page for information about your review rights.
Yours sincerely
Emma
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FOI Officer
Governance, Risk and Compliance (FOI)
10 February 2026
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If you disagree with my decision
Internal review
You have the right to apply for an internal review of my decision under Part VI of the FOI
Act. An internal review will be conducted, to the extent possible, by an officer of the
OAIC who was not involved in or consulted in the making of my decision. If you wish to
apply for an internal review, you must do so in writing within 30 days. There is no
application fee for internal review.
If you wish to apply for an internal review, please mark your application for the attention
of the FOI Coordinator and state the grounds on which you consider that my decision
should be reviewed.
Applications for internal review can be submitted email to xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
Alternatively, you can submit your internal review application by post to:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5288
SYDNEY NSW 2001.
Further review
You have the right to seek review of this decision by the Information Commissioner and
the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART).
You may apply to the Information Commissioner for a review of my decision (IC review).
If you wish to apply for IC review, you must do so in writing within 60 days. Your
application must provide an address (which can be an email address or fax number)
that we can send notices to and include a copy of this letter. A request for IC review can
be made in relation to my decision, or an internal review decision.
Please note: It is the Information Commissioner’s view that it will usually not be in the
interests of the administration of the FOI Act to conduct an IC review of a decision, or
an internal review decision, made by the same agency which the Information
Commissioner heads: the OAIC. For this reason, if you make an application for IC
review of my decision, and the Information Commissioner is satisfied it is not in the
interests of administration of the FOI Act, and it is desirable that my decision be
referred or considered by the ART, the Information Commissioner may decide not to
undertake an IC review (refer section 54W of the FOI Act).
Section 57A of the FOI Act provides that, before you can apply to the ART for review of
an FOI decision, you must first have applied for IC review.
Applications for IC review can be submitted online at: IC Review application online
form.
Alternatively, you can submit your application to:
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Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5288
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Or by email to xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
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