Northern Territory’s Information Act 2002, Sections, & Information Privacy Principles (IPPs)

The Act applies to all Northern Territory government agencies, including departments, boards, and commissions. The public sector agencies can adopt code of conducts to specify how exactly their operations comply with the Act and relevant IPPs.

In case any organization outsources the handling of personal information to a third-party on its behalf, it must ensure that the service provider/third party complies with the IPPs under the Act and any contravening act done by it will be considered to be done by the organization too.

The Act provides that the IPPs do not apply to publicly available information and information held by courts, tribunals and law enforcement agencies

The Act also requires government agencies to provide access to information held by them, subject to certain exceptions.

The Act establishes offenses for the unauthorized destruction or alteration of government records, mishandling of records and the unauthorized disclosure of information. Any such person would be liable to 1200 penalty units or 12 months imprisonment. (As per the Crimes Act 1914, one penalty unit equals 275 AUD).

The Act also calls for appointing an Information Commissioner, who has the authority to look into complaints concerning the information handling practices of government organizations. The Commissioner is also empowered to conduct audits and require any public sector agency to produce a document or a record, issue compliance notices and assist individuals in exercising their rights.

The Act mandates that government organizations keep accurate and full records and ensure that information is made public unless ethical, legal, or privacy-related considerations prevent it from being made available.

The Act, subject to some exclusions, ensures that information is accessible to the public and encourages transparency and accountability in government.