Privacy

This privacy statement sets out the Valuation NSW policy in relation to our privacy obligations to you. It also explains how we manage the personal information we collect about you when you use our services and products. Valuation NSW is part of the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment and manages the Register of Land Values database and other related support services under formal delegation from the Valuer General.

We respect your personal information and your right to privacy. Protecting your privacy is very important to us and to the way we serve you.

Legal requirements

We are required to comply with the provisions of NSW privacy legislation and the Department’s privacy management plan.

Personal information, as defined in the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 NSW (PPIP Act), means information (including information forming part of a database) about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information. The PPIP Act contains provisions to safeguard your personal information and recognises a balance must be achieved between the protection of privacy and legitimate community rights to information.

The Valuer General has a statutory responsibility to make certain information available from the public register it maintains. The Register of Land Values, kept under the Valuation of Land Act 1916, is exempt from the public register provisions of Part 6 of the PPIP Act.

The PPIP Act establishes twelve information protection principles to protect your privacy and regulate how we manage your personal information. In summary these principles deal with:

  • the collection of personal information
  • the storage and security of personal information
  • checking the accuracy of personal information before using it and using it only for purposes relevant to our functions
  • access to and correction of personal information
  • disclosure of personal information.

Exemptions provided in the PPIP Act mean that in certain circumstances NSW public sector agencies do not have to comply with one or more of the information protection principles. Examples include: 

  • personal information used for law enforcement purposes
  • personal information used for protection of the public revenue
  • Valuation of Land Act 1916 where lawfully authorised by another Act. The Valuation of Land Act 1916 requires the collection and retention of, and public access to, personal information related to land and property matters.

How we collect information

We will collect personal information by lawful means which is reasonably necessary for performing our functions.

We may collect personal information directly from you or an agent acting on your behalf, to the extent necessary to maintain the Register of Land Values, meet associated statutory obligations, provide a product or service or to carry out internal administrative operations.

We may also collect personal information when you deal with us over the telephone, ask us to contact you after visiting our website, have contact with us in person or ask us to provide you with, or give you access to, a particular service or product.

The type of personal information collected may include name, address, date of birth, contact details (including phone and email) and information collected as a result of you using or acquiring particular products or services.

How we store and secure your personal information

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised disclosure or destruction.

We have in place generally accepted standards of technology and operational security in order to keep your personal information safe.

We are part of the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment and its Code of Ethics and Conduct and information security policies prohibit employees from looking at, recording or disclosing personal information about you except in the performance of their duties.

Website security and privacy

The internet has changed the way we do business. We can supply many of our products and services directly to your own home or office.

We understand that you may be concerned about the security of the personal information we collect from you online. Accordingly, we have systems in place to ensure our online dealings with you are as secure as your dealings with us in person, or on the telephone. For more details see our website privacy statement.

How we use your personal information

We may use your personal information for the purpose for which it was collected, for other directly related purposes supporting state economic and social development and the efficient planning and provision of services to the community or other purposes required by law. We will take reasonable steps to ensure personal information that we keep is accurate, up-to-date and relevant to the purposes for which it is to be used.

There are situations where we are required by legislation to disclose your personal information. For example, personal information collected as part of the land valuation process or the conveyancing process is provided to contract valuation firms, Revenue NSW, local councils and other rating authorities and utilities. We may also provide your information to private valuation contractors to undertake work on our behalf. This includes rating and taxing contractors, who perform the original valuations that are issued to landholders, and objection contractors, who undertake land value reviews.

Under certain circumstances we may be compelled to provide personal information about you to law enforcement agencies, emergency service agencies and other organisations engaged in the planning and provision of services to the community.

The personal information we collect from you allows us to provide you and the NSW community with better service.

Access to your personal information

You can ask us to provide you with details of the personal information about you that we hold. Your request should be in writing. There is a charge for lodging a request and we may recover from you our reasonable costs incurred in providing you with the information including fees associated with supplying personal information held on public registers.

Correction of your personal information

We take reasonable steps to ensure the personal information we collect, use and disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

If you find that the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date, please contact us immediately and we will take reasonable steps to ensure it is corrected. There may be a fee associated with amendment of personal information held on our public registers.

If you find that the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date, please contact us immediately and we will take reasonable steps to ensure it is corrected. There may be a fee associated with amendment of personal information held on our public registers.

Where we do not agree with your view about the accuracy of the information and if you ask us to do so, we will take reasonable steps to note your claim where that information is stored and accessed.

Disclosure of your personal information

We will not disclose your personal details unless the disclosure is authorised by the PPIP Act and regulations.

Your consent to disclose information for particular purposes may be sought by us or given by you for a specific purpose. In some cases if you do not consent to certain uses of your personal information we may not be able to provide that particular product or service to you.

Consent to service delivery through Service NSW

We are constantly striving to improve our service delivery. For example, we may in the future enter into an arrangement with Service NSW (the NSW Government’s one-stop access centre) to distribute, on our behalf, our Notices of Valuation. As part of NSW Government, Service NSW is also subject to the provisions of the PPIP Act.

Internal review

An internal review is a process that handles complaints about how we have dealt with personal information. Part 5 of the PPIP Act specifies how an internal review is conducted.

You can apply for a review of our conduct if you believe we have breached an information protection principle or a code of practice. The stages of our internal review process are:

  • applications for an internal review must be lodged within six months (or such later date as we may allow) of you becoming aware of the alleged breach
  • a determination on internal review applications must be made within 60 days of receiving the application
  • advice of the determination and any proposed subsequent action must be provided within 14 days of the determination being made.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the internal review or how the review has been handled, you can seek further review from the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Suppression of personal information

Personal information may be suppressed from public registers in limited situations.

For more information please see www.registrargeneral.nsw.gov.au/privacy/website-privacy-statement.

Further information on privacy

If you would like more information about our privacy policy please contact:

Information Access and Privacy Unit

4 Parramatta Square

Locked Bag 5022
Sydney NSW 2001

privacy@dpie.nsw.gov.au 

(02) 9860 1440 

Further information on privacy can be obtained from the Information and Privacy Commission NSW website at www.ipc.nsw.gov.au.
back to top