Section 7C — Privacy Act 1988: Political acts and practices are exempt

Members of a Parliament etc. (1) An act done, or practice engaged in, by an organisation (the political representative) consisting of a member of a Parliament, or a councillor (however described) of a local government authority, is exempt for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(ee) if the act is done, or the practice is engaged in, for any purpose in connection with: (a) an election under an electoral law; or (b) a referendum under a law of the Commonwealth or a law of a State or Territory; or (c) the participation by the political representative in another aspect of the political process. Contractors for political representatives etc. (2) An act done, or practice engaged in, by an organisation (the contractor) is exempt for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(ee) if the act is done or the practice is engaged in: (a) for the purposes of meeting an obligation under a contract between the contractor and a registered political party or a political representative described in subsection (1); and (b) for any purpose in connection with one or more of the following: (i) an election under an electoral law; (ii) a referendum under a law of the Commonwealth or a law of a State or Territory; (iii) the participation in another aspect of the political process by the registered political party or political representative; (iv) facilitating acts or practices of the registered political party or political representative for a purpose mentioned in subparagraph (i), (ii) or (iii) of this paragraph. Subcontractors for organisations covered by subsection (1) etc. (3) An act done, or practice engaged in, by an organisation (the subcontractor) is exempt for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(ee) if the act is done or the practice is engaged in: (a) for the purposes of meeting an obligation under a contract between the subcontractor and a contractor described in subsection (2); and (b) for a purpose described in paragraph (2)(b). Volunteers for registered political parties (4) An act done voluntarily, or practice engaged in voluntarily, by an organisation for or on behalf of a registered political party and with the authority of the party is exempt for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(ee) if the act is done or the practice is engaged in for any purpose in connection with one or more of the following: (a) an election under an electoral law; (b) a referendum under a law of the Commonwealth or a law of a State or Territory; (c) the participation in another aspect of the political process by the registered political party; (d) facilitating acts or practices of the registered political party for a purpose mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c). Effect of subsection (4) on other operation of Act (5) Subsection (4) does not otherwise affect the operation of the Act in relation to agents or principals. Meaning of electoral law and Parliament (6) In this section: electoral law means a law of the Commonwealth, or a law of a State or Territory, relating to elections to a Parliament or to a local government authority. Parliament means: (a) the Parliament of the Commonwealth; or (b) a State Parliament; or (c) the legislature of a Territory. Note: To avoid doubt, this section does not make exempt for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(ee) an act or practice of the political representative, contractor, subcontractor or volunteer for a registered political party involving the use or disclosure (by way of sale or otherwise) of personal information in a way not covered by subsection (1), (2), (3) or (4) (as appropriate). The rest of this Act operates normally in relation to that act or practice.