Throughout 2025–26, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) upheld and promoted information access and privacy rights, achieving effective regulatory outcomes for the community in the face of significantly increased demand.
Introducing the OAIC’s Annual Report 2025–26 , Australian Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said “The significant increase in incoming matters was reflective of the importance the community places on information access and privacy. The strategies we have implemented have been demonstrably effective.
These community contacts also provide valuable insights to drive our increasing focus on proactive regulatory activities including guidance, investigations and enforcement to secure information access and privacy rights. This proactive approach better secures the community’s right to both privacy and information access,” Commissioner Tydd said.
In response to this engagement and demand by the community and industry the OAIC implemented a targeted program of case management improvements over the past 2 years to ensure confidence in the regulatory system and provide improved outcomes.
During the 2025-26 year the OAIC used its full regulatory toolkit across education, complaint resolution, compliance and enforcement to demonstrate its mandate to be a proactive and proportionate regulator.
Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind published determinations and findings following significant investigations, including privacy breaches related to pixel tracking and unfair or unlawful collection of personal information by RentTech platforms . She also announced the first-ever privacy compliance desktop sweep targeting industries where power and information asymmetries are common.
The OAIC continued thematic investigations into 4 agencies’ compliance with timeliness requirements under the FOI Act. The agency also welcomed the Federal Court’s order that Australian Clinical Labs (ACL) pay civil penalties of $5.8 million following a data breach in 2022 , the first order of its kind in Australia.
This year, the OAIC has again published a separate FOI volume of the Annual Report to improve accessibility of agency performance data and provide more detailed regulatory information. This volume includes the first publication of an FOI leaderboard highlighting best-practices and encouraging agencies to make continuous improvements towards compliance on key measures under the FOI Act.
FOI Commissioner Alice Linacre said in her foreword that the decision to publish a volume focusing on FOI is one way the OAIC seeks to add transparency to the operation of the system, providing useful information to all stakeholders on where progress can be realised.
The Annual Report highlights the OAIC’s evolving organisational and regulatory approach, driving activities which help the Australian community to navigate an increasingly complex digital environment.
“The OAIC’s organisational strength and integrated approach position us well to deal with the many milestones ahead in 2026–27, including future privacy reform and the implementation of the Children’s Online Privacy Code, uplifting FOI practices by agencies, and always operating in the spirit of the Commonwealth Integrity Strategy,” Commissioner Tydd said.
- Annual Report 2025-26 | OAIC
- Annual Report Volume 1 2025-26 (PDF, 4142 KB)
- Annual Report Volume 2 2025-26 (PDF, 3224 KB)
Key 2025–26 statistics
- Handled 2,193 FOI enquiries, a 22% increase compared to 2024–25.
- Received 5,268 privacy complaints, a 60% increase compared to 2024–25.
- Finalised 2,311 Information Commissioner (IC) reviews in 2025–26, and received 3,025 applications for IC reviews, a 42% increase in applications compared to 2024-25.
- The average time taken to finalise an IC review fell from 13.5 months in 2024-25 to 7 months in 2025-26.
- Finalised 3,327 privacy complaints compared to 3,123 in 2024–25.
- Issued 7 determinations following investigations of privacy complaints and continued to reduce the number of older complaints on hand.
- Finalised 1,327 notifications under the NDB scheme, reflecting an 18% increase in notifications, with 88% of notifications finalised within 60 days, exceeding the OAIC target of 80%.
About the OAIC
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is an independent statutory agency established to promote and uphold privacy and information access rights. It has a range of regulatory responsibilities and powers under the Privacy Act 1988, Freedom of Information Act 1982 and the Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010 as well asspecific regulatory mandates supporting the following Commonwealth programs:
- My Health Records
- Consumer Data Right
- Australian Government Digital ID System
- Identity Verification Service
- Anti-Money Laundering / Counter-Terrorism Financing
- National Consumer Credit
- Social Media Minimum Age
- Taxation Administration (handling of Tax File Numbers).
