The ARC is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988. The ARC's Privacy Policy applies to all individuals involved in ARC business. The policy defines 'personal' and 'sensitive' information and outlines the purposes for the collection, use, and disclosure of this information. PDF format (226KB) - Word format (282KB) Contact details Australian Research Council Phone: 02 6287 6600 privacy@arc.gov.auwww.arc.gov.au Level 4, West Wing, Discovery House,47 Bowes Street, Phillip ACT 2606, AUSTRALIA Privacy and Information The Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) regulates how personal information is handled. The Privacy Act defines 'personal information' as: … information or an opinion, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. Common examples include an individual’s: name address phone number date of birth medical records signature. The Privacy Act includes 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). They apply to: some private sector organisations, and most Australian and Norfolk Island Government agencies. Mail: The Complaints Handling OfficerAustralian Research CouncilGPO Box 2702, CANBERRA ACT 2601 Email: complaints@arc.gov.au You can also complain to the Federal Privacy Commissioner. The Office of the Information Commissioner’s website contains more information about the Privacy Act. Privacy Impact Assessments A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is a systematic assessment of a project that identifies the impact the project might have on the privacy of individuals. It also sets out recommendations for managing, minimising, or eliminating that impact. Privacy Impact Assessment Register We maintain a register of Privacy Impact Assessments in line with the Australian Government Agencies Privacy Code. Issue Description/Outcome PIA undertaken on the ARC’s draft Research Integrity and Research Misconduct Policy in relation to stakeholder privacy concerns identified in the policy. The PIA looked at the purpose of the policy and the key privacy risks. The PIA recommended changes to further safeguard the privacy of stakeholders and concluded that the changes adopted in the draft policy would alleviate stakeholder’s concerns. PIA completed concerning the ARC’s National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP) Research Management System (RMS) The PIA assessed the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by the ARC in connection with the RMS; and more broadly the PIA considers the privacy impacts and risks associated with RMS, including in relation to compliance with privacy requirements in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and alignment with community expectations. PIA completed concerning the ARC’s Grant Digital Object Identifier (DOI) minting by the ARC Research, Evaluation, and Impact Delivery/ Policy section The PIA looked at the purpose concerning the ORCID number only for individuals involved in a grant application from the ARC’s RMS being provided to a third-party provider to facilitate the minting of a Grant DOI. The Grant DOI once minted will be accessible in RMS with ORCID information. More information about ARC grants having a DOI is accessible on the ARC website at Persistent Identifier (PID) Action Plan | Australian Research Council. PIA completed concerning a trial by the ARC Research Security section with a third-party provider as led by another Commonwealth agency, with the involvement of the ARC. The PIA looked at the trial where it involves personal information of individual/s for the ARC to trial testing a system that is already in operation at another Commonwealth agency concerning research security due diligence checks. This Privacy Impact Assessment Register was last updated on 20 February 2026. Freedom of Information For Freedom of Information please click here.