Our Privacy Policy

Australian Energy Market Operator Limited, (AEMO, ABN 94 072 010 327) values and is committed to protecting your privacy.

AEMO is subject to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles in Schedule 1 to the Privacy Act. AEMO is committed to protecting the confidentiality of the personal information it collects and the privacy of the person to whom the information relates. This policy explains how AEMO will manage personal information.

Why AEMO collects and holds personal information

AEMO will only collect and hold personal information where necessary for AEMO’s operations, including for the performance of its statutory functions and services. This may include personal information:

required to assist in managing business and stakeholder relationships
for employment purposes, including potential employees who voluntarily provide their résumé to AEMO
about individuals representing participants and industry associations in the energy industry
provided in the course of AEMO’s energy market and system operations
provided in connection with services acquired or provided by AEMO
required to ensure compliance with any relevant law
provided to AEMO during a situation that involves a threat to health and safety
provided to AEMO in a dispute resolution process, or for the purposes of a person establishing, exercising or defending a legal or equitable claim.

Types of personal information AEMO may collect and hold

The kinds of personal information AEMO collects and holds will vary depending on the purpose for its collection and may include identifying information (such as a name and date of birth), contact information (email address), usernames and passwords for accounts created with AEMO, records of communications (including messages sent to AEMO) and device information (eg IP address). Where an individual is an employee or contractor of AEMO, AEMO may also collect sensitive information (for example for health and safety purposes).

Without this information AEMO may be limited in how it can perform its services and engage with an individual (including responding to queries or requests submitted to AEMO).

How AEMO collects and holds personal information

AEMO may collect information from a variety of sources for the purposes indicated above. Generally, however, personal information is:

directly and voluntarily provided by the relevant individual through AEMO’s website, by telephone, in person or by other communication
provided to AEMO by that person’s employer, or an organisation the person represents, for the purposes of registration for participation or training in an energy market operated by AEMO
provided to AEMO by another person for the purposes of AEMO performing its functions and exercising its powers in relation to an energy market it operates.

Cookies and links to third party websites

AEMO's website makes use of cookies to collect information about interactions with AEMO’s website and to provide users with a more effective or tailored service. "Cookies" are small text files created and stored on your hard drive by your internet browser software to hold relevant information about AEMO’s website. Most web browsers allow you to disable cookies - please refer to your browser’s help menu to find out how to do this.

AEMO’s website may contain links to third party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. If you follow a link to any third party website, please be aware that these websites have their own privacy notices or policies and we do not accept any responsibility or liability for their data processing activities.

AEMO will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information it collects is stored in a secure environment protected from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. AEMO will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify personal information that AEMO no longer needs and is not legally required to retain.

How AEMO may use and disclose personal information

AEMO will use and disclose personal information for the purpose for which it was collected.

AEMO may also use or disclose personal information for a related purpose, if the relevant individual would reasonably expect the use or disclosure. Examples of such situations include the use or disclosure of personal information:

for the purpose of advising of training or services that may be of interest (individuals can opt-in to receive marketing)
to conduct a stakeholder satisfaction survey to improve performance of AEMO’s functions and services
required to investigate or prevent any suspected or alleged breach of applicable laws, rules or procedures
required by AEMO for any other purpose that AEMO expressly states at the time of collection
to address a situation that involves a threat to health and safety.

AEMO may also use or disclose personal information with the consent of the relevant individual.

Sometimes AEMO may need to disclose personal information to third parties, such as:

referees, representatives and other people an individual has authorised AEMO to interact with on their behalf
professional advisers who AEMO engages to provide advice
service providers AEMO engages for the purpose of performing its functions
debt collection agencies
regulatory bodies and government agencies or other people as required by law
enforcement bodies (as defined in the Privacy Act).

How individuals can access and correct their personal information

You can request access to any personal information AEMO holds about you by contacting AEMO’s Information and Support Hub (details below). AEMO will endeavour to respond to a request for access within 30 days and provide access to the information in the manner requested, if it is reasonable and practicable to do so. In some circumstances, AEMO is entitled to refuse an individual’s request to access personal information, for example where:

giving access may pose a threat to other individuals or unreasonably affect their privacy
AEMO is authorised or required to refuse access by law or court order
giving access would disclose commercially sensitive information
giving access is likely to prejudice enforcement activities by an enforcement body
the request is frivolous or vexatious.

There is no charge for access to your own personal information.

AEMO tries to ensure that personal information in its possession is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading. You can request AEMO to correct your personal information, and AEMO will take all reasonable steps to correct the information within 30 days. If AEMO cannot correct the information for some reason, it will give you a written notice explaining the reasons, in compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles.

Disclosure of personal information to overseas recipients

AEMO may occasionally need to disclose personal information to a person located overseas who may be subject to different privacy regimes. This may include, but is not limited to service providers who manage a process for AEMO, such as quality assurance analysis of information, IT vendors and support centre calls. Overseas locations in which your information may be shared include South Africa and the United States of America.

Enquiries or complaints

If you want more information about the way AEMO manages personal information, to request access to your personal information or to opt out of receiving marketing or promotional material from AEMO, please contact AEMO's Information & Support Hub on 1300 236 600 or email SupportHub@aemo.com.au.

If you have a complaint about a potential breach by AEMO of the Australian Privacy Principles, please email SupportHub@aemo.com.au with the subject ‘Privacy Complaint – Attn Privacy Officer’, providing details of the relevant personal information and the alleged breach.

AEMO will investigate your complaint and endeavour to respond in writing within 30 days. The response will explain whether AEMO considers that it has breached an Australian Privacy Principle and, if so, AEMO’s proposed course of action. If you do not receive a response from AEMO within 30 days, or you are not satisfied with the response, you can make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). Contact details can be found at the OAIC’s website: www.oaic.gov.au

Changes to this policy

AEMO may make changes to this policy from time to time, to take into account changes to AEMO’s standard practices and procedures or where necessary to comply with new laws and regulations. The latest version of this policy will always be available on AEMO’s website.