Advise a small business whether the Privacy Act applies to it
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the client's financial statements, business description, contracts and group structure, complete a checklist of the turnover test and each exception that brings a small business under the Act, recording the document behind each answer.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide whether annual turnover is $3 million or less across all income sources, whether any exception applies (health service provider, trading in personal information, Commonwealth contractor, related to a covered business, opted in), and advise on the result and on best practice if the business is outside the Act.
- Written for / version
- US
Open a jurisdiction version of this task to see which instruments apply: US
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the client's financial statements, business description, contracts and group structure, complete a checklist of the turnover test and each exception that brings a small business under the Act, recording the document behind each answer. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Confirm the instructions, the jurisdiction and the complete relevant material before starting.
- Confirm turnover includes income from all sources and excludes assets and capital proceeds.
- Check each exception against the business's actual activities and contracts.
- Confirm whether the business is related to an entity the Act covers.
- Check the output against the source documents named in it before it is relied on.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Does the Privacy Act apply? Small business exemption assessment checklist and advice note (Privacy Act ss 6C to 6EA) | Checklist | AI use Yellow | Checklist and advice note on whether a business is a small business operator outside the Privacy Act: the $3 million turnover test, the s 6D(4) exceptions (health services, data trading, Commonwealth contractors, credit reporting), s 6E and opting in. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
- OAIC: Small business · 2026-10-18
These are suggested working checks. Confirm the required checking with the responsible lawyer before work starts; the checking approach does not establish permission to use AI.