Your rights to information held by Pillar Administration

Pillar holds information about:

• itself;
• NSW public sector superannuation schemes that it administers; and
• SIS regulated superannuation funds that it administers.

There are certain legal rights relating to access to this information.

Rights of access to information under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (“GIPA Act”)

From 1 July 2010 the GIPA Act replaced the Freedom of Information Act 1989 (NSW) and established a new ‘right to information’ system designed to make “government information” more readily available. This means that a government agency must release “government information” unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure.

Government information is anything contained in a record held by a government agency, or held on behalf of an agency by a government contractor or by the State Records Authority. A record means any document or other source of information compiled, recorded or stored in written or electronic form.

Pillar Administration is a NSW State owned corporation and is bound by the provisions of the GIPA Act in relation to information that can be defined as “government information”.  That includes the records Pillar holds on behalf of the trustees of the NSW public sector superannuation schemes that Pillar administers.

Further details about access under the GIPA Act to information held by Pillar are accessible via the links on the Contents page of this section of the website. Alternatively, questions about access to information held by Pillar can be asked of a Pillar’s Information Access Officer by calling 1800 779 068.

Further general information about the GIPA Act

Further general information about the GIPA Act is available from the Office of the NSW Information Commissioner, either:

• on the website www.oic.nsw.gov.au;
• by email to oicinfo@oic.nsw.gov.au;
• by mail to GPO Box 7011, Sydney NSW 2001; or
• by telephoning 1800 INFOCOM (1800 463 626) between 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).

Rights of access to personal information under ‘privacy’ legislation
Commonwealth and NSW privacy legislation provide right of access to personal information:

• The Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act (NSW) 1998 ("PPIP Act") provides for access and amendment rights in relation to information about individuals held by NSW government agencies. Although the PPIP Act does not directly apply to Pillar because it is a State owned corporation, the PPIP Act does cover the personal information about superannuation scheme members and pensioners that Pillar holds on behalf of the trustees of the NSW public sector superannuation schemes that it administers.
• Similarly, the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth) provides right of access to and amendment of personal information held by organisations as defined by the Act.   The ‘other’ superannuation funds that Pillar administers come within the coverage of the Act, and hence the Act provides right of access to and amendment of personal information held by Pillar on behalf of those superannuation funds. 

Further details about obtaining information under privacy legislation are contained in Pillar’s Privacy Policy which can be accessed by clicking the following link: http://www.pillar.com.au/privacy_policy.htm.