Privacy

Privacy Statement

The Public Transport Ombudsman Limited (PTO) is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals who contact it to request information or to lodge a complaint.

Personal information - that is information about an individual which can be used to identify that individual - is collected and handled by the PTO in accordance with the obligations in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and in line with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the PTO's Privacy Policy.

You can download a copy of our  Privacy Policy here. 

Please contact us if you require the Policy in an alternative format.

Why we collect personal information

We collect personal information to help us investigate and resolve complaints from individuals about Victorian public transport operators. You have a right to contact us anonymously or using a pseudonym, however this may affect our ability to investigate and resolve your complaint.

Who we collect personal information from

We'll collect personal information from you, or your authorised representative, when you contact us. We'll also collect personal information from the operator involved in your complaint. Depending on the nature of the complaint, personal information may also be collected from other parties who can assist in the resolution process. Where we need to seek information from someone other than the operator, or its agent, we will discuss this with you first.

Collection of third party information

Third parties are individuals who aren't directly involved in the enquiry or complaint, such as a friend or neighbour. We will only collect third party information if it will inform the investigation and assist the resolution process. Please don't provide third party information to us, unless it is relevant to resolving your complaint. If you do provide us with third party information, we may need you to contact that third party to tell them that you have provided their details to us.

What we do with your personal information

To investigate and resolve your complaint, we need to disclose your personal information to the relevant operator. If you don't want us to do this, you need to tell us. This may affect our ability to investigate your complaint. We may also need to disclose your personal information to a third party, such as a technical expert; we will discuss this with you beforehand.

We report to regulators, the public and other stakeholders about complaint numbers and issues and other PTO activities and regularly use illustrative case studies. We do not disclose personal information in these reports. If we believe it is necessary to provide your personal information to another organisation, such as a regulator, or an organisation requests your personal information after reading a de-identified report, we'll ask your permission before doing so.

We conduct regular customer satisfaction surveys about the dispute resolution service we provide. We may provide your contact details to our survey company. Your personal information will only be held by the survey company during the course of the survey and will only be used for that purpose. If you do not want us to provide your details to an independent survey company contracted by the PTO, please let us know.

Authorised Representatives

We will not disclose information about your complaint to anyone other than you, unless you have given us permission to do so.

If you would like someone to act on your behalf when dealing with us, we will generally need you to complete and sign a written authority form. Please speak to your Conciliator if you would like to arrange an authorised representative to act on your behalf. Fill out an Authority to Act Form  here.

Access to your information

We'll provide you with access to your personal information upon request, unless one of the APP exceptions apply.  

Please contact the Conciliator handling your complaint or the PTO Deputy Ombudsman if you want to access your information. You will need to provide specific details of the information you are seeking to access, to help us identify where the information is held.

The PTO Deputy Ombudsman will review and respond to your request for access.

Complaints about privacy

If you are concerned about how we have handled your personal information, you have right to complain to us.

Complaints should be directed to the PTO Deputy Ombudsman: