Privacy statement

We are committed to protecting your privacy and collect, store, use and disclose your personal information responsibly and transparently when we deliver our services and conduct our business. The Queensland Police Service (QPS) has established responsible and accountable collection and management guidelines to protect personal information within the service against loss, misuse or inappropriate modification or disclosure.

QPS manages personal information in accordance with the requirements of the Police Service Administration Act 1990, Public Service Act 2008, Public Service Regulations 2008 and Information Privacy Act 2009 (IP Act). Accountability requirements under these legislative provisions and the Crime and Corruption Act 2001 apply to any alleged contravention of authorised procedures.

Personal information is any information that would allow an individual to be identified. It is defined in the IP Act as 'information or an opinion, including information or an opinion forming part of a database, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion'.

Examples of personal information include a person’s name,  address, phone number, date of birth, gender, and physical characteristics including height, birthmarks and tattoos.  Personal information can be stored on a variety of media such as paper, electronic database, photographic and video image, audiotape, digital form, and may also extend to body samples and biometric data.

In order to perform its statutory functions and responsibilities, QPS needs to deal with personal information. These responsibilities include but are not limited to: law enforcement, community safety, road safety and justice services, the investigation of offences, the detection of offenders and the gathering of intelligence information.

QPS’ functions and responsibilities are set out in the Police Service Administration Act (1990).

Privacy overview

Information privacy relates to the fair collection and handling of personal information. The IP Act sets out the ways Queensland Government agencies must handle personal information and also provides individuals with access and amendments rights to their own personal information.

The IP Act contains 11 information privacy principles which detail how the QPS must collect, store, maintain, use and disclose personal information. It also contains rules about transferring personal information out of Australia and about bound contracted service providers.

The QPS is exempt from some of the privacy principles, when it is reasonably necessary, so that we can conduct law enforcement activities effectively. Read more about this from the Queensland Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC). 

See more about privacy in the QPS. 

Queensland Police Service internet site privacy and collection statement

​​Information provided by you on the QPS internet site will be used to process your application, create a Police Report, and/or resolve your complaint, compliment or query. Your personal information will be managed in compliance with the Information Privacy Act 2009.

While we will use personal information to inform statistical reporting on this internet site, the identities of individuals will not be reported. 

Disclosure of information

​If QPS discloses personal information to other State and Federal Government agencies, this will only occur where one of the following has occurred: the individuals concerned have consented to the disclosure or the disclosure is in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 or the disclosure is authorised or required under a law. 

Security of information

​QPS personnel are not permitted to access, record or disclose an individual's personal information except in the performance of their duties or in specific situations permitted by law.

While QPS provides a secure Information Storage and Security Environment, you should be aware there are inherent risks associated with the transmission of information via the Internet. For those who do not wish to communicate with the QPS online, there are alternate contact methods of obtaining and providing information (including phone, mail and in person). In some circumstances, QPS guidelines may require us to send particular information by non-electronic means.

Site visit data

This website is operated by QPS. When visiting this site, a record of your visit is logged. The information logged when you access our website is:

• The user's IP address
• The date and time of the visit to the site
• The pages accessed and the documents downloaded
• The user's operating system
• The user's web browser version

​Information is recorded for statistical purposes and is used by QPS to monitor the use of the site, and to make improvements. No attempt is made to identify users or their browsing activities except in the event of an investigation into apparent improper use of the QPS internet facility, or where a law enforcement agency is undertaking an investigation and has legal authority to identify users and/or their browsing activities.

Google Analytics

​The QPS is committed to providing a useful and effective service via its webpage. To that end, the department employs the tools provided by Google Analytics to gather information about how the department's website is accessed. Google Analytics uses 'cookies', which are text files placed on your computer, to help the department analyse how users use the site.

The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers located outside of Australia.

Information that is gathered using the Google Analytics cookie includes:

• The number of visitors to the department's website
• How visitors arrive at the department's website, for example did they type the address in directly, follow a link from another webpage, or arrive via a search engine
• The number of times each page is viewed and for how long
• Time and date of visit
• Geographical location of the visitor
• Information about what browser was used to view the department's site and the operating system of the computer
• Information about whether the browser supports Java and Flash
• The speed of the user's internet connection

​This information will be used by the QPS to optimise the department's site to improve access and usability, and to compile statistical data for reporting purposes.

Read more about Google's privacy policy​.

Complaints 

​If you believe we have handled your personal information in a way that is not consistent with the privacy principles, you can make a complaint. This will help us resolve your complaint and understand where we can improve our management of your personal information.

Please note your complaint may involve aspects of misconduct or breach of discipline. While we will look at privacy, we may also need to investigate these other aspects, which can result in disciplinary or criminal processes. The QPS takes your complaint seriously so please be patient with us while we investigate all aspects of it.

If you wish to make a complaint please complete the online form on the compliments and complaints page.