Why Word Documents and Spreadsheets Fail
Australian organisations are expected to conduct Privacy Impact Assessments — and government agencies are required to. But most still manage PIAs using methods that create risk, not reduce it.
Word Documents
No visibility across the organisation. No workflow. No audit trail. Documents get lost, versions conflict, and there's no central view of your privacy compliance posture.
Spreadsheets
Manual data entry leads to errors. No proper risk matrices. No treatment tracking. Difficult to report on, impossible to audit, and doesn't scale as requirements grow.
Confused Project Teams
PIAs get assigned to project managers who aren't privacy specialists. They struggle with what's required, chase approvals via email, and have no way to track progress. When audit time comes, nobody can find the completed assessments or prove who signed off.
No Data Visibility
Most organisations can't answer basic questions: What personal information do we hold? Which systems process it? Where does it flow? Without systematic data mapping, privacy risks — and actual breaches — go undetected.
Purpose-Built for Australian Privacy Compliance
PIMS implements the OAIC framework out-of-the-box, giving you everything you need to conduct, track, and report on Privacy Impact Assessments across your organisation.
Know Your Data
Understand what personal information you hold, where it lives, and how it flows.
Information Asset Register
Catalogue the systems and applications that process personal information across your organisation. Track what data each system holds, where it flows, and who has access. A living record that connects directly to your PIAs.
Data Dictionary
Define and classify the personal information elements your organisation collects and processes. Create a shared vocabulary that ensures consistency across PIAs, asset records, and compliance reporting.
Personal Information Maps
Visualise how personal information actually moves through your organisation — linking data elements to applications to PIAs. The OAIC PIA template explicitly requires you to map information flows. PIMS makes it systematic instead of a diagram you draw once and never update.
Manage Your PIAs
Structured workflows to assess, track, and approve Privacy Impact Assessments.
OAIC-Aligned Templates
Start with the official OAIC template covering all 13 Australian Privacy Principles. Conditional logic guides assessors through relevant sections based on their project type.
Customisable Templates
Clone and modify templates for your specific needs. Create organisation-specific frameworks, add custom questions, and tailor risk categories to match your governance requirements.
Workflow Management
Track every PIA from Draft through Submit, Review, to Approval. Role-based sign-offs ensure the right people review and approve at each stage.
Risk Register
Proper risk management with likelihood and consequence matrices. Track identified risks, document treatment plans, and monitor residual risk status over time.
Reporting & Dashboards
Generate audit-ready reports automatically. Privacy officers get dashboards showing assessment status, risk profiles, and compliance posture across the organisation.
PIA Register
Maintain your organisation's PIA register automatically. No more manual tracking — every completed assessment updates the register with all relevant metadata.
Enterprise Ready
Built for organisations that need security, scale, and control.
Multi-Tenant Architecture
Support multiple business units, subsidiaries, or clients from a single platform. Perfect for large organisations or consultancies managing compliance for multiple entities.
Enterprise SSO
Integrate with Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) for seamless single sign-on. Alternative email-based authentication available for organisations without enterprise identity.
Complete Audit Trail
Every action is logged. Document who did what and when with tamper-proof records that satisfy regulatory and audit requirements.
Role-Based Access Control
Control who can do what across your organisation. Assign User, Auditor, and OrgAdmin roles to ensure the right people create, review, and approve assessments. Permissions are enforced at every level.
Who Must Conduct Privacy Impact Assessments?
PIA requirements vary by sector, but the direction is clear: privacy accountability is becoming mandatory across Australia. Is your organisation ready?
Australian Government Agencies
Required under the Privacy (Australian Government Agencies — Governance) APP Code 2017 for all high-privacy-risk projects. Non-compliance can result in regulatory action and public reporting.
Private Sector Organisations
Organisations with annual turnover above $3 million are expected to conduct PIAs as a matter of good practice. The 2024 Privacy Act reforms are likely to make this mandatory.
Health Service Providers
Health service providers handle "sensitive information" under the Privacy Act regardless of size. PIAs are essential for any system or project involving patient data.
State & Territory Government
Public health services and state agencies operate under respective state privacy legislation, which increasingly requires privacy impact assessments for significant projects.
The Cost of Getting Privacy Wrong
Privacy breaches aren't just embarrassing — they're expensive. The amended Privacy Act has significantly increased penalties, and regulators are taking enforcement seriously.
Individual penalties can reach $2.5 million
Beyond financial penalties:
- Mandatory breach notification to affected individuals and the OAIC
- Reputational damage and loss of customer trust
- Operational disruption during incident response
- Legal action from affected individuals
- Potential director liability for governance failures
PIAs help you catch problems early — before they become costly breaches.
Who Uses PIMS?
PIMS is designed for any Australian organisation handling personal information under the Privacy Act. Our platform serves organisations across diverse sectors.
Healthcare
Aged Care
Early Childhood
Government
Not-for-Profits
Consultancies
Built by Pragmatix
Pragmatix is a Brisbane-based consultancy helping organisations align technology with business strategy — pragmatically. Our team has led digital transformation programs worth over $300 million across healthcare, government, financial services, and not-for-profit sectors.
PIMS was born from our consulting work. We saw too many organisations struggling with privacy compliance using inadequate tools, so we built the platform we wished existed.
Serving Queensland organisations — see how PIMS supports QLD privacy requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Privacy Impact Assessments and PIMS.
What is a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)?
A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is a systematic process for evaluating how a project, system, or initiative will affect the privacy of individuals. It identifies privacy risks and proposes measures to mitigate them. In Australia, the OAIC provides guidance on conducting PIAs aligned with the Privacy Act 1988 and the 13 Australian Privacy Principles.
Who is required to conduct PIAs in Australia?
Australian Government agencies are required to conduct PIAs for high-privacy-risk projects under the Privacy (Australian Government Agencies — Governance) APP Code 2017. Private sector organisations with turnover above $3 million are strongly expected to conduct PIAs, and this is expected to become mandatory under 2024 Privacy Act reforms. Health service providers must conduct PIAs regardless of size as they handle sensitive information.
What are the penalties for privacy breaches in Australia?
Under the amended Privacy Act provisions, maximum penalties for serious privacy breaches can reach $50 million for body corporates, with individual penalties up to $2.5 million. Additional consequences include mandatory breach notifications, reputational damage, operational disruption, legal action, and potential director liability.
How does PIMS help with Privacy Impact Assessments?
PIMS streamlines the PIA process with pre-configured OAIC templates covering all 13 Australian Privacy Principles, workflow management to track assessments from draft to approval, a proper risk register with treatment tracking, complete audit trails, and audit-ready reporting. It replaces inefficient Word documents and spreadsheets with a purpose-built platform.
What industries is PIMS designed for?
PIMS is designed for any Australian organisation handling personal information under the Privacy Act. Key industries include healthcare providers, aged care facilities, early childhood services, government agencies, not-for-profits, and privacy consultancies managing compliance across multiple organisations.
What is a Personal Information Map?
A Personal Information Map visualises how personal information flows through your organisation — linking the data elements you collect to the systems that process them and the PIAs that assess them. The OAIC PIA template requires organisations to describe and map personal information flows. PIMS automates this with a visual mapping tool rather than relying on diagrams drawn once and never updated.
Do I need to map my data flows?
Yes. The OAIC PIA template explicitly requires you to "describe and map the project's personal information flows" with sufficient detail to show what information is collected, used, and disclosed, how it is stored and protected, and who has access. PIMS provides the Information Asset Register, Data Dictionary, and Personal Information Maps to fulfil this requirement systematically.
Ready to Streamline Your Privacy Compliance?
See how PIMS can help your organisation manage Privacy Impact Assessments efficiently.