The Australian Government PSPF has introduced the use of information management markers (IMM). IMM are an optional way for Australian government agencies to identify information that is subject to non-security related restrictions on access and use. IMM are not protective markers. They are a subset of the controlled list of terms for the ‘Rights Type’ property in the National Archives of Australia’s Australian Government Recordkeeping Metadata Standard (AGRkMS).
The Australian Government has three IMM which can be used with OFFICIAL: Sensitive, PROTECTED, SECRET or TOP SECRET classifications.
- Legal privilege: This is used if the information is subject to legal professional privilege.
- Personal privacy: This is used if the information is personal information as defined in the Privacy Act 1988. This refers to Commonwealth legislation and includes information which is both private and health information.
- Legislative secrecy: This is used if the information is subject to one or more legislative secrecy provisions.
Application of IMM in NSW
NSW agencies are not to apply IMMs to NSW information.
Figure 12 shows the relationship between previous Australian Government Dissemination Limiting Markers (DLMs), NSW DLMs and the new Australian Government IMMs.
Sensitive: Legal was an Australian Government DLM and this has now changed to an IMM. This IMM could align to the NSW DLM ‘OFFICIAL: Sensitive – Legal’ as both label information which is subject to legal professional privilege.
Previously the Australian Government had a DLM ‘Sensitive: Personal’ and NSW had an additional DLM ‘Sensitive: Health Information’. NSW is continuing to apply both DLMs and these could align to the new IMM personal privacy. The reason NSW has opted for two DLMs to protect personal and health information is because there are two separate pieces of legislation which describe this information, whereas the Commonwealth has one.
Figure 12: Dissemination Limiting Markers (DLM) and Information Management Markers (IMM)
The legislative secrecy IMM is new and does not directly align to NSW DLMs. NSW has many pieces of legislation which contain preservation of secrecy, secrecy clauses and disclosure of information clauses and there is potential for information associated with these clauses to be labelled with an IMM.
Preservation of secrecy, secrecy clauses and disclosure of information clauses are similar in that they limit the disclosure of information to another person, and often state who has the right to provide the permission to disclose that information. For example some Acts state that permission for disclosure could be granted by the responsible Minister. Secrecy and disclosure clauses are aimed to protect the individual, law enforcement activities, and investigation or proprietary rights.
Protective marking labels with IMMs from the Australian Government other states could look like this:
Frequently asked questions about information management markers in NSW
What do the IMM mean?
Information management markers are essentially an alert to let the user of the information know that there are additional restrictions on the use and sharing of the information.
Do I need to apply IMM in NSW?
No, information management markers are not applied to NSW information.
How do I manage Australian Government information marked with an IMM?
The information needs to be stored with the information management marker and then managed according to the level of sensitivity or security classification.
Do I need to re-label Australian Government information if it has an IMM?
No, you do not need to re-label the information.
I am sending information to the Australian Government; do I add an IMM?
No, apply appropriate NSW DLM or security classification.
Last updated 01 Dec 2021