Candidates can ask for their interview notes
Australian Privacy Principle 12 isn’t optional.
Under Australian Privacy Principle 12, an individual has a right to access personal information held about them by an APP entity, including interview notes, assessment scores, and panel deliberation records that identify them. An unsuccessful candidate who asks for their records is exercising a statutory right, not making a negotiable request.
There are limited exemptions, primarily around information that would unreasonably impact the privacy of other individuals or reveal predominantly evaluative material. Exemptions must be genuinely applicable, not used as a default to avoid disclosure.
The practical implication: every note taken about a candidate during an interview is potentially disclosable to that candidate. Panel members who treat notes as private workings are operating on a false assumption.