when you are employed by a company and you receive private…

, the laws surveillance of your internet access and company email account vary based on where you work in Australia...

Can you please advise whether your employer has an internet/email access policy? and/or employee surveillance policy?

and where in Australia you work....

I await your responses, kind regards, James.

Based on the fact that your consent was not obtained, and there is no published company employee surveillance policy (via which they might be able to argue that you have provided implied consent)... then assuming the emails did not relate to your employee record... your employer has most likely breached the terms of the Privacy Act. Therefore, if you want to take the matter further, your first step would be to make a privacy complaint to the Office of the Information Commissioner. http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint

The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) ("Privacy Act") provides limited protection from email surveillance by their employers. The Act regulates the collection, storage and use of personal information of an individual, unless an organisation is exempt from its requirements. One exemption is the “employee records exemption”. The employee records exemption applies to an act or practice of an organisation that is directly related to:

• a current or former employment relationship between
the organisation and its employee; and
• an employee record held by the organisation and
relating to the employee.

Kind regards, James.