On 24 June 2010, the Cabinet Secretary, Senator the Hon Joe Ludwig released an exposure draft legislation containing an important element of the first stage response by the government to privacy reform – the proposed Australian Privacy Principles, which unify the current Information Privacy Principles and the National Privacy Principles. Senator Ludwig has also tabled these proposed principles in the Senate for referral to a Senate committee which will conduct public hearings on the proposed reforms.
The exposure draft legislation and an accompanying companion guide are available for download from the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee's webpage. Interested parties are able to make submissions on the exposure draft. The submission deadline is 27 July 2010. The expected reporting date is 1 July 2011.
The drafting of this new Act will be done in parts, with each part to be referred to a Senate committee for consideration and public consultation as the drafting of each is completed. The government intends that the following three further parts will be released for public consultation:
- provisions introducing more comprehensive credit reporting, alongside privacy protections and responsible lending practices;
- provisions relating to the protection of health information, in particular improving health sector information flows, and giving individuals new rights to have their health record transferred between providers; and
- provisions strengthening the Privacy Commissioner's powers to conduct investigations, resolve complaints and promote compliance with the Privacy Act, to be integrated into the newly-created Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Second Stage Government Response
Stage two of the Government's response will consider the remaining 98 recommendations in the ALRC report that the government has not yet accepted or rejected. These recommendations include:
- proposals to clarify or remove certain exemptions from the Privacy Act;
- introducing a statutory cause of action for serious invasion of privacy;
- serious data breach notifications;
- privacy and decision making issues for children and authorised representatives;
- handling of personal information under the Telecommunications Act 1997; and
- national harmonisation of privacy laws (partially considered in stage one).
The Government will consider these recommendations once the first stage's reforms have been progressed.
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