Australian Law Reform Commission Proposes Changes to
Australian Privacy Laws Regarding Serious Invasions of
Privacy
The Australian Law Reform Commission recently released a report
that was commissioned by the Attorney General of Australia on
"Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era." The report recommends that a statutory civil cause of
action for serious invasions of privacy be introduced in a
Commonwealth Act. The proposed cause of action would be actionable
only where (i) the invasion of privacy is serious; (ii) the
invasion is committed intentionally or recklessly (with mere
negligence being insufficient); (iii) the invasion is either by
intrusion into an individual's private space or by misuse of
private information; (iv) an objective person in the position of
the plaintiff would have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the
circumstances; and (v) the public interest in upholding privacy
outweighs other public interests.
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