Australia

The Australian Productivity Commission must have known that their interim report on harnessing data and digital technologies (the Report) would get attention. Before publication, the Australian Privacy Commissioner let on that she was “watching with interest to see if privacy is positioned as a barrier to, or an enabler of, a more trustworthy and productive digital economy”, while the Federal Treasurer highlighted that although legislation would matter, his government was “overwhelmingly focused on capabilities and opportunities, not just guardrails” in relation to AI technologies.Continue Reading Australian Privacy Law – Reforms on Pause, or Something Entirely New Altogether?

The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Act) is one of the longest-standing pieces of national data protection legislation in the world, but – despite its name – it has been more concerned with regulating use of individuals’ personal data than granting them an actionable, stand-alone right to privacy.

However, as of June 2025, this has changed.

The first tranche of Australian privacy law reform has been passed by the Australian government and will come into effect within days. This reform further increases the range and type of penalties that Australia can enforce for non-compliance with local privacy law and introduces changes which businesses will need to action.Continue Reading First Tranche of Reforms to Australian Privacy Law Passed with Amendments

In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.

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In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.

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The…

On 12 September 2024, the Australian Government introduced the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 (Bill) which represents the first tranche of Australian privacy law reforms and aims to implement some of the legislative proposals identified from Australia’s long running review of, and consultation regarding, reform of the Australian Privacy Act 1988…

In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.

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In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.

Australian Privacy Regulator Commences Penalty Proceedings Against Medibank | Privacy World

Guidance on how Ofcom and the ICO intend to…

On 5 June 2024, the Australian Information Commissioner commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Australian Federal Court against Medibank Private Limited (an Australian health insurance provider) in relation to its notorious data breach in October 2022.

To bring you back up to speed on the Medibank data breach, on 25 October 2022, Medibank notified the…