Australian Privacy Act Review: Key Reforms Introduced

A Privacy Reform Bill has just been introduced into Parliament, marking the next step in the ongoing reform of the Australian Privacy Act.

This Bill comes almost a year after the Government announced that it ‘agreed’ or ‘agreed in-principle’ with 106 of the 116 recommended reforms in the AG’s 2022 Privacy Act Review Report.

The Bill includes amendments to address most of the 25 ‘agreed’ proposals, including important topics relating to automated decision making, overseas disclosure of personal information, data security and breaches, children’s privacy, civil penalties and enforcement powers, and a new statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy.

New offences will also be added to the Commonwealth Criminal Code in relation to doxxing.

While the Bill contains some important reforms, it nonetheless leaves many of the ‘agreed in-principle’ proposals from the Review Report unaddressed. The Attorney-General has stated that his Department intends to prepare draft legislation for these other important topics in the coming months, for consultation with stakeholders.

For a detailed look at the Bill and its implications by our experts click here.

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Over the coming days we are also preparing a mark-up version of the Privacy Act to demonstrate the changes.