Privacy Act changes

When I last ran a talk on Privacy Act changes at the end of October, one of the big questions asked was "when will we see the changes in force?". As we've progressed closer to the holiday period here, those questions have become louder and louder.

Substantial progress has been made in the past few days. The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has reported back earlier in the week.

The Report found that "a broad range of stakeholders supported increasing the penalties for serious or repeated interferences with individuals’ privacy". Some submissions detailed the need for compensation for harm, describing how "privacy breaches may have open-ended often-hidden impacts on an individual’s opportunities, vulnerabilities, financial security and health for years after the breach".

The report ultimately provided three recommendations back to the Senate. The first two of the recommendations are technical changes around strengthening the language used in the bill, for example to more clearly define the term "serious interference", as well as a recommendation to closely look at the "Australian Link" component of Section 5B.

The third and final recommendation is to pass the bill. If passed in it's current form, the entire bill would commence immediately.

Will we see these changes before Christmas? There is always political maneuvering at play, but with four full sitting days before the end of year break, it's entirely possiible.