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ARTICLE · 08 SEPTEMBER 2026

Australia | Proposed Tranche 2 Privacy Act Reforms: Exposure Draft And Consultation Paper Released

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The Australian Government has released an exposure draft of the Privacy Amendment (Personal Data Protection) Bill 2026, proposing the most substantial reforms to the Privacy Act 1988 in recent times. These changes introduce a fair and reasonable test for data handling, enhanced consent requirements, expanded breach notification obligations, and new rights including data erasure for large digital platforms.

AustraliaPrivacy
Michael Deacon
Michael Deacon
Nadine Martino
Nadine Martino
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On 31 August 2026, the Australian Government released the exposure draft of the Privacy Amendment (Personal Data Protection) Bill 2026 and an accompanying Consultation Paper, marking one of the most substantial proposed reforms of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) in recent times and warranting close attention from all regulated entities.

If enacted in their current form, these proposals represent significant potential changes to Australia’s privacy landscape.

For many regulated entities, the proposals will require a review of privacy practices and personal information handling. This may be a substantial compliance burden, but an inevitable one given the increasingly active enforcement posture of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

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