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ARTICLE · 12 JUNE 2020

COVIDSafe legislative framework: An overview

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A recent amendment to privacy laws has enshrined key privacy and data measures to support the operation of COVIDSafe.

AustraliaPrivacy
Philip Catania
Philip Catania
Eugenia Kolivos
Eugenia Kolivos
Helen Clarke
Helen Clarke
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A recent amendment to Australia's privacy laws has enshrined key privacy and data measures to support the operation of COVIDSafe and its centralised data store.

On 16 May 2020, royal assent was provided to Schedule 1 of the Privacy Amendment (Public Health Contact Information) Act 2020 (PHCI Act) which amends the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act). The PHCI Act repeals the previous Biosecurity (Human Biosecurity Emergency) (Human Coronavirus with Pandemic Potential) (Emergency Requirements—Public Health Contact Information) Determination 2020 (Biosecurity Determination) made under the Biosecurity Act 2015.

The Biosecurity Determination accompanied COVIDSafe's expeditious release to the public for download by providing basic privacy and data security measures, which had the force of law.

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