The government is in the process of conducting a review of Australia's national Privacy Act. The review is broad and to date has considered a wide range of issues. At the time of writing, the review is still in the process of identifying issues and accepting submissions on how to address such issues. A key contributor to the dialogue is the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). This article looks at some of the key changes expected as a result of the anticipated reforms to the Privacy Act in Australia. It will then consider how they may impact your business' privacy obligations.
Current Exemptions
Currently, the majority of Australian businesses are exempt from compliance with the Privacy Act because of the small business exemption. The small business exemption is a monetary threshold that exempts businesses with an annual turnover of $3 million or less from the Privacy Act. The issue with the exemption is that in the current data-driven world, many small
