A Bill introduced on 30 May 2013 into the Federal Parliament
adds mandatory data breach notification to the numerous
requirements that organisations and agencies will need to address
before changes to the Privacy Act 1988 take effect on 12
March 2014.
The Privacy Amendment (Privacy Alerts) Bill 2013
('Privacy Alerts Bill') will, if passed in its current
form, impose new requirements on agencies and organisations to
notify the Australian Information Commissioner
('Commissioner') and affected individuals where there has
been a 'serious data breach'.
BACKGROUND
The proposed changes are based on recommendations made by the
Australian Law Reform Commission ('ALRC') in 2008 to
address its concerns about the increasing potential harm that can
be caused by privacy breaches associated with advances in
technology and increasing demand and capacity for electronic
storage and processing of personal data. The essential rationale
behind the ALRC's recommendation was that if
