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ARTICLE · 13 DECEMBER 2015

Mandatory data breach notification is coming to Australia

Corrs Chambers Westgarth
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The Australian Government has released an exposure draft of its long-awaited mandatory data breach notification bill.

AustraliaPrivacy
Philip Catania
Philip Catania
Tim Lee (Formerly With Corrs Chambers Westgarth)
Tim Lee (Formerly With Corrs Chambers Westgarth)
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On 3 December 2015 the Australian Government released an exposure draft of its long-awaited mandatory data breach notification bill (the Privacy Amendment (Notification of Serious Data Breaches) Bill 2015). If passed, the bill would require private sector organisations and Federal government agencies to notify the Federal Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals of serious data breaches.

The exposure draft of the bill, explanatory memorandum, Regulatory Impact Statement and a Discussion Paper are available here. Submissions can be made until 4 March 2016.

The draft bill retains a number of structural similarities to the draft bills previously proposed by the opposition Labor party in 2013 and 2014, and includes a revised formulation of the "real risk of serious harm test" that was recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission in 2008 and is currently used in the voluntary notification guidelines issued by the Australian Privacy Commissioner. The

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