On 29 May the Privacy Amendment (Privacy Alerts) Bill
2013 (Mandatory Data Breach Bill) was
introduced into the Australian Parliament. With bipartisan support
it could be passed into law by July 2013 with the measures to take
effect from March 2014, when a number of other important changes
are made to Australia's privacy laws.
This Mandatory Data Breach Bill would require a mandatory
notification of a data breach if there was a "real risk of
serious harm" to the individual (including reputational,
economic or financial harm) to whom the personal information
relates. A statement describing the breach, the kind of information
involved and recommendations about the steps individuals should
take in response to the breach must be prepared and provided to the
Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals.
