Privacy – it's everyone's business (and regulators think so too)

The theme of Privacy Awareness Week 2025 is "Privacy: It's Everyone's Business" – a reminder that protecting personal information is not just the job of privacy professionals or IT departments, but a shared responsibility across all sectors of society. The flip side? If it's everyone's business, then it's not everyone else's business.

Traditionally, many organisations viewed privacy compliance primarily through the lens of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). Although the OAIC has limited resources and funding, it doesn't mean the risk of regulatory action is low. In fact, privacy risks are expanding far beyond the OAIC's remit.

We are now seeing increasing regulatory convergence, with other powerful regulators stepping into the privacy and cybersecurity space. As technology integrates more deeply into how we live and work, and as surveillance becomes increasingly embedded in both corporate and government systems, regulators are