On 23 May 2012, the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy
Protection) Bill 2012 (the Bill) was introduced
into the Australian Parliament. Described by Attorney-General
Nicola Roxon as "one of the most significant developments in
privacy reform"1 since the introduction of the
Privacy Act 1988 (the Act), the Bill
seeks to modernise Australia's privacy protection framework and
to provide greater control to consumers over the manner in which
organisations use their personal information.
Personal information is any information which is capable of
identifying an individual.
What Does the Bill Propose?
Unified Australian Privacy Principles
The Bill proposes the introduction of Australian Privacy
Principles (APPs). These will combine and replace
the current National Privacy Principles (which apply to the
private sector) and Information Privacy Principles
(which apply to the public sector). The APPs will
continue to cover the collection, storage, security,
