Privacy And Responsible Information Sharing Act: Implications For The Public Sector In Western Australia

Introduction

It is the season for privacy reform! At the federal level, Tranche 1 of reforms to the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) were passed in November 2024 – read more about the Commonwealth Privacy Reforms here: Australian Privacy Reform Bill Tranche 1 passed Parliament: Key impacts for your business.

And in Western Australia, the Privacy and Responsible Information Sharing Act 2024 (PRIS Act), and related Information Commissioner Act 2024 (IC Act) were passed by WA Parliament on 28 November, receiving Royal Assent on 6 December 2024 (with the operative provisions of the PRIS Act to come into force on a date to be proclaimed). However, this month, we got Christmas in July – with the WA State Government announcing that operative privacy and responsible information sharing provisions of the PRIS Act will come into operation on 1 July 2026.