Privacy law is once again on the Government's legislation
reform agenda with the introduction recently of the Privacy
Amendment (Privacy Alerts) Bill 2013.
The Bill if passed will amend the Privacy Act
1988 (Cth) to introduce a new mandatory data breach
notification scheme for entities regulated under the Federal Act,
including public sector agencies, private sector organisations
(other than small business), credit reporting bodies and credit
providers.
Under current Australian privacy law, there is no legal
requirement for an entity to notify either affected individuals, or
the Commissioner, if personal information the entity holds is
compromised. The Federal Privacy Commissioner – part of the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner – actively
encourages voluntary notification by entities in accordance with
the OAIC's guide Data Breach Notification: A guide to
handling personal information security breaches.
