The Australian Government has taken its first step towards modernising the nation’s privacy laws with the introduction of the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. This initial tranche of reforms addresses 23 of the 116 proposals outlined in the Privacy Act Review Report, leaving many significant changes for future legislation.
Key reforms include:
- Automated Decision-Making Transparency: Organisations using automated decision-making that significantly affects individuals’ rights or interests must disclose this in their privacy policies within two years of the Bill’s passage
- Overseas Data Flows: The Bill facilitates easier personal information disclosure to prescribed overseas jurisdictions with similar privacy protections
- Increased Penalties: A new tiered penalty system introduces mid-range civil penalties for general privacy interferences and empowers the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) to issue infringement notices for specific breaches
- Children’s Online Privacy: The OAIC is required to develop a Children’s Online Privacy Code within two years, targeting social media and internet services likely accessed by children
- Statutory Tort for Privacy Invasions: A new cause of action is introduced for serious, intentional, or reckless invasions of privacy, with exceptions for journalism
- Anti-Doxxing Offenses: New criminal offences target the malicious online distribution of personal information
While these changes mark progress, many anticipated reforms, such as modifications to consent requirements, the small business exemption, and employee records exemption, have been deferred to future tranches. This leaves businesses uncertain about the full scope of privacy law changes.
Organisations should review their privacy policies, particularly regarding automated decision-making and overseas data transfers. They should also reassess their privacy compliance in light of the new penalty regime and prepare for the upcoming Children’s Online Privacy Code if applicable.
For a full reading of the speech, see here.
