The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has welcomed the passage of a new Bill enhancing its ability to regulate privacy in the digital environment.
Welcoming the change, Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk said the Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022 introduced significantly tougher penalties for serious and/or repeated privacy breaches, and greater powers for the OAIC to resolve breaches.
“The updated penalties will bring Australian privacy law into closer alignment with competition and consumer remedies and international penalties under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation,” Commissioner Falk said.
“In addition, new information sharing powers will facilitate engagement with domestic regulators and our international counterparts to help us perform our regulatory role efficiently and effectively.”
She said the Bill’s increased penalties would help incentivise compliance and was a positive step ahead of the wider review of the Privacy Act 1988.
Commissioner Falk said the review presented an important opportunity to ensure that Australia’s Privacy Act empowered individuals, protected their data and best served the Australian economy.
She also noted the simplification of extraterritoriality provisions in the Bill.
“It will help ensure companies that carry on a business in Australia, while domiciled overseas, are required to comply with Australia’s privacy law,” Commissioner Falk said.
“The simplification mitigates against overseas companies avoiding the jurisdiction based on complex structural and technical matters.”
