26 September 2023

Privacy going public for this week

Start the conversation

The Victorian Information Commissioner has joined forces with privacy authorities from across the country to highlight privacy as the foundation of trust between Government Agencies, the community and business.

Launching their 2022 Privacy Awareness Week campaign (2-8 May), Australian Information and Privacy Commissioners and Ombudsmen signed a joint statement calling on Agencies to ensure their privacy policies continued to evolve in response to changing environments and expectations.

Signing his name to the Privacy Authorities Australia (PAA) Statement, Commissioner Sven Bluemmel said that as the digital economy continued to grow, services went online and organisations considered new ways of handling personal information, “there is the opportunity to build on the fundamental role that good privacy practices play in making these initiatives a success.”

“That trust requires privacy as the foundation,” Mr Bluemmel said.

“One of our key messages is that better privacy protections are not just a tool to prevent harms, but also an enabler of better services and stronger relationships between the community, business and Government Agencies,” he said.

“The public expects organisations to handle their information responsibly and be transparent and accountable.”

Mr Bluemmel said organisations were more likely to be trusted with information when they’d demonstrated good privacy practices.

“While the 2022 awareness campaign highlights the importance of getting the foundations of privacy right, it is essential that an organisation’s privacy platform is not set in stone, but continually evolving and being upgraded to respond to economic and technological innovation and community expectations,” he said.

The Statement was signed by the members of PAA, including Mr Bluemmel; Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk; Queensland Privacy Commissioner, Paxton Booth; Director of State Records at the Privacy Committee of South Australia, Simon Froude; NSW Privacy Commissioner, Samantha Gavel; Queensland Information Commissioner, Rachael Rangihaeata; Tasmanian Ombudsman, Richard Connock; and Northern Territory Information Commissioner, Peter Shoyer.

Start the conversation

Be among the first to get all the Public Sector and Defence news and views that matter.

Subscribe now and receive the latest news, delivered free to your inbox.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.