The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) plans to use Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) this May to establish a network of Privacy Champions across the Queensland public sector.
Speaking to the Institute of Public Administration Australia, Privacy Commissioner Phil Green (pictured) said PAW was an annual event celebrated across Asia-Pacific to promote greater privacy awareness and highlight the importance of protecting personal information.
“The theme for PAW 2021 is Make Privacy a Priority,” Mr Green said.
“To celebrate PAW 2021, we have planned events and will release new resources to help Agencies and the community make privacy a priority.”
He said that in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, safeguarding personal information was more important than ever.
“In 2020, 83 per cent of Australians said they would like the Government to do more to protect the privacy of their data. Handling the community’s personal information the right way builds trust and transparency with Queenslanders,” Mr Green said.
He urged Agencies to focus on some key areas, including embedding a Privacy Champion at senior level in their staff.
He said other initiatives included implementing a Privacy by Design approach and building good privacy practices into decision-making from inception to implementation and beyond.
“Agencies should also ensure all employees receive initial and ongoing training about their information privacy and information security obligations and responsibilities,” Mr Green said.
“All Public Servants and Agencies need to understand their obligations under the Information Privacy Act 2009. Privacy is recognised as a human right in Queensland under the Human Rights Act 2019.”
He said there could be serious disciplinary and criminal consequences for privacy breaches, such as unauthorised access to personal information.
