The Australian Privacy Principles - What do these changes mean for agencies?

The Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Bill 2012 (the Bill), passed by both houses of Parliament on Thursday 29 November 2012, will make some of the most significant amendments to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)(the Act) since the commencement of the Act. These amendments will impact the way Commonwealth and ACT government entities and private sector entities handle personal information, and mean that, for the first time, a single set of Privacy Principles (the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)) will apply to the government and private sector entities regulated by the Act.

Most of the APPs are based on the existing Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) and National Privacy Principles (NPPs). There are, however, some important changes that will affect how Commonwealth and ACT government entities collect, store, use, disclose and dispose of personal information.

This Alert provides an overview of the key differences between the current IPPs which apply to Commonwealth and ACT government entities and the APPs. The APPs are due to come into effect in March 2014. Commonwealth and ACT government agencies should start preparing now.

For the full Alert, including a comparison of the IPPs and APPs, and some suggested steps for agencies to prepare for the commencement of the APPs, please see the document attached above.