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Commissioner appears at Senate estimates
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Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk, Acting Freedom of Information Commissioner Elizabeth Hampton and Acting Deputy Commissioner Melanie Drayton appeared before Senate estimates on 15 February 2022.
The Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee asked questions about several significant matters involving the OAIC including the progress of court action against Facebook Ireland and Facebook Inc. and progress in finalising increasing numbers of FOI Information Commissioner reviews.
Read Commissioner Falk’s prepared opening statement.
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Privacy: The foundation of trust
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Our Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) 2022 campaign will highlight privacy as the foundation of trust.
For businesses and government agencies, good privacy practices are key to building and maintaining the community’s trust in the handling of their personal information. We will be highlighting the privacy fundamentals that will help to build that important trust.
We will also share the simple foundations we can put in place as individuals to protect our privacy, which include making sure that the privacy practices of the organisations that we deal with stack up.
PAW 2022 will run from Monday 2 May to Sunday 8 May. Join more than 300 supporters that have signed up to show your organisation’s commitment to good privacy practice and advancing the privacy rights of individuals. |
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As Australia’s Notifiable Data Breaches scheme marks its 4th year of operation, the OAIC is urging organisations to put accountability at the centre of their information handling practices.
Commissioner Falk said: ‘Australians expect that their personal information will be handled with care when they choose to engage with a product or service and are more likely to entrust their data to organisations that have demonstrated effective privacy management’.
The latest Notifiable Data Breaches Report shows the OAIC received 464 data breach notifications from July to December 2021, an increase of 6% compared with the previous period.
Malicious or criminal attacks remain the leading source of breaches (55% of notifications), while the health sector was again the highest reporting industry sector (18% of notifications).
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Federal Court rules on Facebook appeal
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The full bench of the Federal Court has ruled that the Australian Information Commissioner has leave to serve legal documents on Facebook Inc and Facebook Ireland in relation to serious and/or repeated interferences with privacy in contravention of Australian privacy law.
The court rejected Facebook’s appeal to set aside an earlier ruling by Justice Thawley of the Federal Court granting leave to the Commissioner to serve documents.
Commissioner Falk welcomed the decision and said she was looking forward to the hearing of substantive matters.
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Electronic surveillance framework reform submission
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The OAIC has made a submission in response to the discussion paper on the reform on Australia’s electronic surveillance framework.
The discussion paper sought views on the development of a single, streamlined Act governing electronic surveillance powers. The OAIC noted in our submission that this reform presents a timely opportunity to ensure Australia’s electronic surveillance laws provide a strong, robust framework where privacy protections for individuals are at the forefront.
Our submission also outlines that the reforms should be guided by community expectations on government access to data and international privacy standards for intelligence agencies.
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Managing FOI requests during the caretaker period before a federal election
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During the caretaker period, the business of government continues and ordinary matters of administration still need to be addressed.
This includes continuing to process freedom of information (FOI) requests under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) and complying with statutory timeframes.
Extension of time provisions continue to apply where in some limited circumstances, the timeframe may be extended, for example, with the agreement of the applicant or with the approval of the Information Commissioner. The OAIC will continue to decide any application for an extension of time to process an FOI request on a case-by-case basis, having regard to the requirements of the FOI Act.
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The OAIC has published changes to part 10 of the FOI Guidelines, which covers the broad principles and procedures in the Information Commissioner review process as set out under Part VII of the FOI Act.
The changes streamline the OAIC’s processes for notifying agencies of an Information Commissioner review application and seeking information under s 54Z of the FOI Act.
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FOI complaint investigation outcomes
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My Health Record emergency access
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The OAIC featured in a recent podcast on the Australian Digital Health Agency's website. The My Health Record emergency access podcast is targeted at healthcare providers and explores the key factors influencing appropriate use of the My Health Record emergency access function.
The podcast complements and promotes the OAIC’s emergency access resources.
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Global Privacy Assembly newsletter
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The Global Privacy Assembly’s (GPA) first newsletter for 2022 was published with highlights from the 43rd Closed Session of the GPA and updates from Commissioner Falk in her role as Chair of the Strategic Direction Sub Committee (SDSC). The Commissioner outlines the GPA’s 3 strategic priorities set out in the adopted ‘Resolution on the Assembly’s Strategic Direction 2021-23’ [PDF 670KB] and the key aims of the SDSC for the years ahead.
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Information Commissioner decisions
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Information Commissioner review decisions are published in full on AustLII. Recent decisions include:
- 'ZU' and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Freedom of Information) [2022] AICmr 5
- 'ZS' and Department of Health (Freedom of Information) [2022] AICmr 3
- 'ZT' and the Department of Home Affairs [2022] AICmr 4
- Paul Farrell and Department of Home Affairs (Freedom of information) [2022] AICmr 6
- Dan Conifer and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Freedom of information) [2022] AICmr 8
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Working at the OAIC will put you at the forefront of data protection and access to information regulation. As an independent statutory agency, the OAIC’s work is of national significance and plays an important role in shaping Australia’s digital economy and access to information.
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Latest news and submissions
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Stay up to date with the latest OAIC news and resources through our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
You can catch up with our submissions on a range of legislative and other issues through our website.
We also publish information released by the OAIC under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 on our disclosure log.
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Please do not reply to this message as you will not get a response. We welcome your feedback at [email protected].
If you would prefer not to continue receiving this monthly newsletter, you can unsubscribe below. If you have been forwarded this newsletter by someone else, we invite you to subscribe.
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