<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"><html lang="en"> <head> <META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-16"> <META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <META http-equiv="Pragma" content="no-cache"> <title>The Office of the Privacy Commissioner</title> <link href="/css/default_css.asp" rel="stylesheet" rev="stylesheet" type="text/css"> </head> <body> <table cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="570"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <h1>Australian Law Reform Commission - Inquiry into the Privacy Act</h1> <UL> <LI><A href="#final">Final Report released 11 August 2008</A> <LI><A href="#about">About the ALRC Privacy Inquiry</A> <LI><A href="#subs">Submissions made by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in relation to the ALRC Inquiry</A> <LI><A href="#media">Media Releases</A> <LI><A href="#otherlaw">Other Law Reform Commission Privacy Inquiries</A> <LI><A href="#other">Other Information</A> </LI></UL> <hr> <A name=final></A> <p>ALRC Final Report, 'For Your Information' released 11 August 2008: <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/alrc/publications/reports/108/">http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/alrc/publications/reports/108/</a></p> <HR> <A name=about></A> <H3>About the ALRC Privacy Inquiry</H3> <P>On 31 January 2006, the ALRC received Terms of Reference from the Australian Attorney-General for an inquiry into the extent to which the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and related laws continue to provide an effective framework for the protection of privacy in Australia.</P> <P>A final report was provided to the Australian Attorney-General on 30 May 2008 and was made publicly available on 11 August 2008. </P> <P>More information is available on the ALRC website at: <UL> <LI><A href="http://www.alrc.gov.au/inquiries/title/alrc108/index.html">http://www.alrc.gov.au/inquiries/title/alrc108/index.html</A></LI> </UL><A name=subs></A> <H4>Submissions made by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in relation to the ALRC Inquiry</H4> <P>In February 2007 the Office made a submission to the ALRC Review of Privacy - Issues Paper 31. The "<A href="/publications/alrc280207.html">Submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission's Review of Privacy - Issues Paper 31</A>" can be accessed at: </P> <UL> <LI><A href="/publications/alrc280207.html">http://www.privacy.gov.au/publications/alrc280207.html</A></LI></UL> <P>In April 2007 the Office made a submission to the ALRC Review of the Privacy - Issues Paper 32 Credit Reporting Provisions. The submission can be accessed at: <UL> <LI><A href="/publications/submissions/sub-alrc-ip32-credit-reporting-200704.html">http://www.privacy.gov.au/publications/submissions/sub-alrc-ip32-credit-reporting-200704.html</A></LI></UL> <P>In December 2007 the Office made a submission to the ALRC Review of Privacy -&nbsp;Discussion Paper 72. The "<A href="/publications/alrc211207.html">Submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission's Review of Privacy -&nbsp;Discussion Paper 72</A>" can be accessed at: </P> <UL> <LI><A href="/publications/alrc211207.html">http://www.privacy.gov.au/publications/alrc211207.html</A></LI></UL><A name=media></A> <P><STRONG><FONT size=3>Media Releases</FONT></STRONG></P> <P>The Office has released a number of media releases relating to the ALRC Review. See:</P> <BLOCKQUOTE> <H5>August 2008 </H5> <UL> <LI><A href="/news/media/2008_14.html">Media Release: ALRC report - a valuable contribution to privacy law reform, says Privacy Commissioner</A> (11/08/08)</LI> </UL> <H5>January 2008 </H5> <UL> <LI><A href="/news/media/2008_01.html">Media Release: Privacy Commissioner calls for mandatory reporting of major data security breaches</A> (30/01/2007)</LI></UL> <H5>December 2007 </H5> <UL> <LI><A href="/news/media/2007_24.html">Media Release: Privacy Commissioner endorses consistency in privacy law in Australia</A> (21/12/2007) </LI></UL> <H5>September 2007 </H5> <UL> <LI><A href="/news/media/2007_19.html">Media Release: ALRC Review Paper is an important step, says Privacy Commissioner</A> (12/09/2007) </LI></UL> <h5>August 2007</h5> <ul> <LI><A href="/news/media/2007_18.html">Media Release: Privacy Law Reform 'essentials'</A> (31/08/08)</LI> </UL> <H5>April 2007</H5> <UL> <LI><A href="/news/media/07_05.html">Media Release: Reduce complexity in credit information regulation, says Privacy Commissioner</A> (20/04/2007) </LI></UL> <H5>March 2007</H5> <UL> <LI><A href="/news/media/07_04.html">Media Release: Merge privacy principles to enhance national consistency, says Privacy Commissioner</A> (08/03/2007) <LI><A href="/news/media/07_03.html">Media Release: National consistency needed in health privacy law, says Privacy Commissioner</A> (08/03/2007) <LI><A href="/news/media/07_02.html">Media Release: Amend Privacy Act to address security breaches, biometrics and data-matching, says Privacy Commissioner</A> (08/03/2007) <LI><A href="/news/media/07_01.html">Media Release: Greater consistency required for telecommunications privacy, says Privacy Commissioner</A> (08/03/2007)</LI> </UL> </BLOCKQUOTE> <A name=otherlaw></A> <H4>Other&nbsp;Law Reform Commission Privacy Inquiries</H4> <P>The NSW Law Reform Commission is&nbsp;currently conducting a privacy inquiry. It has released two consultation papers. </P> <UL> <LI>The first discussing a statutory cause of action for invasions of privacy can be accessed at: <A title=http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/lrc/ll_lrc.nsf/pages/LRC_cp01toc href="http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/lrc/ll_lrc.nsf/pages/LRC_cp01toc">http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/lrc/ll_lrc.nsf/pages/LRC_cp01toc</A></LI> <LI>The second discussing general privacy reform in NSW can be accessed at: <a href="http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/lrc/ll_lrc.nsf/pages/LRC_cp3toc">http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/lrc/ll_lrc.nsf/pages/LRC_cp3toc</a> <A title=http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/lrc/ll_lrc.nsf/pages/LRC_cp01toc href="http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/lrc/ll_lrc.nsf/pages/LRC_cp01toc"></A></LI> </UL> <P>The New Zealand Law Commission is also currently conducting a privacy inquiry.&nbsp;Information about the inquiry can be accessed at:</P> <UL> <LI><A href="http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/ProjectGeneral.aspx?ProjectID=129">http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/ProjectGeneral.aspx?ProjectID=129</A></LI></UL> <P>The Victorian Law Reform Commission is currently undertaking the second phase of its privacy reference.&nbsp;This phase is on&nbsp;surveillance in public places. More information can be accessed at:</P> <UL> <LI><A href="http://www.lawreform.vic.gov.au/">http://www.lawreform.vic.gov.au</A>/</LI></UL> <P>The British Columbia Law Institute (Canada) is currently reviewing the Privacy Act of British Columbia (which creates a statutory tort of violation of privacy) and has released a consultation paper which can be accessed at: </P> <UL> <LI><A href="http://www.bcli.org/pages/projects/privacy/Privacy_Act_Consultation_Paper.pdf">http://www.bcli.org/pages/projects/privacy/Privacy_Act_Consultation_Paper.pdf</A></LI></UL> <P>The South African Law Reform Commission has a current project on privacy and data protection. A discussion paper (DP109) was released in 2005. It can be accessed at:</P> <UL> <LI><A href="http://www.doj.gov.za/salrc/dpapers.htm">http://www.doj.gov.za/salrc/dpapers.htm</A></LI></UL> <P>The Hong Kong Law Reform Commission has produced a series of reports on aspects of privacy law, the last in 2006. These can be accessed at: </P> <UL> <LI><A href="http://www.hkreform.gov.hk/en/publications/subject.htm#privacy">http://www.hkreform.gov.hk/en/publications/subject.htm#privacy</A></LI></UL> <a name=other></a> <H4>Other Information</H4> <P>The Office of the Privacy Commissioner called for a wider review of privacy laws in Australia in our March 2005 report "Getting in on the Act: The Review of the Private Sector Provisions of the Privacy Act 1988". To view the report go to: </P> <UL> <LI><A href="http://www.privacy.gov.au/act/review/review2005.htm">http://www.privacy.gov.au/act/review/review2005.htm</A></LI></UL> <p><a href="">Return</a></p> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>