9/6/2000

Federal Privacy Commissioner Welcomes New Privacy Committee of South Australia

Federal Privacy Commissioner, Malcolm Crompton attended the first meeting of the new Privacy Committee of South Australia in Adelaide today.

Mr Crompton told the committee: "In a climate of globalisation and rapid growth in new technologies, protection of personal information provided to government and the private sector is necessary so that people can protect their privacy with minimum inconvenience while taking advantage of new opportunities.

Mr Crompton welcomed the South Australian Government's interest in privacy principles and is pleased with the expertise of committee members in dealing with privacy issues.

Mr Crompton discussed the implications of the Privacy Amendment (Privacy Sector) Bill 2000. The Bill, which is subject to an inquiry by the Federal Parliament's House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, is designed to extend the level of privacy protection available to Australians in their dealings with the private sector.

Members of the Committee include Michael Hodder (Manager of State Records), Gaby Jaksa (Information Economy Office), Milton Spurling (representing private sector), Maria Panagiotidis (SA Attorney-General's Department), Anne French (Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment) and Jim Davidson (SA Department of Human Resources).