The Australian Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis today welcomed the release of an exposure draft of new Australian Privacy Principles and their referral to a Senate Committee for inquiry and report.

"The new principles are an important step towards national consistency in privacy regulation. They will replace the two sets of principles in the Privacy Act that regulate the handling of personal information by the public and private sectors.

"While providing a high level of privacy protection, the aim of the single set of principles is to ease compliance burden, make it simpler for people to understand their rights, and encourage national and international consistency in privacy regulation", she said.

"The Principles build on the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) report on Australian privacy laws and practice, and the Government's first stage response to that Report. Our Office looks forward to participating in the Senate inquiry process and to further debate on this important legislation".

The Privacy Commissioner has also announced that her Office will participate in the recently announced Senate Committee Inquiry into online privacy.

"The online environment is increasingly challenging our capacity to protect our personal information. I look forward to hearing what others in the community have to say to the Committee about this significant issue.

"In formulating recommendations to deal with online privacy, it will be important that the Senate Committee consider the extensive work already undertaken in this area, including by my Office, the ALRC, and the Australian Government".