iscover
Share this article on:
Powered by
MOMENTUM
MEDIA
The Albanese government is set to appoint a standalone privacy commissioner in an effort to curb the rising cyber threat.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced this week that the roles of information commissioner would be split into three parts — information, privacy, and freedom of information, the same structure that the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) had when it was first established in 2010.
The Albanese Government will establish a standalone Privacy Commissioner equipped with the power to tackle the growing threats to data security and the increasing volume and complexity of privacy issues. pic.twitter.com/b7O97uEGfE
— Mark Dreyfus (@MarkDreyfusKCMP) May 2, 2023
Dreyfus has said that the change will assist the government in addressing the “growing threats to data security and the increasing volume and complexity of privacy issues.
“The large-scale data breaches of 2022 were distressing for millions of Australians, with our private information at risk of identity fraud and scams,” he said on Twitter.
“Australians rightly expect the privacy regulator to meet the ongoing challenges of the digital age and protect their data.”
Currently, the role of information commissioner is held by Angelene Falk, who overlooks all three roles. Falk will remain the overall information commissioner and will initially take up the role of the standalone privacy commissioner until a new one can be appointed.
With the resignation of Leo Hardiman in March, Toni Pirani will enter the role of acting freedom of information commissioner from 19 May, when Hardiman leaves.
Australia has not had a standalone privacy commissioner since 2015, when the last commissioner Timothy Pilgrim took on the additional role of information commissioner. Pilgrim was replaced in those roles by Falk in 2018.
Dreyfus said that the previous government, which merged the role of privacy commissioner and information minister, left Australia ill-equipped for the future cyber threat.
“The former Coalition government left Australia disgracefully unprepared for this challenge by failing to update privacy laws and scrapping the position of a standalone privacy commissioner,” he said.
The future appointment of a standalone privacy commissioner as the threat of cyber crime reaches an unprecedented high in Australia and around the world.
Major breaches on Optus, Medibank, and, more recently, Latitude Financial have affected millions of Australians, with personal and financial data exposed.
The Australian government has made a number of changes to legislative changes to privacy in light of the breaches, including the introduction of mandatory data breach reporting and increasing the fines for organisations that suffer “serious” or “repeated” data breaches from $2.2 million whatever is the most of:
Additionally, the government is looking to implement a 2023–2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy, which will help to achieve Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil’s goal of making Australia the “world’s most cyber secure nation by 2030”.
Be the first to hear the latest developments in the cyber industry.
