Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the support of the member for Warringah for the bill, the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. Just in relation to the questions that she's asked in respect of possible amendments, particularly the updating of the wording in the definitions of 'personal information' and 'consent': as I've made clear in introducing this bill, this is the first stage of the government's commitment to amending the Privacy Act overall, with the intent of providing individuals with greater control over their personal information. The particular matters that the member for Warringah has mentioned—that is, the definitions of 'personal information' and 'consent'—were matters that were considered as part of the broad Privacy Act review that was undertaken by the Attorney-General's Department. We published both the review and the government's response to that review earlier this year. The government has agreed in principle that the definitions of both of those terms should be updated, and I want to make it clear that we intend to continue to advance the proposals that we have agreed in principle to progress in our response to the Privacy Act review. We are continuing with targeted consultation with stakeholders on draft provisions. It's very important to ensure that amended definitions, which are obviously foundational to the operation of the Privacy Act, are drafted carefully, so that they're fit for purpose and workable in a diverse range of contexts. At this point in the process, the government doesn't support amending the definitions as currently proposed.

See this speech in context