Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, I present the committee's advisory report on the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Bill 2012, together with the minutes of proceedings and evidence received by the committee.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

I ask leave of the House—and I note that the Leader of the House is here, after his successful weekend of football—to make a short statement in connection with the report.

Leave granted.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs has conducted an inquiry into the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Bill 2012 and has tabled its report in parliament today. The bill proposes changes to the Privacy Act 1998 in response to recommendations made by the Australian Law Reform Commission.

On 24 May 2012 the Selection Committee of the House of Representatives referred the bill for inquiry and report, citing the following reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:

The committee received 39 submissions from a range of individuals and organisations across Australia, and held a public hearing on 16 August 2012. A Senate committee has conducted a concurrent inquiry into the bill. As far as possible, this committee has endeavoured not to duplicate those areas it anticipated the Senate would consider and did consider in detail.

The committee has examined the bill to ensure that an appropriate balance between privacy protection and the convenient flow of data has been achieved. The committee recognises that considerable consultation has gone on prior to the introduction of this bill to the House and that many of the provisions proposed are the enactment of recommendations made in the ALRC review. In addition, the committee notes that the Attorney-General's Department is continuing to consult with stakeholders to resolve a number of the implementation details around this bill and to discuss further possible consequences of the bill.

Given the complexity of issues and the global nature of business, the committee has heard that there remain many areas of concern to industry and consumer advocates. The committee has recommended that the bill be passed by the House of Representatives, subject to a review of the functioning of the new privacy regime 12 months after the bill commences. The committee has also recommended that suitable educational and explanatory material be developed prior to the commencement of the act to ensure that individuals understand their new privacy rights and that industry are fully aware of their obligations under the act.

I thank the committee for their work. I thank the secretariat and, in particular, Ms Zoe Scanlan, who is on secondment from the A-G's Department, for her work in preparing this report. I commend this report to the House.

Judi Moylan (Pearce, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—As Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs I also rise to speak on the advisory report. The Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Bill 2012 was developed in response to the Australian Law Reform Commission 2008 report into Australia's privacy laws, which I understand have not been updated for some 20 years. The ALRC made 295 recommendations to the government, which announced that it would respond in two stages. This bill addresses the first 197 of those recommendations and it is the first stage in an ongoing process.

The matters dealt with in this bill are extremely complex and will impact on individuals and corporations, as privacy laws govern many facets of Australian life. Additional complexities arise for the many organisations that now do business on a global scale where other countries do not have such robust privacy laws in place. The committee recognises that there remain a number of outstanding concerns raised by both industry and consumers. There is always a tension between balancing the requirements of business for streamlined processes and the rights of consumers to protection. In recognition of the matters raised in the 38 submissions received and the representations of those who appeared before the committee, the committee has recommended the passage of the bill through this House, as the member for Moreton has just said, but with some conditions attached.

Recommendation 2 calls on the Attorney-General to conduct a review of this legislation 12 months after the commencement date, so as to address a number of issues. I would just like to outline these issues. They are: the defence of contravention of APP8; the conflicting overseas laws; direct marketing and opt-out provisions; de-identified data provisions; the system regulating/preventing credit reporting information overseas—that is, the Australian link requirement; and the effect of the repayment history provisions on addresses stored on file.

Given the complexities in the legislation, the committee further recommends that the Attorney-General provides educational material and that it is to be made available before the commencement of these provisions. Many of the submissions the committee received outlined the matter of the complexities in the legislation and how confusing the legislation is to administer. There is little point in having legislation passed through this House that no-one understands and that is difficult to implement, so we believe as a committee that it is important that the Attorney-General's Department make information available to assist with the transition to the new measures.

This legislation will amend the existing Privacy Act 1988, creating the Australian Privacy Principles, and these which will replace the National Privacy Principles and the Information Privacy Principles that currently apply to both the private and the public sectors. These are a set of unified principles designed to give clarity and consistency to the laws and more comprehensive privacy protection.

The bill also introduces an expansive credit-reporting system and clarifies the powers of the Privacy Commissioner to deal with complaints, conduct investigations, make use of external dispute resolution services and promote compliance.

I take this opportunity to thank the chair and members of the committee for their contribution to this work and the committee secretariat for managing a very large workload with great skill and competence.