Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Paterson, for your question. I don't monitor the Minister for Home Affairs's diary as closely as Senator Paterson seems to, but I can tell him that from the moment this breach was reported the Minister for Home Affairs and the government as a whole have taken action, just as we did in relation to the Optus breach.

This matter is under investigation by the relevant authorities, including the Australian Signals Directorate and the Australian Federal Police. It's exactly the same approach that we took in relation to the Optus breach, because we do take these issues seriously—unlike the former government, who spent 10 years doing very little about this. They did nothing to address the issue of penalties against corporations who fail to meet consumer expectations around data protection.

I know that now the Minister for Home Affairs and the government as a whole are working closely with Medibank Private to provide all the support possible to help resolve this situation and protect those customers who have been affected. Medibank Private is receiving ongoing technical advice and assistance from the relevant Australian government agencies, including, as I say, the Australian Signals Directorate and the AFP. The AFP has launched Operation Pallidus to investigate the Medibank Private data breach. Medibank Private advises that it has begun to make direct contact with affected customers and I encourage anyone who thinks they may be affected by this recent Medibank Private cyberincident to contact 134246. For Medibank Private customers, the number is 132331.