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

As Senator Shoebridge is aware, this issue is being considered more broadly as part of the Privacy Act review, and that's why we will be opposing the amendment at this point in time—so that the review can do its work.

The powers that are currently available to the Information Commissioner in this area are based on an enforcement-pyramid approach to regulation. The act initially relies upon the Information Commissioner encouraging compliance, and then there are determinations and enforcement in the courts if that is not successful. For the most egregious interferences with privacy, section 13G of the act provides for the Information Commissioner to take civil penalty action against the entity in the Federal Court.

The question that the review is considering is whether the regulatory options available are too limited to target the different levels of seriousness with which interference with privacy occurs. The review is considering two additional categories of civil penalty provisions that cover less serious conduct than that in section 13G but that still might warrant enforcement action. The first new category would be a new mid-tier civil penalty for any interference with privacy, with a lesser maximum penalty amount. The second new category would be a series of very low level civil penalty provisions for administrative breaches of the APPs, with attached infringement notice powers for the Information Commissioner.

Given these proposals are about creating entirely new civil penalty provisions, it's appropriate that these issues are considered thoroughly as part of the review. However, the increase to the maximum penalty of the existing provision of the act which we are in the process of putting through this chamber is a targeted amendment to ensure the maximum penalty available reflects the fact that it is the most serious enforcement action that can be taken by the Information Commissioner where there has been a serious breach of privacy.