Article originally published by Anna Johnston, Director at Helios Salinger.
Privacy reforms are on their way; here’s what you need to know.
On 31 August, Attorney General Michelle Rowland released an exposure draft Bill to reform the federal Privacy Act. She also released a consultation paper to accompany the Bill. This is the next stage in the long-running review of the Privacy Act which commenced in 2018, and which has already been through multiple public submission stages.
While the Attorney General is calling for feedback on this draft exposure Bill, by setting a submission period of only a couple of weeks, she is sending a signal that she is ready to roll, so we could see the final Bill tabled in Parliament before the year’s end.
Now I don’t expect you to feel sorry for me, dear reader, but the timing of the exposure draft Bill’s release has somewhat interrupted my otherwise delightful holiday in Türkiye. While not offering as much relaxation as consuming a trashy legal thriller while sipping a cocktail by the hotel pool, reviewing the contents of the Bill has nonetheless proven an enjoyable experience.
In fact, my travels have provided me with the perfect metaphor to appreciate the draft Bill and its impacts.
Having watched a demonstration of the creation of a traditional Turkish kilim rug, it occurs to me that the impact of these reforms, if passed, will provide us with a kilim: a thing of beauty, both visually harmonious and useful. Focusing on just one or two elements is not the way to look at this reform package; instead you need to step back and appreciate the overall pattern being created.
Kilims are created through the interlacing of warp and weft. The warp is the set of vertical threads lined up neatly within a frame. The weft brings the rug to life, as coloured skeins of wool are threaded horizontally, in and out of the warp, to create the pattern. Traditional kilims are painstakingly slow to create, but once complete, with all loose ends neatly knotted off, they should last for decades.
In much the same way, privacy jurisprudence is created slowly, with input from two directions, within a frame. Policy intent provides the frame. Legislation is the warp, while over time the Privacy Commissioner and courts provide the weft of colour, through case law, OAIC guidance and determinations.
While we already have an existing rug in the form of the Privacy Act 1988, it is now terribly worn, and showing holes in places. The environment has changed since the old rug was created, and the 1988 design no longer suits our decor. Australians deserve a new rug.
The draft Bill released by the Attorney General, and the accompanying Consultation Paper which sets out the policy intent, will set us well on our way to creating a new rug. Recent OAIC determinations and guidance are ready and waiting, to complete the pattern. (And yes, just like creating a traditional kilim, it has been painstakingly slow to get us to this point.) But once these reforms have been passed and commenced, loose ends will have been tied off, and the rug will be complete. The end result should be harmonious and practical, for decades to come.
