The Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Bill 2012 has been introduced into the House of Representatives.
UPDATE 24 May: The Bill has been referred to the House Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs.
If passed, the Bill will amend the Privacy Act to:
• Create the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), a single set of privacy principles applying to both Commonwealth agencies and private sector organisations, which replace the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) for the public sector and the National Privacy Principles (NPPs) for the private sector
• Introduce more comprehensive credit reporting with improved privacy protections, at the same time updating the provisions to more effectively address the significant developments in the operation of the credit reporting system since the provisions were first enacted in 1990
• Introduce new provisions on privacy codes and the credit reporting code (called the CR code), including powers for the Commissioner to develop and register codes in the public interest that are binding on specified agencies and organisations; and
• Clarify the functions and powers of the Privacy Commissioner and improve the Commissioner’s ability to resolve complaints, recognise and encourage the use of external dispute resolution services, conduct investigations and promote compliance with privacy obligations.
