Australia: Privacy Protection

Australia’s privacy reforms increase the importance of privacy as a governance issue for independent schools. Boards and executive teams should understand what personal and sensitive information their school holds, how it is accessed and shared, and where monitoring technologies, third-party platforms and automated decision-making tools are used.

Western Australian local governments face new obligations under the Privacy and Responsible Information Sharing Act 2024, which introduces Information Privacy Principles and mandatory serious data-breach reporting. How should councils prepare their governance frameworks, policies, and incident-response capabilities to meet these requirements by the July 2026 and January 2027 deadlines?

The Administrative Review Tribunal's decision on Bunnings' use of Facial Recognition Technology offers critical insights for Victorian government agencies collecting sensitive information through new technologies. This analysis examines how privacy governance failures, inadequate notification practices, and insufficient transparency led to regulatory breaches, and explores what public sector organisations must do to strengthen their compliance frameworks when implementing surveillance systems or collecting

A Queensland tribunal decision examines the professional misconduct of an anaesthetist who published patient photographs and commentary without consent in a self-published book.

Australia's new statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy, which commenced in June 2025, is being tested against emerging AI-powered smart glasses technology that can record audio and video discreetly. As these devices become more sophisticated and less detectable, questions arise about whether current privacy laws adequately protect individuals from covert surveillance and data collection in both public and private settings.

The Australian Privacy Commissioner has determined that Monash IVF and a telehealth company have interfered with the privacy of website visitors via tracking pixels, without obtaining end-user consent.

Australia's Office of the Australian Information Commissioner is developing regulatory guidance on new automated decision-making transparency requirements under the Privacy Act.

Japan, as Australia’s fourth-largest foreign investor, has agreed to strengthen bilateral collaboration with Australia, including in the growing technology sector. This will facilitate closer collaboration between the two countries on critical technologies, artificial intelligence, digital ecosystems, research and development and cybersecurity.

Businesses that are APP (Australian Privacy Principles) entities must comply with the Privacy Act when collecting driver’s licences, and should only do so where reasonably necessary.