Many organisations are familiar with and have been complying with the requirements of the Commonwealth Privacy Act since it was introduced in 1988.

However the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 amended the Privacy Act and introduced a set of Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) to replace the previously used National Privacy Principles. The new APPs take effect on 12 March 2014.

The new APPs impose obligations on a range of organisations, including all Commonwealth Government agencies and all businesses with annual turnovers exceeding $3 million.

If your organisation has not checked the requirements of the APPs and how they impact on your organisation’s policies and processes for managing privacy and personal information, the time to act is now. A good starting point is the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) Privacy fact sheet 17: Australian Privacy Principles downloadable here. The OAIC has also just released the final Australian Privacy Principles guidelines here.

Please contact QRMC for more information.