Government response to the Privacy Act Review Report

On 28 September 2023, the Australian Government released its response to the Privacy Act Review Report.

We released the Privacy Act Review Report in February 2023. Following this, we undertook public consultation to inform the government response. The review originated out of recommendations from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s 2019 Digital platforms inquiry – final report.

Stakeholder engagement

In its response to the review, the government commits to progressing work to enhance the privacy protections provided to individuals and ensure Australian businesses have clarity about what information is covered by the Privacy Act and how to best protect this information. 

In the coming months we will conduct additional targeted consultations. These will inform the further development of reforms which are ‘agreed in-principle’ and support the development of a detailed impact analysis, designed to ensure the range of benefits and economic costs of the reforms are fully understood.

At present targeted consultations are focussing on: small business privacy reforms, private sector employee privacy reforms and privacy reforms affecting journalism and research. We are carefully considering which other reform areas would benefit from further stakeholder engagement and will invite stakeholders to participate in roundtables as appropriate.

If you would like to register your interest in being involved in a stakeholder roundtable on a particular issue please email privacyactreview@ag.gov.au.