Implementation
For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice (ALRC 108, 2008) was tabled in federal Parliament on 11 August 2008. On the same day, the Report was publicly launched at the ALRC offices by Senator John Faulkner, Special Minister for State and Cabinet Secretary, and the Attorney-General, The Hon Robert McClelland MP. When launching the Report, Senator Faulkner indicated that the government would consider the ALRC's recommendations in two stages:
Stage 1—(12–18 months from 11 August 2008)
- One set of privacy principles
- Credit reporting and health regulations
- Education concerning new technology
Stage 2
- Removal of exemptions
- Data breach notifications
Concurrently
- Harmonisation of Commonwealth, state and territory privacy laws
- Recommendations relating to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner
The Australian Government issued the first stage of its response to For Your Information on 14 October 2009. The first stage of the response addressed 197 of the 295 recommendations, accepting the majority of those recommendations. The remaining 98 recommendations of the ALRC will be considered in stage two of the Government's response.
Statutory Cause of Action
For Your Information includes a recommendation that federal legislation should provide for a statutory cause of action for a serious invasion of privacy (Recommendation 74–1). On 14 August 2009, the New South Wales Law Reform Commission (NSWLRC) released a report Invasion of Privacy (Report 120, 2009) which includes a recommendation for a statutory cause of action that is similar to the ALRC recommendation. One of the key differences between the ALRC recommendation and the NSWLRC recommendation is that the ALRC recommended that a statutory cause of action be included in federal legislation, whereas the NSWLRC recommends that a statutory cause of action be included in uniform state and territory legislation.