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11.08.2008
Media Briefing – Simplifying and harmonising privacy law and practice
11 August 2008, Privacy Inquiry A consolidated set of privacy principles The Privacy Act provides different sets of Privacy Principles for the handling of personal information by government agencies and by private sector organisations. Contractors to the Australian Government, government business enterprises, and those involved in public-private partnerships may be bound to comply with both …
Read more11.08.2008
Australia must rewrite privacy laws for the Information Age
The Australian Law Reform Commission’s landmark report For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice (ALRC 108), was launched today in Sydney by the Cabinet Secretary, the Hon Senator John Faulkner, and the Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP.The three-volume, 2700 page report is the culmination of a massive research and consultation exercise conducted over …
Read more11.08.2008
Media Briefing – Protecting Health Information in the Digital Age
11 August 2008 Electronic health records In recent years, there have been increasing pressures, particularly from government, to move from paper to electronic health records. The ALRC’s Privacy Inquiry coincided with a number of major initiatives to develop electronic medical records—including the proposed national Shared Electronic Health Records system, in which a summary of personal …
Read more11.08.2008
Media Briefing – New cross-border privacy laws—greater certainty for all Australians
11 August 2008The ALRC’s national consultation exercise clearly indicates that Australians are concerned about their personal information being sent or held overseas without their knowledge and consent. ALRC President, Professor David Weisbrot, said “This unease appears to reflect a general feeling by people that they are losing control over something deeply personal, with little ability …
Read more11.08.2008
Media Briefing – Children, young people and privacy
11 August 2008Do the technologically savvy, confident and optimistic members of Generation Y have radically different attitudes to privacy from their Baby Boomer parents and their grandparents? ALRC President, Professor David Weisbrot, stated that, “During our Inquiry, we used a number of strategies to obtain the views of children and young people—for example, we conducted …
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Media Briefing – Technology-neutral privacy principles should govern rapidly developing ICT
The impact on privacy of rapidly developing information and communications technology is a central consideration for the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) in its report For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice, released publicly today. The ALRC addresses privacy concerns by recommending the implementation of technology-neutral privacy principles, which should be supported by a …
Read more11.08.2008
Media Briefing – Reform of the credit reporting system
The Privacy Act regulates the system of credit reporting, allowing information about an individual’s credit-worthiness to be collected and disclosed to credit providers, such as banks, finance companies, mortgage companies, and mobile phone service providers. In Australia, this information is collected by a small number of specialist credit reporting companies from credit providers and from …
Read more07.08.2008
DNA testing online: marketing hype or medical breakthrough?
Public meeting: DNA shampoo? Diet and exercise regimes tailored to your own genetic makeup? Cosmetics blended to address your particular ‘wrinkle genes’? A DNA test to determine which sport best suits your child? DNA tests available on the internet to calculate your genetic risk for breast cancer, diabetes or Alzheimer’s disease? This is no longer …
Read more05.08.2008
ALRC to tackle government secrecy laws
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) welcomed the announcement today by the Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, of new Terms of Reference for the ALRC to review secrecy provisions in federal legislation. The Terms of Reference ask the ALRC to focus on: ‘the importance of balancing the need to protect Commonwealth information and …
Read more22.07.2008
FOI Inquiry deferred pending Government reforms
Tuesday 22 July 2008: Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) President, Professor David Weisbrot, said today that the ALRC had been informed by the Attorney-General that an inquiry into Freedom of Information (FOI) laws was being suspended as part of the FOI reform process announced by Cabinet Secretary John Faulkner this morning. Professor Weisbrot said: “We …
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