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The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner is headed by the Australian Information Commissioner who works in conjunction with the Privacy Commissioner and the Freedom of Information Commissioner.
Australian Information Commissioner – Professor John McMillan AO
Prof John McMillan AO was appointed Australian Information Commissioner in November 2010, to head a new office responsible for freedom of information, privacy protection and advice to government on information management policy.
John was formerly the Commonwealth Ombudsman from 2003–2010; and the Integrity Commissioner (Acting) for the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity in 2007. He is an Emeritus Professor of the Australian National University. He is co-author of a leading student text, Control of Government Action.
John was a founding member in the 1970s of the Freedom of Information Campaign Committee, which led the public campaign for enactment of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. He is a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia; a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law; and former President of the Australian Institute of Administrative Law.
Privacy Commissioner – Timothy Pilgrim
Mr Timothy Pilgrim was appointed as Privacy Commissioner on 19 July 2010.
Mr Pilgrim was first appointed to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as Deputy Privacy Commissioner in February 1998. Prior to this he held senior management positions in a range of Australian Government agencies, including the Small Business Program within the Australian Taxation Office and the Child Support Agency.
Timothy has made a significant contribution to the field of privacy in Australia. His achievements include involvement in developing the private sector provisions of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), which included widespread consultation with community, business and government organisations. He also played a key role in implementing the private sector provisions, which took effect on 21 December 2001. More recently, Timothy has participated in the Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry into Australian privacy laws and practice, and continues to work on privacy law reform.
Timothy has also worked at the international level to ensure that Australia is equipped to deal with global privacy challenges. He has played an important role in the implementation of the APEC Privacy Framework, which aims to promote a consistent approach to information privacy protection across APEC member economies. Timothy has also been closely involved in developing a framework for privacy regulators around the world to cooperate on cross-border enforcement matters.
Mr Pilgrim has extensive experience in corporate management, covering fields such as human resource management, industrial relations and parliamentary liaison. More broadly, at the corporate level Mr Pilgrim has been responsible for providing high level advice on strategies for implementing large scale cultural change.
Mr Pilgrim holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sydney University.
Freedom of Information Commissioner – Dr James Popple
Dr James Popple was appointed Freedom of Information Commissioner on 1 November 2010.
Before that, James worked for 12 years in the Australian Attorney-General's Department, six years as First Assistant Secretary. He worked in a variety of areas in AGD including privacy law; tribunal reform; administrative law; legal aid; Indigenous justice; personal property securities law; Commonwealth legal services; bankruptcy and personal insolvency; copyright; classification; international legal services; and support for the Attorney-General in the performance of his First Law Officer role. Before joining AGD, he was a judge's associate, then Deputy Registrar of the High Court of Australia.
James has degrees in law and arts, and is admitted as a barrister and a solicitor. He is also an Adjunct Lecturer in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the Australian National University, where he conducted his doctoral research in artificial intelligence and law.