You are here: Home > Publications and resources > Reports > Privacy Advisory Committee meeting - 30 January 2012

Privacy Advisory Committee meeting - 30 January 2012

The Privacy Advisory Committee met at the OAIC offices in Sydney on 30 January 2012. Committee members discussed a wide range of matters during the course of the meeting. Selected highlights of those discussions follow.

Role of Committee members

Professor McMillan congratulated Mr Carter and Assoc Prof Paterson on their recent appointment to the Committee, and Prof O’Keefe on her recent reappointment. There was general discussion of the function of the Committee and the role of members. As well as participation in Committee meetings, members are involved in the OAIC’s work in other ways, including:

being offered the opportunity to comment on some of the OAIC’s draft submissions
being invited to make presentations at OAIC functions, such as Information Contact Officer Network meetings
being involved in planning and promotional activities for Privacy Awareness Week.

Privacy law reform

Committee members discussed the progress of the Australian Government's Privacy Law Reform process generally and focused on the Issues Paper the Australian Government released in September 2011 canvassing the introduction of a statutory cause of action for serious invasion of privacy.

E-health and research

The implementation of personally controlled electronic health records in Australia and the OAIC’s regulatory role in this area were discussed. If the legislation is passed the OAIC’s formal regulatory role will commence on 1 July 2012, and to this end, it has already established a new team to work in this area.

Data breach notification

The OAIC has completed its review of the Guide to Handling Personal Information Security Breaches. Committee members were consulted as part of the review process. The updated Guide is likely to be released during Privacy Awareness Week (29 April– 5 May).

Consultations and submissions

The Committee discussed the following public consultations, which have recently been undertaken by the OAIC:

In particular, the Committee discussed the OAIC's approach to conducting these public consultations, including its use of web 2.0 technologies to encourage submissions on the Review of the Tax File Number Guidelines.

Privacy education and awareness

Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) will take place from 29 April – 5 May 2012. Committee members discussed promotional strategies that the OAIC could implement to maximise the impact of PAW .

Airport body scanning

Prof McMillan thanked Ms Robertson for participating in a trial of body scanners at Melbourne Airport on 7 September 2011. Committee members discussed the privacy issues that body scanners can cause to arise, and the way that these are being addressed by the Office of Transport Security, which is overseeing the implementation of the scanners.

Next meeting

The next Committee meeting will take place on 3 May 2012.

Participants

Chair

Prof John McMillan, Australian Information Commissioner

Members

Mr Leon Carter, National Secretary, Financial Sector Union
Prof Michael Kidd AM, Executive Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, Flinders University
Prof Christine O’Keefe, Science Leader for Privacy and Confidentiality in CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics
Assoc Prof Moira Paterson, Associate Dean (Undergraduate), Faculty of Law, Monash University
Ms Barbara Robertson, Chief Privacy Officer and Head of Notices, National Australia Bank Limited

Observers

Mr Timothy Pilgrim, Australian Privacy Commissioner
Mr Richard Glenn, Assistant Secretary, Information Law and Policy Branch,
Attorney-General’s Department
Mr Jonathan Dobinson, Director Corporate and Public Affairs, OAIC
Ms Melanie Drayton, Director Policy
Ms Angelene Falk, Director Policy
Mr Kieran Colreavy, Corporate and Public Affairs Officer, OAIC