Recent Amendment to Australia Privacy Laws

Australia recently amended its privacy laws. The Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) came into force yesterday – March 12, 2014.  There are several significant changes in the amendment. Most notably, the new law granted new powers and remedies to the privacy commissioner (OAIC) in enforcing its decisions, such as accepting written undertakings from organizations and enforcing it through court. Under the new law, OAIC is also allowed to seek civil penalty orders of up to $1.7 million for repeated breaches by organizations, and $340,000 for individuals.

We may need to wait for a couple of years to assess the effects of amendments on the compliance of the law – particularly the greater enforcement power and the significant penalty for breaches. If these methods do have a positive impact on the compliance of the new law, should Canada follow Australia and amend our privacy laws accordingly? 

Here's a link to the APP. 

For those interested, here is a brief overview of the Australian Privacy Law