Privacy Bill: Landmark legislation to strengthen privacy

The Government has introduced landmark legislation to strengthen privacy. The Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 implements a first tranche of agreed recommendations from the Privacy Act Review, including: 
•    new criminal offences to outlaw doxing
•    greater transparency for individuals regarding automated decisions that affect them
•    streamlined information sharing in the case of an emergency or eligible data breach
•    a new statutory tort to address serious invasions of privacy
•    a Children's Online Privacy Code.
The Bill will be subject to further targeted consultation and is unlikely to pass this year. More consumer-friendly and ambitious privacy measures will be delayed until a second tranche of reform unlikely to be introduced before a 2025 election.