The Government has released an exposure draft of the new Australian Privacy Principles which will be a key part of amendments to the Privacy Act. It has also published a companion guide.

The new principles have been referred to the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee for consultation. The reporting date is 21 September 2010.

The new set of principles will replace the two existing sets of principles (one for government and for private organisations)governing dealings with personal information.

Further reforms to the Privacy Act will be released for public consultation in stages, including provisions relating to:

• more comprehensive credit reporting to improve individual credit assessments, alongside privacy protections and responsible lending practices;
• the protection of health information, in particular improving health sector information flows; and
• strengthening the Privacy Commissioner powers to conduct investigations, resolve complaints and promote compliance with the Privacy Act and integrating the Privacy Commissioner into the newly-created Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Each stage will be referred to a Senate Committee for consideration as it is ready.