Australian Serious Data Breach Bill

Australia’s recently proposed Privacy Amendment (Notification of Serious Data Breaches) Bill 2015 impacts all entities covered by the Privacy Act 1988. The original act sets out rules for government agencies and private sector organizations to maintain and protect individuals’ private data, but does not require any specific reporting or notification in the event of a data breach. A draft bill is currently open to public comment until March 4, 2016. Once adopted, the bill would come into effect in 12 months.