Amendments to the Privacy Act 1988 from 12 March 2014 | NECA

Amendments to the Privacy Act 1988 from 12 March 2014

The Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Privacy Amendment Act) made many significant changes to the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act). These changes commenced on 12 March 2014. The Privacy Regulation 2013, made under the Privacy Act, also commenced on 12 March 2014.

The changes to the Privacy Act will only apply to you if you have an annual turnover greater than $3 million, are a contracted service provider under a Commonwealth contract, or choose to opt in to the Act as a best practice oriented business.

From 12 March 2014, the 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) will replace the National Privacy Principles and Information Privacy Principles. The APPs cover the collection, use, disclosure and storage of personal information. They allow individuals to access their personal information and have it corrected if it is incorrect. There are also separate APPs that deal with the use and disclosure of personal information for the purpose of direct marketing (APP 7), cross-border disclosure of personal information (APP 8) and the adoption, use and disclosure of government related identifiers (APP 9).

To find out more about the amendments to the Privacy Act and learn about the 13 APP’s, members can simply login. Alternatively, if you are not a NECA member, find out more about membership here or contact Leah Boyce, Marketing & Member Services at NECA SA/NT on (08) 8272 2966.