|
The
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) enables an organisation, a group of
organisations and industry associations representing organisations
to draft their own privacy codes that, once approved, become
legally binding and replace the National Privacy Principles (“NPPs”).
However, a privacy code must, overall, at least uphold the same
standard of rights and obligations as those provided under the
NPPs.
To
date, three privacy codes have been approved by the Federal
Privacy Commissioner, while two applications are currently being
considered and three more are in the process of undergoing public
consultation.
Potential
benefits of adopting a privacy code include:
-
providing
consumers with a higher level of protection than that afforded
by the NPPs;
-
“re-shuffling”
obligations under the NPPs so that protections under specific
NPPs may be lower while at the same time other obligations are
higher so that, overall, the level of protection afforded will
be the same or higher as under the NPPs;
-
the
ability to have privacy complaints heard by an arbitrator who
arbitrates other disputes in relation to the organisation or
association, avoiding the circumstance that different types of
complaints are heard by different arbiters;
-
the
consolidation of privacy obligations arising under different
laws (sometimes in different jurisdictions) into a single
code; and
-
the
ability to address privacy issues that are not addressed by
the NPPs.
Privacy
Law Consulting Australia’s (“PLCA’s”) experience and
expertise provides us with a highly practical and technical
understanding of the Privacy Act 1988 that enables us to
advise on how organisations and industry associations can benefit
from developing privacy codes based on their particular needs and
concerns.
PLCA
can advise organisations and industry associations on:
-
pre-approval
considerations & consultations;
-
application
& approval procedures;
-
development
& drafting;
-
complaint
handling procedures;
-
code
adjudicators;
-
limiting
coverage & operation of codes;
-
compliance
with competition laws;
-
variation
procedures;
-
potential
signatories; and
-
enforcement
of codes
|
