GL Insights
Full steam ahead – upcoming amendments to the Privacy Act
On 16 February 2023, the Attorney-General’s Department released its highly anticipated Privacy Act Review Report 2022 (Report). The Report considers whether the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) remains fit for purpose in this digital economy where the personal information of individuals is collected and used for a myriad of purposes. Change to ‘personal information’ A major expected change …
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Keep ahead of data breaches
It seems like every other day we see another media release about an organisation affected by a data breach, compromising the personal information of Australians. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s (OAIC) Notifiable Data Breaches Report: July to December 2022 shows that during this period, data breaches resulting from malicious or criminal attacks accounted …
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Privacy by design: A call to action
Griffin Legal endorses the ‘privacy by design’ approach, whereby agencies proactively embed good privacy practices into the design of new technology, practices and infrastructure. It remains important that evolving and adapting agencies keep privacy at the forefront of their minds. A privacy impact assessment (PIA) is a good way to build up privacy. What is …
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Privacy in the digital age: Tips for protecting your personal information
Whether it’s the mobile glued to our pockets or the smart lighting installed in our homes, our digital landscape has the potential to erode our personal privacy and security. Here are five basic steps you can take to protect your personal information online: 1. Enable MFA Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security measure that adds …
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Respect@Work – Positive Duty on Employers
The Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022(Cth) places a positive duty on employers, including agencies to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate hostile workplace environments, sexual harassment, harassment on the grounds of sex, gender-based discrimination in the workplace and related acts of victimisation. Under the Work Health and Safety …
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Should the Pension Age be reduced for First Nations people?
The full Federal Court will shortly consider whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be able to access the aged pension early following a recent legal proceeding that argues that the gap in life expectancy means holding them to the retirement age is discrimination and a contravention of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. The …
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Does the Australian Government have a duty of care in relation to climate change?
On October 26, 2021, Wadhuam Paul Kabai and Wadhuam Pabai Pabai, First Nations’ leaders from the Gudamalulgal nation of the Torres Strait Islands, filed a case challenging the Commonwealth’s failure to cut emissions and asserting that the government’s inaction will force their communities to migrate to a new area. The Plaintiffs presented scientific evidence proving …
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Are PhD Students being paid below the minimum wage?
University of Sydney Classics PhD graduate Tristan Burt has launched a class action against the Commonwealth, arguing that PhD students should be classified as employees rather than students. Burt takes aim as the Commonwealth Research Training Program (RTP) which provides RTP scholarships to doctorate students for stipends, among other things, to assist students with the …
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Don’t let privacy go MIA, complete a PIA!
As agencies and businesses continue to grow and evolve over time, so does the way they do things. An entity might someday outgrow its ICT infrastructure, require new accounting software or start working on an exciting new project. It remains important for growing businesses and adapting organisations to keep privacy at the forefront of their …
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Traps in being too strict in probity
Probity is central to Australian Government procurement. To achieve probity in a procurement process, some of the general principles for officials to be mindful of include: To help comply with these principles, there are now well-established probity practices developed and refined over the last three decades that should be used. These practices include the implementation …
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