The Australian government has announced the creation of a standalone privacy commissioner role, marking a significant change in privacy regulation. 

Previously held as a dual role by the Australian Information Commissioner, the new role will focus solely on protecting privacy, with the information commissioner role remaining separate. 

The move has been praised by many in the industry, including Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus who said that it would help deal with “growing threats” to data security, especially in light of the recent data breaches.

However, former privacy commissioner Malcolm Crompton warns that the move will not be effective without adequate funding. 

He has called for a doubling of the funding for the privacy commissioner role, noting that personal information and data is one of the largest assets in the economy, and yet, it is still being regulated on a “tiddlywinks basis”. 

He emphasised that the new role needs proper resourcing to enforce privacy regulation effectively.

The government has also announced that Toni Pirani will act as the freedom of information commissioner from May 20, replacing Leo Hardiman who resigned citing a lack of resources to manage the FOI workload. 

The original plans for the OAIC had three separate commissioners: a privacy commissioner, an FOI commissioner, and an information commissioner.

More details are available here.