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Articles and Legal Updates

Proposed amendments to Australian Privacy Act set to increase privacy breach penalties to a maximum of AU$10 million

The Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enhancing Online Privacy and Other Measures) Bill 2021, expected to be introduced to Parliament and passed by the end of 2022, increases both online privacy protection for individuals and consumers and the penalties for breaches. With ongoing COVID restrictions, there has been an exponential growth in the amount of work, education,… Read More

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Victorian Privacy Laws

Privacy breaches in Victoria (Vic) involving an individual’s personal and sensitive information can result in psychological and physical damage and financial losses. An individual affected by a privacy breach may be able to seek compensation and other remedies…

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New South Wales Privacy Laws

Australian privacy laws are complex with Commonwealth and State privacy legislation to be considered whenever a privacy breach occurs.  Stephens Lawyers & Consultants’ ‘Privacy Breaches in N.S.W. – Information Sheet’ provides information on N.S.W. privacy laws. Privacy Breaches in New South Wales – Information Sheet Privacy breaches in New South Wales (NSW) involving an individual’s… Read More

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Privacy and Risk Management: Information Sheet 3 – updated 10 August 2021

Risk Management: Data Protection and Privacy Compliance Privacy compliance and data breach risk management is too often not taken seriously by Australian organisations. The complexity of organisational structures and IT business systems in many instances results in management not knowing what data is collected by whole of business and how the data is managed and… Read More

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Damages for Online Defamation – Recent Cases – Updated August 2021

Recent Cases – July 2019 to August 2021 Stephens Lawyers & Consultants* Publication of defamatory comments on websites, social media and business networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn can cause devastating harm to both personal and business reputation and business losses.  Some of the defamatory material published is of such an extreme… Read More

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Compensation for Privacy Breaches determined by the Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner – 2016 to 13 April 2021

Legal Update Stephens Lawyers & Consultants provides a review of the compensation awarded in determinations made during the years 2016 – 13 April 2021 by the Office of the Australian Information Privacy Commissioner  in relation to privacy breaches. CASE PRIVACY PRINCIPLES BREACHED COMPENSATION RECEIVED ‘WZ’ and CEO of Services Australia (Privacy) [2021] AICmr 12 (13… Read More

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Changes to the Australian Uniform Defamation Laws – Legal Update

From 1 July 2021, Victoria,[i] New South Wales,[ii] South Australia[iii] and Queensland[iv] introduced changes to the defamation laws. Key changes brought about by the Model Defamation Amendment Provisions 2020 [“New Defamation Laws”] include the following which are discussed as follows: the serious harm element; the single publication rule; the expanded definition of employees; new requirements… Read More

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