Draft data breach notification bill to be revealed soon

The public will soon get its first look at the government’s proposed data breach notification regime, according to a spokesperson for the Attorney-General’s Department.

“An exposure draft of the mandatory data breach notification legislation will be released shortly and the Government will consider the views of industry and other stakeholders before finalising the legislation,” the spokesperson told Computerworld Australia.

The government committed itself to the introduction of a mandatory data breach notification scheme as part of its response to the inquiry into data retention held by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

“The government agrees to introduce a mandatory data breach notification scheme by the end of 2015, and will consult on draft legislation,” stated a response to the PJCIS report issued in March on behalf of Attorney-General George Brandis and then-communications minister Malcolm Turnbull.

In August the Attorney-General’s Department said that the government “has committed to the introduction of a mandatory data breach notification scheme by the end of 2015 and will consult on draft legislation before it is introduced into parliament”.

However, last month Brandis said that the government would only introduce into parliament the legislation to create such a scheme before the end of the year.