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Oz data breach notification law close

Committee says bill should pass

With a terse statement – “The committee recommends that the Senate pass the Bill” – Australia has moved a small step closer to having mandatory data breach notification.

Nothing in politics is ever certain, of course, but the committee looking into Australia's proposed data breach notification bill has unequivocally supported it being made law. The bill was passed over to committee, which returned its decision in just six days.

The Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee chair Trish Crossin dismissed suggestions that this inquiry was too brief, noting that the bill was opened to public consultation in October 2012, followed by confidential stakeholder consultations in April 2013.

“The committee considers that stakeholders have been afforded ample opportunity to comment on the proposals in the Bill, noting that the matters under consideration were first raised in 2008 by the ALRC,” the report states.

However, coalition members of the committee complained about both the short timeframe of the process, and the risk of regulatory overload on companies should the legislation pass.

The bill will now be slotted into the crowded queue of legislation that the government hopes to pass in this, its last parliamentary sitting before the September election. ®

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