Significant changes to Australia’s privacy laws arrived in December 2024. A new piece of privacy legislation, the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 (Cth) (“Act“) came into play on 10 December 2024 - and is now in effect for drone operators Australia wide.
The new Act introduces several key reforms aimed at enhancing the protection of personal information and holding entities accountable for privacy breaches.
Since this new change involves the amendment of 10 different pieces of legislation - we thought it would be wise to interview one of Australia’s expert drone lawyers to help unpack and make sense of these new changes.
What does it mean? Why was it introduced? How will it affect operations? Who is most affected and why? What do I need to change moving forward?
Check out the interview below with Tom Pils (Macmillan Lawyers) as we unpack these new privacy law changes to make sure you are prepared for 2025.
The Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 introduces 100 changes across 10 privacy-related legislations, primarily affecting the Privacy Act, with a new civil penalty provision for serious interference with privacy and allowing individuals to sue for invasions of privacy starting June 2025.
Organizations face significant penalties for privacy breaches, with fines up to $50 million for companies, $2.5 million for individuals, and 2,000 penalty units of $330 each for minor infractions, enforced by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Drone operators must develop privacy policies, conduct privacy risk assessments for each mission, and follow the 12 drone privacy principles published by the Department of Infrastructure in 2022 to mitigate capturing unnecessary personal information.
By December 2026, organizations using computer programs for decisions affecting individuals' rights must disclose this in their privacy policy, aligning with the Australian Privacy Principles (APS) that form the foundation of privacy policies for Australian Privacy Principles Entities (APPE).