IPOLA stakeholder engagement begins

OIC recently held four focus groups, both in-person and online, to engage with information privacy and right to information practitioners across the public sector, as part of stakeholder engagement for the IPOLA Act reforms.

The incoming changes under IPOLA (Information Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023) will improve transparency and accountability of Queensland public sector agencies and strengthen privacy protections for individuals, including the introduction of a Mandatory Notification Data Breach scheme (MNDB).

The focus groups utilised the results of a recent survey of practitioners on the IPOLA reforms, with the findings presented, validated and further explored in relation to the privacy and RTI reforms.

Practitioners confirmed that guidelines about the incoming changes were a top priority when it comes to resources and helping to build knowledge. They also identified the MNDB scheme and privacy principles as key topics of interest.

OIC has so far released 10 new IPOLA guidelines covering basic overviews, information privacy, and Queensland Privacy Principles. We will continue to add more guidelines and resources, with these priorities in mind.

Practitioner input will also inform OIC’s approach to the roll-out of a staged training program for IPOLA.

OIC would like to thank the practitioners for participating in the survey and focus groups, as their contributions have been invaluable.

Further engagement will happen throughout 2024-25 and practitioners are encouraged to subscribe to the Queensland practitioner email network for updates and IPOLA notifications.