Stay up-to-date with IPOLA changes

Queensland is entering a new chapter when it comes to information access and privacy rights and responsibilities due to the passing of the Information Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023 (IPOLA Act) in November last year. The IPOLA Act amends the Information Privacy Act 2009 (IP Act), Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI Act) and related provisions in other legislation.

To help Queensland government agencies prepare, we have launched a dedicated IPOLA webpage and we are encouraging interested parties to subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay up-to-date with related news, resources and training opportunities as they become available.

The new reforms include:

• a mandatory data breach notification scheme starting in mid-2025 for most public sector agencies (with councils to follow a year later)
• greater consistency with the Commonwealth Privacy Act which includes a single set of privacy principles (known as the Queensland Privacy Principles)
• reforms to the right to information framework to improve its application and shifting applications for personal information to the RTI Act
• shifting the responsibility for reporting on the operation of the RTI Act and IP Act to OIC from the Department of Justice and Attorney-General

These amendments will improve transparency and accountability and strengthen privacy protections for the community.

Read more about the changes, key dates and how to meet the new legislative requirements here.