New Queensland Privacy Commissioner appointed

December 3, 2021 - 3:59pm

The Office of the Information Commissioner welcomes the appointment of Mr Paxton Booth as Queensland’s new Privacy Commissioner from 13 December 2021.

Mr Booth brings to the role extensive executive experience in regulatory compliance, and a proactive and strategic approach to working with agencies to adopt effective systems and processes to manage their regulatory responsibilities and minimise risk.

Mr Booth joins us from the Crime and Corruption Commission, Queensland (CCC), where he has worked across a range of functions, most recently as Executive Director, Corruption Strategy, Prevention and Legal.  In 2019-20 Mr Booth led the comprehensive Operation Impala inquiry about unauthorised access to, and misuse of, confidential information in the Queensland public sector. The CCC made a number of privacy recommendations including for introduction of a mandatory data breach notification scheme, stronger information security controls, improved awareness and training, and embedding Privacy Champions in agencies at a senior level to incorporate privacy by design in executive decision-making.

Mr Booth has maintained a strong interest in privacy throughout his career and looks forward to further supporting agencies to identify privacy by design solutions that help build greater trust through transparency, and enable critical outcomes for the community.

Mr Booth has a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce, and was admitted as a Barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1997. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

The Office would like to take this opportunity to thank Privacy Commissioner Philip Green for his service over the past six years during which he has provided invaluable advice to stakeholders about privacy by design approaches to address risks and community expectations, including during rapid technological change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The media statement of the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Minister for Women and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, is available here.