OIC Privacy Commissioner shares insights at leading privacy summit
The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) continues to be at the forefront of emerging privacy issues, working with industry leaders and stakeholders to develop best-practice privacy solutions.
Privacy Commissioner Alexander White shared his insights during the ‘Privacy in Australia: Perspectives of Commissioners in the States’ panel at the IAPP ANZ Summit 2025 held in Sydney recently.
Commissioner White joined privacy colleagues from New South Wales and Western Australia to discuss the similarities and differences between each state’s privacy responsibilities, and how new or amended legislation in each state has broadened each agency’s roles and responsibilities.
Commissioner White highlighted the impact of the Information Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023 (IPOLA Act), with Queensland joining New South Wales and Western Australia in implementing significant reforms to their privacy laws.
“IPOLA has significantly changed our privacy laws and functions,” Commissioner White said. “The act defined a single set of Queensland privacy principles and introduced the Mandatory Notification of Data Breach Scheme (MNDB), which OIC supports via our new Agency portal. IPOLA also established new investigatory powers for the Information Commissioner.”
During the panel, Commissioner White discussed OIC’s regulatory policy and how the office will use it both reactively to address complaints and notifications as well as proactively to create guidance and initiate investigations and audits.
New practices like the MNDB, Commissioner White explained, can be a valuable tool not only for regulatory action but can also help OIC identify the topics for more guidance or early intervention.
Commissioner White also shared his views on new technology and emerging issues that lack simple solutions.
“When we as a community are trying to come up with answers to novel problems, it’s important to bring together regulators, industry leaders and stakeholders to develop realistic and achievable guidelines that fit within the legislation.”
IAPP is a global policy-neutral, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to privacy, AI governance and digital responsibility.
To learn more about IPOLA or recent OIC news, visit our website.
