Media release: Privacy Awareness Week highlights opportunity to make smarter choices around technology

Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) will be celebrated around the country from 4-10 May 2026, and Queensland’s Privacy Commissioner says it is the perfect time for the community and public sector staff to brush up on their knowledge about privacy rights and responsibilities.

This year’s theme is ‘Smart tech, smarter choices: Protecting your privacy in the age of AI’. It focuses on the choices we make around technology, privacy and the growing influence of artificial intelligence.

Privacy Commissioner, Alexander White, says we can all take a proactive approach to protecting personal information – whether it’s our own, or information held by a public sector agency.

“As the state’s regulatory body, the Office of the Information Commissioner, or OIC, is encouraging all public sector agencies to support PAW 2026, to help broaden people’s knowledge and understanding about privacy rights and responsibilities, and embed a strong ‘privacy aware’ culture.”

During PAW 2026, we encourage the community and public sector staff to check out a range of on-demand video presentations available on our website, to build awareness and improve understanding of rights and obligations.

“Our offerings include a keynote presentation from a global expert on privacy in a digital environment, and topics on community and agency support during a data breach, agency executive leadership, cybersecurity, and a local council focus responding to questions raised about a data breach scheme that will commence on 1 July, and learnings from a recent OIC audit. The presentations are published on OIC’s website along with a range of resources,” Mr White says.

Every year Queenslanders are becoming more aware of their privacy and the value of their personal information.

“The community expects agencies to meet their responsibilities to protect personal information, and PAW is a great reminder about people’s privacy rights here in Queensland,” he says.

“Queenslanders can also do a range of things every day to protect their privacy from updating privacy settings on devices to reading terms and conditions before downloading new apps, using strong passphrases and multifactor authentication, not oversharing personal information on social media, and talking about privacy tips with friends and family.”

In Queensland the Information Privacy Act 2009 applies to all public sector agencies and bound contract service providers.

Visit the PAW webpage for more information.