Privacy Awareness Week 2025
Queensland celebrated Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) from 16-22 June 2025. This year’s theme was ‘Privacy: it’s everyone’s business’.
PAW shines a light on the importance of protecting and respecting personal information, both from the perspective of agencies and the community.
Georgina Poole (author, researcher, podcast host and Human and Organisational Performance (HOP) advocate) delivered the keynote presentation titled, 'Learning from Data Incidents: What Safety Can Teach Us About Privacy'.
Human error is widely acknowledged as a leading contributor to data breaches — yet our response often focuses on individual accountability rather than understanding and improving the systems people work within.
Ms Poole’s keynote explored how principles from HOP and Safety Differently could help government agencies better understand and respond to privacy breaches. Rather than focusing on individual blame, the session highlighted how system design, context, and everyday pressures shape human behaviour.
She offered practical strategies to shift from a compliance mindset to a learning culture that treats privacy as a shared responsibility.
The keynote was followed by an expert panel discussion moderated by emcee and journalist, Ms Kim Skubris and featuring:
- Leanne Harvey, Vice-President (Administration) and University Registrar, Queensland University of Technology
- Dr Jodie Siganto, Director, Privacy 108
- Kathy Sundstrom, National Manager Outreach and Engagement, IDCare
- Susan Shanley, Acting Privacy Commissioner, Queensland.
The launch event also included opening remarks from Acting Information Commissioner Stephanie Winson.