Australian Privacy Law Handbook   NEW RELEASE

 by Jeremy Douglas-Stewart
 

The Australian Privacy Law Handbook provides a detailed guide to privacy laws and managing privacy and data security risks associated with the collection, use, disclosure and storage of personal information.

The publication provides an all-in-one resource for lawyers and officers responsible for managing privacy within private and public sector entities in federal and State jurisdictions. The text is written in a concise, practical style with a focus on enabling users to develop privacy solutions based on legal requirements and good privacy practices.

Key features

• unique coverage of all sectors, comprising State and federal privacy laws in both private and public sectors;

• guidance on legal requirements and best practice standards;

• topic-based commentary relating to specific activities;

• commentary on applying privacy principles in practice, including:

• Annotated National Privacy Principles (NPPs);

• Annotated Information Privacy Principles (IPPs);

• Annotated Draft Australian Privacy Principles (APPs);

• Annotated Health Privacy Principles (HPPs).

• case summaries of:

• Commissioner and Federal Court cases applying the NPPs and IPPs;

• key cases from State jurisdictions applying State privacy principles;

• data security section for managing data security risks;

• cataloguing under relevant topics of resources published by federal, State and overseas privacy commissioners;

• practical guidance on developing privacy solutions;

• compliance checklists, sample policies and template forms;

• issue of Australian Privacy Law Bulletin with each update.

Key contents

• Privacy laws - The publication provides a detailed guide to privacy laws affecting private and public sector entities. Areas covered include: 

• information privacy;

• workplace surveillance;

• direct marketing;

• listening and surveillance devices;

• health records;

• tax file numbers;

• credit reporting;

• spent convictions;

• telecommunications;

• international privacy directives, guidelines and standards;

• duties of confidence;

• common law tort of invasion of privacy.

The text contains in-depth commentary on the operation of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). It also contains detailed guides and compliance manuals for the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) and the Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 (NSW).

• Topics - Topic-based commentary addresses privacy risks associated with specific activities and provides guidance on developing privacy solutions. It includes practical tools, such as compliance checklists, sample policies and template forms. Topics covered include:  

• outsourcing;

• direct marketing;

• data security;

• responding to an investigation;

• workplace privacy;

• job applicants and recruitment;

• data sharing within corporate groups;

• video surveillance;

• newsletters and photographs;

• children and parents;

• cloud computing;

• websites;

• biometrics;

• social networking;

• public registries;

• privacy audits;

• privacy impact assessments;

• privacy compliance plans;

• privacy collection notices;

• privacy policies;

• privacy consents;

• complaint handling;

• industry specific FAQs. 

• Annotated Privacy Principles - The text provides detailed guidance on applying Privacy Principles, containing Annotated NPPs, Annotated IPPs, Annotated Draft APPs and Annotated HPPs. Annotations provide commentary on concepts and terms, how principles are interpreted by commissioners and illustrative case summaries.

• Data security - A data security section provides guidance on managing data security risks associated with storing and handling personal information in hardcopy and electronic formats. It contains commentary on and checklists for reviewing key areas of risk in information management systems and implementing security measures. Chapters address:

• data security risks;

• physical, technical and procedural security controls;

• what constitutes reasonable security measures;

• data security standards;

• portable storage devices;

• working remotely;

• contractors;

• incident management;

• breach notification;

• data destruction.

• Commissioner information resource listings - As regulator guidelines are highly relevant to the application of privacy principles and the development of good privacy practices, the publication monitors resources published by the federal, State (NSW, NT, QLD, VIC) and key overseas privacy commissioners and catalogues them under “Related materials” boxes under relevant chapters, providing comprehensive listings of guidance materials relating to specific practices.

• Privacy law reforms - A privacy law reforms chapter monitors and provides commentary on federal and State privacy law reforms, enabling users to keep up to date with and prepare for changes. Annotated Draft APPs provide detailed analysis of the scope and impact of the proposed principles.

Updates and privacy bulletins

The service is updated three times per year.

Each update is accompanied by an electronic Australian Privacy Law Bulletin providing an overview of privacy developments and commentary added to the service.

About the author

Jeremy Douglas-Stewart is Principal Consultant at Privacy Law Consulting Australia and specialises in advising and training businesses and government agencies on privacy laws and good information management practices. Jeremy has published extensively in the field of privacy laws. Jeremy was a member of the Privacy Commissioner's Consultative Group during the review of the Privacy Act in 2004/05 and of the Australian Law Reform Commission's Privacy Principles Roundtable in 2007.

Table of contents

* Price is for an annual subscription which includes 3 updates and 3 update bulletins. Online price is for a single user licence; POA for multi-user/site licences. Prices subject to change.

ISBNs
looseleaf - 9780980761115
online - 9780980761122