Public debate intensifies over planned privacy law reforms

The Home Affairs Minister, Brendan O'Connor, has confirmed that the Government will purse the enactment of the tort of breach of privacy, but will keep the public interest defence that was rejected by the Australian Law Reform Commission ('ALRC') in 2008.

There have been concerns that these proposed reforms will infringe upon freedom of speech and freedom of the media.

The reforms have been sparked by the phone hacking scandal in the United Kingdom and the Greens are confident that a media inquiry will go ahead concurrently with the proposed privacy law reforms.

Subscribers to our LawOne and Law Tracker products will be able to follow proposed legislation as it passes into law.

Not a subscriber? then make it easy to track Australian legislation relevant to your area of legal expertise by becoming a subscriber. Contact us for full pricing information or to trial the service free for a limited time.