Australia: Announced Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022 increasing penalties for data breaches

On 22 October 2022, the Government of Australia announced that it will introduce the “Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022” (Bill), which would increase penalties for repeated or serious privacy breaches, in Parliament. The Bill would increase the maximum penalty for serious or repeated data privacy breaches from AUD 2.22 million, under current legislation, to AUD 50 million or three times the value of benefits obtained by the misuse of information or 30% of the company's turnover. The penalty amount will be determined based on which of the three is the highest. The Bill would also provide the Australian privacy authorities with greater powers to resolve privacy breaches and would increase their information-sharing capabilities. The Bill is being introduced as an amendment to the Privacy Act 1988.