Introduction

The Attorney General’s Department (AGD) is currently reviewing the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). As part of the review, AGD has released an Issues Paper and a subsequent Discussion Paper. This submission forms the ACTU’s response to the Discussion Paper.

Our submission’s area of focus is on workers’ rights, and the protection of worker’s rights to privacy in particular.

Our submission is summarised as follows:

1. Individuals should, but do not, enjoy similar privacy protections as workers as they do in other contexts as individuals.
2. Privacy should not be (and should not be able to be) used as a means to seek to deny freedom of association, the rights to organise and other workplace rights.