The WA Government provides a range of services and programs aimed at improving the quality of life for Western Australians. In order to deliver these, we collect and hold information about Western Australians.
The Privacy and Responsible Information Sharing Act 2024 (PRIS Act) aims to protect the personal information of Western Australians and facilitate the responsible sharing of government information. The PRIS Act will provide Western Australians with greater control over their personal information and improve the delivery of government services. This legislation will enable information to be shared within government for the right reasons and provide greater accountability and transparency about how government handles your personal information.
Alongside the PRIS Act is the Information Commissioner Act 2024 (IC Act), which together will establish new officeholders, the Information Commissioner, Privacy Deputy Commissioner, Information Access Deputy Commissioner and Chief Data Officer. The Information Commissioner and Privacy Deputy Commissioner will be independent statutory officeholders, reporting directly to Parliament and having responsibility for privacy matters in WA. The Chief Data Officer will promote a culture of transparency, accountability, and safe use for government information.
Broadly, the legislation will introduce reforms that provide:
- guiding privacy principles and a framework to govern the collection, use, disclosure and security of personal information across the public sector;
- a mandatory information breach notification scheme, requiring agencies to notify the Information Commissioner and affected individuals of serious information breaches involving personal information;
- a statutory mechanism for WA public sector agencies to share information only when adhering to new stringent standards for risk assessment, decision making, governance and transparency; and
- a mechanism that supports Aboriginal data governance in WA, by requiring that Aboriginal people and communities are involved or consulted when government information that primarily affects Aboriginal people is shared.
Your views are important
The Government recognises that privacy is important to all Western Australians and has undertaken extensive consultation to listen to peoples’ views on the best privacy and information sharing arrangements for WA.
In 2019 the WA Government held extensive consultation targeting the public, community groups community service organisations, health researchers, privacy experts, Aboriginal people and representative organisations and industry. Find out more on what we heard during our first consultation period in the Privacy and Responsible Information Consultation Summary Report.
A second consultation period was held, engaging a wide range of government agencies to finalise the privacy and responsible sharing model. This process was extended by the significant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and is now closed.
Thank you to all those who contributed via a formal submission, comments through our online portal or attending an information session. Your feedback is essential in helping us understand the WA community’s thoughts on privacy protection and information sharing within the public sector and authorised third parties.
