The Privacy (Private Sector) Amendment Regulations 2007 (Cth) will come into force on 1 December 2007. The primary purpose of the new regulations is to bring small businesses, which operate a residential tenancy database and which undertake certain related acts and practices, into the scope of the term 'organisation' for the purposes of the Privacy Act.
The effect of this amendment is that a small business operator of a residential tenancy database (RTD), who collects, maintains, uses or discloses personal information is required to comply with the Act, in particular to the National Privacy Principles (NPPs). This amendment removes any uncertainty about the application of the NPPs to RTD operators.
Public concern over the use of RTDs led to the establishment of a joint Standing Committee of Attorneys-General and Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs Working Party. The Working Party in its Report on Residential Tenancy Databases (Working Party report) recommended that the Commonwealth extend the application of the Act to RTDs. This recommendation followed a similar proposal made by the Privacy Commissioner in her report 'Getting in on the Act: The Review of the Private Sector Provisions of the Privacy Act 1988.'
The explanatory statement provides that the new regulations are 'justifiable', given that RTD operators deal with a lot of personal information about tenants, receive a significant number of complaints and the consequences of error, inaccuracy or compromise of the personal information can lead to significant difficulties for tenants securing access to rental accommodation.
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