Publication
Challenges to the validity of local council levies
The way that local councils issue special levies, and deal with errors made in the passing of those levies, has come under spotlight in the recent High Court of Australia decision.
Author:
Australia | Publication | October 2022
On 26 October 2022, the federal government tabled the Privacy Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill proposing to significantly increase penalties for privacy breaches, among other reforms.
Introduced into parliament after several high profile breaches, the bill introduces four major reforms:
While the headline act of the Bill is the increased penalty regime, some of the expanded powers are worth reviewing, in particular the new information gathering, assessment and public notification powers to be granted to the Commissioner that may result in unintended consequences, particularly where an entity is in the process of handling a breach.
The increase in penalties has been the most commented on aspect of the reforms. The Bill proposes corporate bodies that commit serious or repeated interferences with the privacy of an individual now face penalties that are the greater of:
The Bill was read a second time on 26 October 2022 and then was referred to a Senate Committee for review. The public comment period closes on 7 November 2022. Should you wish to make any submissions, we would be happy to assist.
The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee will deliver its report on 22 November 2022. Depending upon the content of the report, the government may make additional amendments to the bill, following which it will continue its legislative journey.
Organisations should consider their privacy and data protection activities in light of the current climate and new laws coming into force. In this article we suggest some key questions to ask to begin that process.
Publication
The way that local councils issue special levies, and deal with errors made in the passing of those levies, has come under spotlight in the recent High Court of Australia decision.
Publication
On 22 February 2024, Belgium became the EU frontrunner in the fight against ecocides by being the first EU member state to criminalise ecocide, in the new Belgian Criminal Code.
Publication
The Pensions Regulator’s General Code has arrived and will apply from March 27, 2024. In this briefing, we take a step back from the detail. We set out why the General Code really matters and how pension scheme trustees can best make it work for them.
Subscribe and stay up to date with the latest legal news, information and events . . .
© Norton Rose Fulbright LLP 2023