Response to Question on Notice: Identity Verification Services Bill 2023
The Law Council of Australia appreciates the opportunity to have appeared before the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on 30 October 2023 in relation to the Identity Verification Services Bill 2023 (IVS Bill) and the Identity Verification Services (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2023. In the course of the public hearing, the Deputy Chair of the Committee, Senator Scarr, asked that the Law Council take on notice the question of what should be included in the IVS Bill as a ‘bare minimum’ in relation to additional privacy protections.1
As noted by several contributors to the inquiry, the preferred approach to addressing identified issues within the reform proposal is to ensure that the privacy frameworks underpinning the rights and obligations in the IVS Bill are adequate.
Ideally, reforms to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) that have been agreed, or agreed in principle, by the Australian Government will be implemented prior to the IVS Bill coming into effect. Such an approach would alleviate many of the concerns raised about the IVS Bill, including the undesirability of a fragmented approach to privacy and data reform.
Read the full submission below.
1 Commonwealth, Proof Committee Hansard, Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee (30 October 2023), 21.
Last Updated on 26/11/2024