The Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 (‘the Act’) came into force on 21 December 2001. Implementation of the Act represented the most significant Australian development in the area of privacy since the passage of the Privacy Act in 1988.

In May 2001 CSA ran its third Rapid Response Survey, to find out how prepared Australian companies were for the Act’s introduction. With its implementation now over a month behind us, CSA again canvassed members — to see if views have changed and to gauge the method of implementation.

1. Now that the Privacy Act has come into effect, do you believe there was sufficient time to prepare your company’s database of clients/customers for the new obligations under the Act?

Yes 77%
No 23%

1a. Are you experiencing any difficulties in complying with the Act?

Yes 12%
No 88%

1b. In your view does the Act require fine tuning?

Yes 31%
No 69%

2. Did your organisation implement the Act by adhering to the National Privacy Principles (NPP’s) in the Act or did your organisation develop its own privacy codes?

NPP 88%
Own 12%

3. Did your company appoint the Company Secretary as the Privacy Officer?

Company Secretary     62%
Compliance Officer       15%
Other                          23%

4. Do you believe that ongoing compliance with the Act will place an unnecessary burden on your company?

Yes 8%
No 92%

Tim Sheehy
CHIEF EXECUTIVE