Comments were also made with regard the Disasters Act and the Commonwealth Government’s review of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and Australian Privacy Principles at the time. On 27 November 2013, the Emergency Management Act 2013 was enacted. That Act, among other things, repealed the Disasters Act and introduced a new category of emergency events referred to as situation”. The enactment of this “emergency legislation has been taken into account in preparing this report. On 12 March 2014, the Commonwealth Government enacted changes to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) including introducing a new set of Australian Privacy Principles. The comments relating to the legislative changes made by the Commonwealth Government have not been progressed as they are beyond the scope of this Report. The IPPs, set out in Schedule 2 of the Information Act, establish the rules for the reasonable handling of personal information by public sector organisations (refer Appendix A). They provide for the exchange of some information in emergency situations. It is not clear that they permit the large exchange of necessary information in all emergency situations. Current Provisions of the Information Act that the IPPs There are limited exceptions in the Information Act that provide for the nonapplication of the IPPs. Section 70 Section 70 of the Information Act provides that a law enforcement agency is not required to comply with an IPP if it believes that non-compliance is necessary for one of its law enforcement functions. functions include (but are not limited to) locating missing persons and next of kin and providing services in emergency and disaster situations. A enforcement agency’ is defined in section 4 of the Information Act and includes ‘law the Police Force of the Northern Territory; the police force of the Commonwealth or of a State or another Territory of the Commonwealth; or the Australian Crime Commission. It also includes a body established under a law of the Territory, of the Commonwealth, or of a State or another Territory of the Commonwealth, that performs one or more of the following functions: preventing, detecting, investigating, prosecuting or punishing the commission of offences; managing property seized or restrained under a law relating to the confiscation of the proceeds of crime or the enforcement of such a law or of a decision, direction, order or other requirement under such a law; protecting public revenue; or executing or implementing a decision, direction, or other requirement of a court or tribunal, including executing warrants.
Comments were also made with regard the Disasters Act and the Commonwealth Government’s review of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and Australian Privacy Principles at the time. On 27 November 2013, the Emergency Management Act 2013 was enacted. That Act, among other things, repealed the Disasters Act and introduced a new category of emergency events referred to as “emergency situation”. The enactment of this legislation has been taken into account in preparing this report. On 12 March 2014, the Commonwealth Government enacted changes to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) including introducing a new set of Australian Privacy Principles. The comments relating to the legislative changes made by the Commonwealth Government have not been progressed as they are beyond the scope of this Report. The IPPs, set out in Schedule 2 of the Information Act, establish the rules for the reasonable handling of personal information by public sector organisations (refer Appendix A). They provide for the exchange of some information in emergency situations. It is not clear that they permit the large exchange of necessary information in all emergency situations. Current Provisions of the Information Act that the IPPs There are limited exceptions in the Information Act that provide for the nonapplication of the IPPs. Section 70 Section 70 of the Information Act provides that a law enforcement agency is not required to comply with an IPP if it believes that non-compliance is necessary for one of its law enforcement functions. functions include (but are not limited to) locating missing persons and next of kin and providing services in emergency and disaster situations. A ‘law enforcement agency’ is defined in section 4 of the Information Act and includes the Police Force of the Northern Territory; the police force of the Commonwealth or of a State or another Territory of the Commonwealth; or the Australian Crime Commission. It also includes a body established under a law of the Territory, of the Commonwealth, or of a State or another Territory of the Commonwealth, that performs one or more of the following functions: preventing, detecting, investigating, prosecuting or punishing the commission of offences; managing property seized or restrained under a law relating to the confiscation of the proceeds of crime or the enforcement of such a law or of a decision, direction, order or other requirement under such a law; protecting public revenue; or executing or implementing a decision, direction, or other requirement of a court or tribunal, including executing warrants.
Sharing-of-Personal-Information-in-the-event-of-Disasters-inside-or-out-of-the-Northern-Territory.docx