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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2086 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

Is the Government's response to the Estimates Committee an indication to this Assembly that you are basically kowtowing to Mr Howard, who requested Premiers and Chief Ministers not to introduce privacy legislation within their own jurisdictions?

MR HUMPHRIES: I think in many ways the question that Ms Tucker has asked has been answered by the Government's response to the Estimates Committee report. I have indicated already in this place, quite clearly, that I would have preferred there to be a regime in place, either nationally or locally, whereby we could have proceeded to introduce elements of privacy legislation into the private sector. I made it clear before that that is what I would prefer to have seen, but I also - - -

Ms Tucker: We would all prefer that.

MR HUMPHRIES: Indeed, yes.

Ms Tucker: But we do not have it, so what are you going to do?

MR HUMPHRIES: I realise that. If I can get onto the other part of the answer you will hear what I am saying about that. I think it would be desirable to have that kind of regime, but bear in mind that the Territory does not have any privacy legislation whatsoever. We have none.

Ms Tucker: You are introducing medical records now.

MR SPEAKER: Order, Ms Tucker! You asked your question.

MR HUMPHRIES: We have no privacy legislation. We have a Federal Privacy Act which applies in the ACT and that is the basis on which we have implemented privacy provisions and enforced them in the ACT. I have not explored this in detail, but my advice at this point is that it is very difficult for us to build on Federal legislation to create a regime for the private sector if the Federal legislation does not already do that. There would be a need for us to go back, presumably, and completely restructure the privacy regime, both public and private, to be able to achieve the kind of extension into the private sector that Ms Tucker is calling for.

Mr Speaker, the decision was made at the Federal level that the creation of major privacy legislation for the private sector would be a large impost on business. We can debate whether that is the case or it is not. I am not kowtowing to the Federal Liberal Government by saying that I see that it is difficult for us to operate differently in the ACT when we have no privacy legislation of our own, but rely upon the Federal legislation to provide for privacy principles in the ACT. Indeed, I am not sure, Mr Speaker, whether there is the capacity for the ACT to legislate in this area, in respect of privacy. I do not know what the situation is as far as reservation of powers to the Commonwealth might be. Certainly, my advice has been that it would be difficult to take on the issue of privacy legislation for the private sector if the ACT were acting effectively alone in that respect.

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