Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) is being celebrated around the country from 16-22 June 2025 and Queensland’s Acting Privacy Commissioner says PAW is the perfect time for a refresher in privacy rights and responsibilities, whether you are an individual or someone who works in the Queensland public sector.
This year’s theme is ‘Privacy: it’s everyone’s business’. It highlights that both the community and public sector (from the top to the bottom) must take privacy seriously. After all, it’s everyone’s business.
Acting Privacy Commissioner, Ms Susan Shanley, said: “Every year Queenslanders are becoming more aware of their privacy and the value of their personal information, given the digital world we live in. The community is also expecting agencies to be doing everything they can to protect their personal information.”
Queensland’s PAW launch event will be held at The Edge, State Library of Queensland tomorrow (Tuesday 17 June) featuring a keynote presentation and expert panel discussion.
This year’s keynote speaker is Georgina Poole (author, researcher, podcast host and Human and Organisational Performance (HOP) advocate). Georgina’s presentation is titled ‘Learning from data incidents: what safety can teach us about privacy’.
Her presentation will offer practical strategies to shift from a compliance mindset to a learning culture that treats privacy as a shared responsibility in the workplace. It is a highly relevant topic for Queensland public sector agencies, particularly with the mandatory notification of data breach scheme (MNDB) starting on 1 July 2025 for most agencies.
The PAW launch event is free to attend in-person or watch via livestream.
“Even though we live in a digital world, Queenslanders need to understand that we still have rights when it comes to how information about us is collected, used and handled,” Ms Shanley said.
The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) is calling on Queensland’s public sector agencies to show their support for PAW 2025, acknowledge their privacy responsibilities under the Information Privacy Act 2009, and embed a ‘privacy aware’ culture in their agencies that puts protecting personal information top of mind.
“From 1 July 2025, Queensland is entering an exciting new era when it comes to privacy, so it’s important for public sector agencies to be on the front foot. The IPOLA Act (Information Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023) will improve transparency and accountability of agencies and strengthen privacy protections for individuals.
“OIC has been working alongside agencies over the past year to help them prepare for these reforms, from training programs to updating policies, systems and procedures to comply with the incoming MNDB scheme.
“It’s an exciting time for privacy in Queensland and we hope the community and agencies get on-board and support PAW 2025. We have a range of tips for the community on our website to help them better protect their personal information, and we have a wide range of resources for agencies to strengthen and build on their privacy culture at work,” Ms Shanley said.
For more information about Privacy Awareness Week including tips, resources and the Queensland launch event (keynote and panel discussion), please visit www.oic.qld.gov.au/paw2025