Australia will reintroduce a separate privacy commissioner

The Australian government is planning to reintroduce a dedicated privacy commissioner, removing the role from Australian Information Commissioner Angelene Falk. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus confirmed that Falk would act as privacy commissioner until a new appointment was made, after which she would continue as information commissioner and head of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). Timothy Pilgrim was the last person to hold the role, but it was later combined with the information commissioner position by the previous government. Dreyfus said that the digital age necessitated a standalone privacy commissioner to protect personal information from the growing threats to data security and complexity of privacy issues. The OAIC will have a three-commissioner model consisting of a privacy commissioner, information commissioner, and freedom of information commissioner, with Falk as the overarching commissioner.