Campaign for Fair Privacy Laws

10 October 1997

An invitation to join the Campaign for Fair Privacy Laws

The Campaign for Fair Privacy Laws has been established by concerned consumer organisations, privacy organisations and businesses to campaign for the introduction of effective privacy legislation in Australia. The campaign is an informal alliance of organisations and individuals who believe that privacy protection can best be achieved through the development of a national scheme backed by legislation. Any organisation or individual who believes in this goal can join the campaign - there are no membership fees or formal structure.

The Campaign is simply an alliance of parties who share the same interest - there are no restrictions on what individuals and organisations say or do in their own right.

Members of the Campaign for Fair Privacy Laws believe:

Privacy protection is a vital issue for both consumers and business.
Effective privacy protection can best be achieved by a compulsory national scheme backed by legislation, including enforcement provisions.

The Campaign for Fair Privacy Laws will:

Lobby the Federal Government to develop a national scheme for privacy protection backed by appropriate legislation.
Support, where appropriate, attempts by the Federal Opposition and minor parties to achieve this goal through the political process.
Continue to highlight the inadequacy of present privacy safeguards in Australia.
Press for a meeting to be held with Government representatives at which consumer organisations, privacy organisations and businesses can make a case for national privacy legislation.

Campaign Coordination and Membership List

Tim Dixon, Director of the Australian Privacy Foundation and Chris Connolly from the Australian Privacy Charter Council have been coordinating this campaign to date. They provide a central contact point for information and correspondence, and handle media inquiries. Greg Taylor from Electronic Frontiers Australia maintains the campaign web site: http://www.efa.org.au/Issues/Privacy/

A list of members of the Campaign will be kept by Chris Connolly and will be made available in lobbying and media campaigns. The list will also appear on the campaign web site.

To join the campaign simply complete the attached form and mail or fax it to Chris Connolly at the address shown, or just send an email or call to say you wish to join.

Boycott of the Voluntary Code Process

A number of organisations and individuals have decided to boycott the development of a voluntary privacy code initiated by the Prime Minister. This is a separate issue from the general campaign, and is optional.

Most consumer and privacy organisations have decided to boycott the development of a voluntary code because we believe:

Our involvement may weaken the campaign for legislation.
We do not have the time or resources to commit to a process to develop a code which would not be enforceable.
Consumer and privacy organisations would have no bargaining power in the development of the content of a voluntary code.
A voluntary code would give consumers a false expectation of privacy protection.

International Developments

Both the Campaign for Fair Privacy Laws and the boycott of the voluntary code have attracted international attention. With less than one year to go before the European Union Directive on Data Protection comes into force, there is a growing interest in the position of the various parties in Australia in relation to privacy protection.

Australia's privacy protection measures will be under international scrutiny, and this campaign will be publicised in the international press, on the Internet and through Privacy International. The situation in Australia has already been the subject of media reports in the UK, France, Germany, the USA, Canada, New Zealand, China and Japan.

Any Questions?

Please contact us to discuss any issue relating to the campaign or the boycott. Whether you are a supporter or an opponent of privacy legislation, we are keen to hear from you.

Chris Connolly	Tim Dixon
Member	Director
Australian Privacy Charter Council	Australian Privacy Foundation

YES I would like to join the Campaign for Fair Privacy Laws

Name:		_____________________________________

Title:		_____________________________________

Organisation:	_____________________________________

Address:	_____________________________________

		_____________________________________


Tel _________________	Fax _____________  email _______________________

I am joining the campaign as an individual	
My organisation is joining the campaign		  (you can tick both!)


(Optional)

YES I will be boycotting the development of a voluntary privacy code  

As an individual   			As an organisation   

The boycott involves not participating in the development of the national
voluntary privacy code being undertaken (at the direction of the Prime
Minister) by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. The boycott will end
if the word 'voluntary' is removed from the process and replaced with a
commitment to legislation or co-regulation. 


Send completed forms to:

Chris Connolly
Campaign for Fair Privacy Laws
GPO Box 846
Sydney  NSW  2001

You can also join by telephone, fax or email:

Tel		(02) 9262 4237
Fax		(02) 9262 4151
Email           chrisc@socialchange.net.au