PIAC’s submission to the NSW Law & Justice Committee Privacy Inquiry

This submission responds to the inquiry being undertaken by the Law & Justice Committee regarding remedies for serious invasions of privacy in NSW. Building on previous submissions to the Australian Law Reform Commission and NSW Law Reform Commission, PIAC argues in this submission that there is a clear need for a statutory cause of action for invasion of privacy and sets out in detail what the elements of that cause of action should be. PIAC notes that a new cause of action has now been recommended by the ALRC, NSW LRC and the Victorian Law Reform Commission. PIAC also submits that victims of criminal invasion of privacy should find protection in the criminal law. To that end, PIAC recommends an amendment to current offences or the creation of a new criminal offence to address an invasion of privacy whereby intimate photos or videos are distributed with malicious intent and without the consent of the subject.