Data Availability and Transparency Bill 2020: Submission to the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee

PIAC made a submission to the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee in relation to the Data Availability and Transparency Bill 2020. This Bill proposes to introduce a data sharing scheme for the sharing of public sector data held by Commonwealth Government agencies. This submission raises concerns around consent, accountability and oversight in the Bill. In particular, we make recommendations around:

• Consent;
• Specific issues around asylum seeker health records;
• Increasing transparency and accountability;
• Use of data by law enforcement agencies; and
• Civil penalties for data breaches