Privacy Law in Australia: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed or Something Blue?

The statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy came into effect in July 2025. The tort’s introduction provides the possibility of landmark change and could provide individuals with an opportunity to better enforce their privacy interests through the court system. The tort’s introduction could also lead to the development of a much-needed jurisprudence, founded on reasonable expectations of privacy, thus bringing Australia more in line with other common law contemporaries. The tort, however, has not been created in a vacuum and it is therefore important to understand how it is situated with Australia’s broader privacy law history, to consider how it might develop in the future. Our distinguished legal panellists will use the old adage of ‘something old, something new, something borrowed or something blue’ to critically consider Australian privacy law’s history, the tort’s development in response to that history, its international influences, and finally, whether we should be positive or despondent about the tort’s prospects for successful future implementation.

Panellists

· Emeritus Professor Barbara McDonald (University of Sydney Law School) served as Commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission in Sydney heading the Inquiry into Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era in 2013-2014. Legislation largely based on the ALRC recommendations, but with some key differences, came into operation in June 2025. Barbara has written extensively on the law of privacy, confidential information and statutory reform in private law.

· The Hon. Peter Applegarth AM KC was a barrister for 22 years and was retained by media organisations.  He was active in the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties on freedom of speech issues.  From 2008 to 2024 he was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland. In 2020 Peter became a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to law, judiciary and social justice. He teaches media law and is a Ph D candidate on the topic of injunctions to stop the disclosure of private information.  

·  Patrick McCafferty KC is a Brisbane based barrister who practises in media law. Between 2008 and 2011 he was a full-time member of 5RB in London, the leading set of media and communications law barristers where his practice focused upon privacy and libel. 

Moderator

· Professor Mark Burdon (QUT Law) primary research interests are privacy, information privacy law and the regulation of information security. He focuses on the complex privacy issues that arise from the sensorisation of everyday devices and infrastructures, as covered in his book, Digital Data Collection and Information Privacy Law (Cambridge University Press). Previous research examines the privacy issues that arise from smart homes particularly involving domestic violence reporting and commercial uses of smart home sensor data.