11th Oct 2016, 6:20 PM – Representatives National Cancer Screening Register Bill 2016 and another - Consideration in Detail - Penalties for data breach

The majority voted against amendments introduced by Labor MP Catherine King, which means they were unsuccessful.

What were the amendments?

MP King explained her amendments by saying that:

We do not believe that the penalties in this bill or in the government's amendments go far enough.

...

When it comes to the penalties, particularly given that the government signed a contract with a for-profit provider four days before the election, they are miniscule in this bill—$21,000 for a breach of data for a for-profit organisation like Telstra is simply not good enough. So the amendments that we are moving say very clearly that there needs to be higher penalty units within the bill itself and they should not deferred by seeking reparation through the Privacy Act.

We actually think they need to be within this bill itself.

Find out more about the bill

The two bills under discussion are the:

• National Cancer Screening Register Bill 2016
• National Cancer Screening Register (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2016

Together, they create a National Cancer Screening Register. Read more about them in the bills digest.

Motion text

See OpenAustralia for the motion text.