Where the Privacy Commissioner had been unable to secure a settlement, or he or she considered that the matter raised public interest concerns, or was not suitable for settlement, the complainant would be able to commence proceedings in the Federal Court. Any Federal Court action would not involve a review of the Commissioner's assessment or enforce any settlement agreed to, but would consider the matter afresh. The Federal Court would be able to order individuals and organisations to pay compensation or to refrain from acts which would constitute a breach of the information privacy principles or a code of practice. There would also be provision for significant civil penalties where there had been unauthorised disclosure of personal information for profit or where personal information had been obtained by false pretenses. Other privacy intrusions While personal information is usually at the core of privacy concerns, community concerns about privacy are not limited to personal information.
Physical intrusion is also of concern.
Optical surveillance, for example, has attracted considerable attention, as has the intrusiveness of some telemarketing practices. To address these concerns, in addition to the protections afforded to personal information under this regime, the Privacy Commissioner would have the power to prepare and publish guidelines for the avoidance of acts and practices that might have other adverse effects on the privacy of individuals. This would mean that the Privacy Commissioner would be able to issue guidelines regarding matters such as telemarketing and optical surveillance, even where no record of personal information was involved. I would envisage that the Privacy Commissioner would be able to receive complaints about breaches of these guidelines, investigate them and, where appropriate make recommendations to resolve the complaints. A complainant would not, however, be able to bring proceedings in the Federal Court regarding these matters.