More than 30 per cent of respondents to the survey said that plans by the Federal Government to introduce strict privacy rules will be the biggest challenge to their legal team this year.

Harsh penalties

According to Lawyers Weekly the reforms will have a major impact, consolidating existing rules while installing a new credit reporting regime and granting the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner additional powers.
Harsher penalties also widened the eyes of many Australian in-house teams, with fines of up to AU$1.1 million for serious and repeated privacy breaches coming to play.

Additional powers

‘The size of the penalties ... is a compelling reason for the legal profession to pay close attention [to privacy],’ commented Tony de Govrik, Legal Affairs & Communications Director of the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association. ‘Anywhere the regulator is seen to be given additional powers is an indicator that the Government is fairly focused on that particular area.’
The privacy bill was passed last year and will come into force in March 2014.
Other issues highlighted by the survey included crisis management, mergers and acquisitions, changes to contract laws and workplace/employment regulations.