This Privacy Awareness Week, trust is measured by how organisations handle privacy complaints.
The national campaign calls on government agencies and Australian Privacy Principle (APP) entities to lift the standard of privacy complaint handling and dispute resolution, placing accountability and outcomes at the centre of good privacy practice.
From privacy awareness to real-world action
Commentary from Holding Redlich General Counsel Lyn Nicholson highlights that trust is built through action, not intention.
“This year’s Privacy Awareness Week theme, ‘Trust is built here: In every privacy complaint. In every resolution’, is a timely reminder that trust is strengthened through how organisations handle and resolve privacy complaints in practice, not just in policy,” Nicholson said.
She emphasised that policies alone are insufficient without operational follow-through, noting that “policies must be supported by robust systems and staff training so that privacy policies are operationalised”.
Regulatory expectations are rising
At the launch of Privacy Awareness Week, Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind confirmed that “surveys show privacy awareness is already high”. The challenge, she said, is “turning that awareness into actions and outcomes that benefit individuals and their privacy”.
The Commissioner pointed to recent regulatory decisions reinforcing that privacy compliance requires genuine effort. She noted that a key outcome of the Bunnings facial recognition technology decision is that “a detailed Privacy Impact Assessment for new technologies isn’t an optional extra, but a baseline requirement for privacy compliance”.
She also referenced the Federal Court’s decision in Australian Clinical Labs, confirming that “keeping personal information secure requires genuine investment by organisations”.
Read also: Governments urged to act on AI standards to protect student learning and cognition
As privacy complaints become more complex, expectations for timely and transparent responses are increasing. The Commissioner has flagged that complaint handling falls within the remit of APP 1 and that UK guidance “could well be adopted here”. With privacy risk intersecting more frequently with other regulatory regimes, complaint handling may carry consequences well beyond the Privacy Act.
Trust, communications and customer experience
Writing in her role as Director, Head of Government, Policy and Regulatory Affairs, APJ at Twilio, Natasha Slater said trust is often shaped in a single interaction.
“Trust is often won or lost in a single customer message,” Slater said. “If consumers cannot immediately recognise who is speaking to them or why a message was sent, they will not engage and lose confidence before the conversation begins.”
She added that “data privacy and customer experience are now inseparable”, with protecting personal information no longer just a regulatory requirement, but central to credibility.
Twilio research shows Australian consumers see clear benefits in AI-driven engagement, but transparency remains critical. “When identity, intent and data practices aren’t transparent, confidence erodes quickly,” Slater said.
As privacy reforms continue to be considered in Australia, organisations that demonstrate consistent, well-governed complaint handling will be better placed to maintain public trust — one resolution at a time.
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