The lack of privacy legislation in Western Australia means there are inadequate protections for people’s rights to privacy. It also means WA is missing out on opportunities to participate in important research programs, which arise from the sharing of data across jurisdictions.
Without privacy legislation, WA cannot grow its participation in world class medical and health research. The WA Chief Scientist has found evidence that other countries are, unfortunately but understandably, hesitant to share data with WA, placing us at a competitive disadvantage. Research is increasingly required to comply with the European Union’s general data protection regulation, therefore passing privacy legislation in WA is vital to ensuring we can compete with and collaborate in research on an equal footing with other countries.
WA is lagging behind other states in this area. Alison will continue to raise the issue in Parliament.
