Medibank

• Releasing the OAIC’s annual report for 2022–23, Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk said the volatile events of the financial year had underscored the need for the regulator to have the right foundations in place to promote and protect information access and privacy rights.
• “Throughout the year, the OAIC has continued to develop and advocate for these foundations to support a proportionate and proactive approach to regulation.
• This includes appropriate laws, resources, capability – the right people with the right tools – effective engagement with risk, appropriate governance and, importantly, collaboration,” Commissioner Falk said.
• Investigations were also opened into the personal information handling practices of retailers Bunnings and Kmart, focusing on the companies’ use of facial recognition technology.
• “The OAIC has a strong foundation on which to build, and it will move from strength to strength with the leadership of 3 expert commissioners.”
  Read the
  OAIC Annual report 2022–23.

Key 2022–23 statistics

Footnotes

[1] During 2022-23, the OAIC ceased classifying certain communications about FOI as ‘enquiries’ where these are more complex, or require a specific response, and are therefore dealt with by the FOI Branch instead of the OAIC’s enquiries team. This has reduced the numbers of FOI enquiries reported this financial year.

• "One part of that approach should be strengthening internal controls and ensuring that digital fraud prevention is built into finance processes."
• To help businesses strengthen those controls, Eftsure has released a comprehensive guide for finance leaders.
• The Financial Controls Guide walks through a collaborative, multi-functional approach for assessing, upgrading and correcting an organisation's financial processes.
• As owners of these processes, Chazan says that Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are in the best position to drive stronger anti-fraud controls.

• Most of the payments were for small amounts (less than A$5,000) and were not flagged by the ATO’s own monitoring systems.
• The fraudsters exploited a weakness in the identification system used by the myGov online portal to redirect other people’s tax refunds to their own bank accounts.

How these scams work

• Setting up a myGov account or a myGov ID requires proof of identity in the form of “100 points of ID”.
• It usually means either a passport and a driver’s licence or a driver’s licence, a Medicare card, and a bank statement.
• Once a myGov account is created, linking it to your tax records requires two of the following: an ATO assessment, bank account details, a payslip, a Centrelink payment, or a super account.

How government can improve

• This ensures salaries, tax and superannuation contributions are all paid at once.
• Most people who have received a tax refund will have provided bank account details where that payment can be made.
• Indeed, many people use precisely those bank account details to identify themselves to myGov.
• If the ATO simply checked with the individual via another channel when bank account details are changed, this fraud could be prevented.

Protecting yourself

• As long as the ATO only has your bank account number to transfer your tax rebate, this scam does not work.
• It also helps to protect your Tax File Number.
• There are only four groups that ever need this number.
• Most importantly, know your bank will not send you emails containing links, nor will the ATO.

• The adoption of privacy management software among large enterprises has been significant, driven by several factors related to regulatory compliance, data protection, risk management, and organizational efficiency.
• The adoption of privacy management software among large enterprises has been significant, driven by several factors related to regulatory compliance, data protection, risk management, and organizational efficiency.
• Privacy management software offers numerous benefits for large enterprises as they navigate complex regulatory landscapes, handle vast amounts of data, and manage privacy risks across their organizations.
• Privacy Management Software Market Advantages:
  Organisations can establish effective data protection procedures thanks to privacy management software.