In 2025, the Australian Parliament introduced a new statutory tort under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) enabling individuals to sue for serious invasions of privacy. The new tort will provide greater protection of individual privacy under Australian law and bring Australian law closer to that in other jurisdictions​.

This paper explains and contextualises the operation of the new statutory tort for invasions of privacy. It explains the different dimensions of privacy, outlines the limits of existing common law and statutory protections, and presents the new tort’s elements, defences, remedies and exemptions. 

The paper analyses the extent to which the new action provides relief for breaches of an individual’s privacy, examining remedies under existing laws and the new tort. It considers how the new tort may apply to current privacy challenges such as data breaches, facial recognition and artificial intelligence (AI) deepfakes, highlighting areas where further protection may be required.

Key points

• The concept of privacy is multifaceted and encompasses personal privacy, information privacy and communication privacy.
• The new tort is specifically targeted at serious and deliberate misuse of private information or intrusion into an individual’s seclusion, in situations where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy and where there is no countervailing public interest to justify the conduct.
• E​xemptions for journalists engaged in collecting and publishing news and current affairs reduce the protection that the new law provides for individuals. 
• New technologies have enabled new ways for privacy to be invaded. While previous laws and the new tort may remedy some of this conduct, lawmakers may also consider specifically targeted new laws. ​