In Australia, there is no constitutional right to privacy and there is no clearly recognised tort of invasion of privacy or similar remedy available to people whose privacy has been violated. Australia regulates data privacy and protection through a mix of federal, state and territory laws.  

At the federal level, the Privacy Act, 1988 (“Privacy Act”) which comprises the Australian Privacy Principles acts as the principal piece of legislation protecting the handling of personal information about individuals. This includes the collection, use, storage and disclosure of personal information in the federal public sector and in the private sector. At the state level, most States and Territories have their own data protection legislations which includes Acts such as the Information Privacy Act 2014 (Australian Capital Territory), Information Act 2002 (Northern Territory), Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (New South Wales) etc. In addition to this, there are other sector specific privacy statutes such as the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth), Surveillance Devices Act, 2004, My Health Records Act, 2012 etc. 

The legal system in Australia is based on a federal structure with courts at the federal level as well as at the state/territory level.  

Australia has three principal federal courts - the High Court of Australia, the Federal Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. The High Court of Australia is the highest court of the land which primarily acts as the final court of appeal. It interprets and applies the law of Australia and decides cases of federal significance including challenges to the constitutional validity of laws. The Federal Court of Australia hears matters on a range of different subject matters such as bankruptcy, taxation and other civil matters. It even hears appeals against decisions by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia as well as state supreme courts’ decisions.  

At the state/territory level, each state and territory has their own laws and court system. The Supreme Court is the highest court within a state/territory.

Although the High Court of Australia in Australian Broadcasting Corporation vs. Lenah Game Meats Pty Ltd (Lenah Game Meats) was open to the formulation of a tort for the breach of privacy, this has not been done at the federal or state level yet.