Data breaches across Queensland's public sector on the rise – ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Data breaches across Queensland’s public sector on the rise  ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Office of the Information Commissioner says some of the breaches were malicious and intentional. The public sector is required to tell the Information Commissioner's Office when there has been an eligible breach. (Blogtrepreneur/flickr.com/(CC BY 2.0)) Queensland's Office of the Information Commissioner received 82 data breach notifications from the public sector last financial year. The independent regulator also received 353 privacy complaints, more than double the previous year. Cybersecurity consultant Luke Irwin says data breaches are massively under-reported. The number of data breaches across Queensland's public sector is increasing, including some deemed malicious and intentional, the state's privacy watchdog says. Queensland's Office of the Information Commissioner's annual report revealed it received a total of 82 data breach notifications last financial year, compared with 53 in the previous year.

The office is an independent privacy regulator tasked with overseeing how government agencies handle personal information. In its latest annual report, Information Commissioner Joanne Kummrow wrote that its services had "reached unprecedented levels" in the last financial year. Most of the data breaches were caused by accident or human error. (Supplied: Unsplash/ Chris Yang) It was the first year of a mandatory data breach notification scheme that began in July 2025. A spokesperson from the office said most data breaches were caused by accident or human error, and most involved unauthorised disclosure.