Australian community privacy survey shows businesses where opportunities lie
Australian community privacy survey shows businesses where opportunities lie
https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/analysis/australian-community-privacy-survey
Publish Date: 2026-07-01 07:26:00
Source Domain: www.pinsentmasons.com
For businesses, the latest Australian community attitudes to privacy survey (ACAPS), which, every three years, tracks Australians’ attitudes to privacy, experiences of privacy risks and misuse of personal information, and expectations of organisations and government, provides an insight into where concerns lie and where there are advantages to be derived if they can address them.
Below, we review the survey’s main findings against core APP obligations and consider how these community expectations can inform a compliance approach that enhances opportunity and future proofs risk.
What ACAPS 2026 reveals about community attitudes
Almost nine in 10 Australians (87%) say they are more concerned about their privacy than they were five years ago. Yet that growing concern is not matched by a corresponding sense of control. Only 20% report feeling in control of their personal information, down from 32% in 2023, and just a quarter believe that most organisations are transparent about how personal information is used, itself a striking fall from 42% in 2023. Overall, the biggest privacy risk concerns identified by Australians in ACAPS 2026 include:
- data breaches (82%, up from 74% in 2023);
- organisations not storing personal information securely (77%, up from 60% in 2023);
- scammers attempting to access personal information (75%, up from 71% in 2023);
- organisations sending information overseas (70%, up from 50% in 2023); and
- concern about AI systems using personal information (69%, up from 43% in 2023).
What this tells us, in short, is that Australians are increasingly aware of privacy risks, and increasingly resigned to being unable to do much about them. The gap between what Australians expect of organisations and what they actually experience is widening. For organisations, these shifting community attitudes are increasingly consequential, shaping not only the reputational risk of maintaining trust but…
