Australia

ULUU wants to solve the plastic crisis with seaweed • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 15, 2022Posted in Australia, Climate, environment, green tech, plastic alternative, plastics, ULUUNo Comments

ULUU believes the solution to the plastic crisis lies in the world’s oceans. The Australian startup uses seaweed to create a plastic alternative and is planning to launch its first products in the next 12 to 24 months. Today ULUU announced it has raised $8 million AUD (about $5.3 million USD) led by Main Sequence (the deep-tech fund launched by Australia’s national science agency) with participation from Albert Impact Ventures, Mistletoe and Possible Ventures. Other investors through Main Sequence’s social impact community Voice Capital included Melvin Benn, the managing director of Festival Republi, Nathan McLay, Australian independent music company Future Classic, restauranteur Neil Perry AM, model and philanthropist Karlie Kloss and Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker. ULUU’s compostable polymer, called polhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), is made through a fermentation process that is similar to brewing beer, and enables the company to keep its production process clean. It is made out of seaweed sugars, sea water and salt water microbes and has a durability similar to plastic, but is biodegradable and compostable. ULUU founders Dr. Julia Reisser and Michael Kingsbury Dr. Julia Reisser, who founded ULUU along with Michael Kingsbury, told ZebethMedia that she has a long history with plastics. During her PhD studies, she mapped microplastic pollution within Australian waters and got the idea for ULUU in 2019 while working at Australian businessman Andrew Forrest’s philanthropic organization Minderoo Foundation, analyzing how startups are dealing with plastic pollution. Dr. Reisser researched how startups are created without fossil fuels, but found that alternatives derived from sugar cane or corn (which PHAs can also be created from) have environmental challenges. Kingsbury also worked at Minderoo, where he was introduced to Dr. Reisser while she was looking for someone with a commercial background to help develop ULUU. The startup was launched in 2020 and raised $1.8 million the next year. The latest funding will be used on product development and engineering R&D to scale the production of PHAs. ULUU currently plans to get its pilot plant facility operational in the next 12 months, and start to scale and test products. It can be used in many industries, including fashion, furniture and packaging. ULUU plans to cement partnerships with major consumer brands, and it will pick one or two to work on a pilot project. ULUU will work toward establishing commercial relationships in the fashion sector, with the goal of helping brands develop products that are made with ULUU and are both carbon negative and marine biodegradable. Its investment from industry figures like Kloss and Parker will help them make important connections in the fashion and beauty industry, Kingsbury said. “We’re exploring potential opportunities in sustainable fashion, changing the space one step at a time,” said Kingsbury. “It’s no longer cool to have only the best design and cut when it comes to the clothes we wear—people are starting to care about the materials behind them.” Even though 60% of fibers used in clothes are synthetic, derived from fossil fuels and cause microplastic pollution, Kingsbury noted that many brands are starting to look at more environmentally-friendly alternatives. These include Patagonia, which plans to use only renewable or recycled materials in their products by 2025.

‘We know who you are’ • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 11, 2022Posted in Australia, data breach, hackers, medibank breach, ransomware, SecurityNo Comments

The Australian Federal Police claims to have identified the cybercriminals behind the Medibank ransomware attack, which compromised the personal data of 9.7 million customers. AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said on Friday that the agency knows the identity of the individuals responsible for the attack on Australia’s largest private health insurer. He declined to name the individuals but said the AFP believes that those responsible for the breach are in Russia, though some affiliates may be in other countries. In a tweet, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, whose own Medibank data was stolen, said the AFP knows where the hackers are and are working to bring them to justice. The Australian Federal Police have identified the hackers, revealing they’re located in Russia. We know where they are. And we are working hard to bring them to justice. — Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 11, 2022 Kershaw said that police intelligence points to a “group of loosely affiliated cyber criminals” who are likely responsible for previous significant data breaches around the world, but did not name victims. “These cyber criminals are operating like a business with affiliates and associates who are supporting the business,” he added, pointing to ransomware as a service operation such as LockBit. On Thursday, a dual Russian-Canadian national linked to the LockBit operation was arrested in Canada. The hackers behind the Medibank breach have previously been linked to the high-profile Russian cybercrime gang REvil, also known as Sodinokibi. REvil’s once-defunct dark web leak site now redirects traffic to a new site that hosts the stolen Medibank data, and the hackers behind the breach have also been observed using a variant of REvil’s file-encrypting malware. The Russian Embassy in Canberra was quick to rebuff allegations that the Medibank hackers are based in Russia. “For some reason, this announcement was made before the AFP even contacted the Russian side through the existing professional channels of communication,” the embassy said in a statement on Friday. “We encourage the AFP to duly get in touch with the respective Russian law enforcement agencies.” Russia’s federal security services FSB (formerly the KGB) said in January that REvil “ceased to exist” after several arrests were made at the request of the U.S. government. In March, Ukrainian national Yaroslav Vasinskyi, an alleged key member of the REvil group linked to an attack on U.S. software vendor Kaseya, was extradited from Poland to the U.S. to face charges. “Even after a series of law enforcement operations against REvil, the gang and its affiliates still seem to keep returning, based on the analysis of the latest REvil ransomware sample,” Roman Rezvukhin, head of malware analysis and threat hunting team at Group-IB, tells ZebethMedia. Kershaw said on Friday that the AFP, along with international partners such as Interpol, will “be holding talks with Russian law enforcement about these individuals.” “It is important to note that Russia benefits from the intelligence-sharing and data shared through Interpol, and with that comes responsibilities and accountability,” Kershaw said. “To the criminals: We know who you are, and moreover, the AFP has some significant runs on the scoreboard when it comes to bringing overseas offenders back to Australia to face the justice system.” While the AFP has successfully extradited people from Poland, Serbia, and the United Arab Emirates in recent years to face criminal charges in Australia, extraditing Russian hackers is likely to be challenging. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that “Russia does not extradite its citizens to anyone.” Despite action by the AFP, the Medibank breach continues to worsen following its decision to refuse to pay the cybercriminals’ ransom demand. On Thursday, the attackers’ dark web blog posted more stolen data, including sensitive files related to abortions and alcohol-related illnesses. The cybercriminals claimed that they initially sought $10 million in ransom from Medibank before reducing the sum to $9.7 million, or $1 per affected customer, the blog said. “Unfortunately, we expect the criminal to continue to release stolen customer data each day,” Medibank CEO David Koczkar said on Friday. “These are real people behind this data and the misuse of their data is deplorable and may discourage them from seeking medical care.”

Hackers start leaking health data after ransomware attack • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 9, 2022Posted in Australia, cybersecurity, health insurance, medibank breach, ransomware, SecurityNo Comments

Medibank has urged its customers to be on high alert after cybercriminals began leaking sensitive medical records stolen from the Australian health insurance giant. A ransomware group with ties to the notorious Russian-speaking REvil gang began publishing the stolen records early Wednesday, including customers’ names, birth dates, passport numbers, and information on medical claims. This comes after Medibank said it would not pay the ransom demand, saying, “We believe there is only a limited chance paying a ransom would ensure the return of our customers’ data and prevent it from being published.” The cybercriminals selectively separated the first sample of Australian breach victims into “naughty” and “good” lists, with the former including numerical diagnosis codes that appeared to link victims to drug addiction, alcohol abuse, and HIV, according to Agence France-Presse. For example, one record carries an entry that reads “F122,” which corresponds with “cannabis dependence” under the International Classification of Diseases published by the World Health Organization. It’s also believed the leaked data includes the names of high-profile Medibank customers, which likely includes senior Australian government lawmakers, like prime minister Anthony Albanese and cybersecurity minister Clare O’Neil. The portion of data leaked so far, seen by ZebethMedia, also appears to include correspondence of negotiations between the cybercriminals and Medibank CEO David Koczkar. Screenshots of WhatsApp messages suggest that the ransomware group also plans to leak “keys for decrypting credit cards” despite Medibank’s assertion that no banking or credit card details were accessed. “Based on our investigation to date into this cybercrime we currently believe the criminal did not access credit card and banking details,” Medibank spokesperson Liz Green told ZebethMedia in an emailed statement on Wednesday, who deferred to its blog post. The cybercriminal gang behind the Medicare ransomware attack, whose identities are not known but has relied on a variant of REvil’s file-encrypting malware, has so far leaked the personal details of around 200 Medibank customers, a fraction of the data that the group claims to have stolen. Medibank confirmed on Tuesday that the cybercriminals had accessed roughly 9.7 million customers’ personal details and health claims data for almost 500,000 customers. What should victims do? In light of the data leak, which exposed highly confidential information that could be abused for financial fraud, Medibank and the Australian Federal Police are urging customers to be on high alert for phishing scams and unexpected activity across online accounts. Medibank is also advising users to ensure they are not re-using passwords and have multi-factor authentication enabled on any online accounts where the option is available. Medibank also launched a “cyber response support package” for affected customers, Medibank’s Green told ZebethMedia. This includes hardship support, identity protection advice and resources, and reimbursement of government ID replacement fees. The health insurance giant is also providing a wellbeing line, a mental health outreach service, and personal duress alarms. Australia’s federal police are investigating the breach in collaboration with agencies from around the Commonwealth, as well as from the other members of the “Five Eyes” group of intelligence-sharing governments, including the U.K., U.S., Canada, and New Zealand. Operation Guardian, the Australian government’s response to the recent wave of cyberattacks that began with the data breach at telco giant Optus, will be extended to Medibank to protect its customers from “financial fraud and identity theft.” “Operation Guardian will be actively monitoring the clear, dark and deep web for the sale and distribution of Medibank Private and Optus data,” said AFP Assistant Commissioner Cyber Command Justine Gough. “Law enforcement will take swift action against anyone attempting to benefit, exploit or commit criminal offenses using stolen Medibank Private data.” What’s next? In its latest update, Medibank is bracing for the situation to worsen, saying that it “expects the criminal to continue to release files on the dark web.” On its dark web leak site, the cybercriminals said they planned to “continue posting data partially, including confluence, source codes, list of stuff and some files obtained from medi filesystem from different hosts.” Medibank says it will continue to contact all affected customers with specific advice and details of what data the attackers have accessed. However, customers at a heightened risk of being targeted by fraudulent emails should ensure that emails are coming from Medibank. Medibank said it would not ask for personal details over email. If in doubt, don’t click any links. It’s not yet known whether Medibank customers will receive compensation following the breach or whether Medibank will face action for failing to protect users’ confidential medical data. The breach comes just weeks after Australia confirmed an incoming legislative change to the country’s privacy laws, following a long process of consultation on reforms. The Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022 will increase the maximum penalties that can be applied under the Privacy Act 1988 for serious or repeated privacy breaches and greater powers for the Australian information commissioner. Two law firms also said on Tuesday that they are investigating whether Medibank had breached its obligations to customers under the country’s Privacy Act. The firms, Bannister Law and Centennial Lawyers, will investigate whether Medibank breached their privacy policy and the terms of their contract with customers and will also assess whether damages should be paid as a result of the breach.

Blackbird’s latest $1B AUD fund signals maturation of Australian, New Zealand venture scene • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 2, 2022Posted in Australia, Blackbird, New Zealand, Startups, VentureNo Comments

The Australian and New Zealand startup community will see a boost in funding this year. Blackbird, a VC fund based in the two south Pacific countries, on Wednesday closed a fund at over AUD $1 billion, which is about USD $640 million, which the firm says is Australia’s largest fund to date. This is Blackbird’s fifth fund, and it’s double the size of the VC’s last fund which closed in August 2020. Several institutional investors participated, including superannuation funds like AustralianSuper, Hostplus, Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, New Zealand’s sovereign wealth funds and New Zealand Growth Capital Partners Elevate fund, which is a government-backed fund. A decade ago, most Australian and in particular New Zealand institutional investors didn’t want to put their money anywhere near tech startups. Their support today signals a maturation of the Australia/New Zealand venture capital space. “[Superannuation fund] capital can go anywhere. It can go into the best Silicon Valley VCs,” Sam Wong, a partner at Blackbird, told ZebethMedia. “And so the fact that they are choosing to invest their money at this scale with an Aussie and Kiwi fund marks a moment for the ecosystem and shows that we have earned our right on the global stage to manage that capital.” According to Wong, it makes sense for superannuation funds to back the tech space because they have horizons in the decades and can afford to be patient. “What they really care about is high returns so people can retire in dignity,” she said. “And when you have that long-term horizon, you can seek higher return assets that don’t have liquidity profiles that, say, public markets do. And that’s exactly what we found in the Australian superannuation system — they love tech because it’s high growth, high return. It’s very long dated, and they don’t mind that it’s locked up for 10 years.” The fund is also supported by over 270 individual investors, many of whom are tech founders and operators that Blackbird backed through earlier funds, according to the firm. Those founders will support the fund both with their own capital, but also their expertise, knowledge and connections, said Wong. The total AUD $1 billion consists of three separate vehicles: an AUD $284 million (USD $182 million) core fund for pre-seed and seed stage Aussie companies, an AUD $668 million (USD $472 million) follow-on fund to support Blackbird portfolio companies anywhere from “Series A to the last round at Canva,” and a NZD $75 million (USD $44 million) dedicated New Zealand fund, which is also largely for pre-seed and seed stage companies. Blackbird prides itself on cutting the earliest checks, which could be anywhere from $25,000 for a small pre-seed to up to $5 million for a seed round, said Wong. The firm’s mandate is to invest in founders with an Aussie or Kiwi connection, which usually means they’re based in those countries, but often ends up extending to those who founded companies abroad. Around 40% of Blackbird’s portfolio companies are actually headquartered in the U.S., said Phoebe Harrop, a principal at Blackbird. The fund has already made 18 investments into startups in a broad range of industries from AI to manufacturing to e-commerce. Last month, Blackbird invested in Sonder, an employee and student wellbeing company, and Spice AI, a data and AI-driven infrastructure platform. Blackbird said it predicts tech companies will contribute 20% of Australia’s GDP by 2032, which would be up from 8.5% today, according to the Tech Council of Australia. “We’re here to change the culture of Australia and New Zealand’s ecosystems, to make a difference at a country level,” said Niki Scevak, partner at Blackbird, in a statement.

Samsara Eco raises $54M AUD for its “infinite plastic recycling” tech • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 1, 2022Posted in Australia, Climate, green tech, plastics, recycling, Samsara Eco, StartupsNo Comments

Samsara Eco, an Australian startup that uses enzyme-based technology to break down plastic into its core molecules, announced today it has raised $54 million AUD (about $34.7 million USD) in Series A funding. The company is planning to build its first plastic recycling facility in Melbourne later this year, with the target of full-scale production by 2023. Investors in the round include Breakthrough Victoria, Temasek, Assembly Climate Capital, DCVC and INP Capital. Existing investors like deep-tech fund Main Sequence, Woolworths Group’s W23 and Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) also participated. Samsara launched last year in partnership with the Australian National University. ZebethMedia last covered the startup when it raised $6 million earlier this year. The company’s enzyme-based technology breaks down plastics into their molecular building blocks to turn into new plastic products—which can in turn be broken down again, creating what Samsara refers to as infinite plastic recycling. Samsara’s new funding will be used for expansion, building its library of plastic-eating enzymes and funding its first commercial facility, which it says will be able to infinitely recycle 20,000 tons of plastic starting in 2024. It will also grow its engineering team and expand operations into Europe and North America. CEO and founder Paul Riley said that since March, when Samsara’s previous round of funding was announced, it’s been focused on expanding its enzyme library, which is now capable of depolymerizing several different types of plastic. Its also worked with partners to develop market solutions using Samsara’s plastic-recycling tech. Samsara’s tech is capable of breaking down plastic into its core molecules in minutes, regardless of color, type and state, said Riley. Its Melbourne facility will first recycle PET plastic and polyester, which Riley says accounts for about a fifth of plastic created annually. Its long-term mission is to recycle mixed bale plastics and advance its tech to the point where every kind of plastic can be infinitely recycled. “Given the scale of the plastics crisis, our vision was always to scale infinite plastic recycling as fast as possible,” he said. “For us, this capital raise was about partnering with those that bring industry expertise and commitment to addressing one of the world’s most prominent climate challenges—which is fossil-made plastic—and, in the process, reducing plastic pollution by closing the loop.” Samsara is also preparing for the launch of its first enzymatically recycled packaging, in partnership with Woolworths Group. The packaging will be on shelves in Woolworths’ supermarkets next year, moving the company toward its goal of recycling 1.5 million tons of plastic per year by 2030. Woolworths Group has committed to turning the first 5,000 tons of recycled Samsara plastic into packaging for its branded products, like vegetables and bakery trays. Riley said Samsara’s tech is highly tolerant of contamination and can recycle colored plastics, mixed plastics and multi-layered plastic, which means it has applications across a wide range of industries, including packaging, fashion, automative, medical, electronics and construction. The fashion industry accounts of about 10% of global CO2 emissions. Australia is the second-highest consumer of textiles per person in the world, Riley said, which gives Samsara the opportunity to recycle discarded fast fashion pieces in the form of mixed fiber textiles, reducing the amount of clothing that ends up in landfills. “As we expand our library of plastic-eating enzymes, the opportunity for infinite plastic recycling will continue to grow across all these industries, meaning we’ll never have to produce plastic from fossil-fuels again,” Riley said.

Square Peg Capital closes $550M fund for Southeast Asia, Australia and Israel • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 26, 2022Posted in Asia, Australia, Israel, Southeast Asia, square peg capital, Venture, venture capitalNo Comments

It’s a tough market for venture capital, but Square Peg Capital is plowing ahead with its focus on Australia (where it is based), Southeast Asia and Israel. The firm announced today that it has closed its fifth fund totaling $550 million. This brings its total raised across all funds to about $1.6 billion. Square Peg has invested in more than 60 companies, and returned over $580 million to its investors across 11 exits at an IRR of 42%. Its counts Australian superannuation funds like Hostplus and AustralianSuper among its backers, and other LPs include new and returning investors from family offices, institutions and endowments. Part of Square Peg’s new capital will be used for its core venture fund, which invests in seed to Series B startups. It will also invest in the later stages of its best-performing portfolio companies through its Opportunities Fund. Square Peg Capital partners Tushar Roy and Piruze Sanbuncu Square Peg has a growing footprint in Southeast Asia, where partners Tushar Roy and Piruze Sabuncu are based. Roy told ZebethMedia in April that Southeast Asia is the firm’s fastest-growing geographical footprint. Half of its last $275 million fund, Fund 3, was invested in Southeast Asia. The firm is focused on five key areas in the region: consumer internet, fintech, edtech and the future of work, healthtech and SaaS. Some of Square Peg’s investments so far from Southeast Asian include LottieFiles, Doctor Anywhere and FinAccel. It’s new fund has also invested in recruitment automation platform Kula and open source Firebase alternative Supabase. Portfolio companies from other regions include Canva, Airwallex and ROKT in Australia, and Fiverr and AIDoc from Israel. In a statement, Sabuncu said, “We already know the potential Southeast Asia presents when we look at the basic macro numbers, but the last few years have proven that you can build global businesses from this region, or create new business models that can disrupt the way people access various services—whether it be lending, education or healthcare.”

Greener wants to help consumers and businesses be more sustainable • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 25, 2022Posted in Australia, Climate, funding, Greener, StartupsNo Comments

Many consumers and companies want to reduce their impact on the environment but may not know where to start or how to sustain the necessary changes. Founder of Greener, an Australian cleantech startup, Tom Ferrier, wants to help. He argues that sustainability and climate action doesn’t need to be complicated. His startup is geared towards simplifying the decision-making process to help consumers and businesses understand sustainability and reduce their emissions, such as by making different purchasing decisions — and he points to a statistic that suggests around 88% of consumers in the U.S. and the U.K want businesses to help them be more sustainable. For consumers, Greener offers an app that links to the user’s bank account, enabling customers to learn about their carbon impact and get suggestions to make better choices on shopping greener based on potential purchases for 250+ brands. “For consumers, it is as simple as downloading the app and securely connecting their bank account using our open banking technology partner Basiq, to start tracking their carbon footprint [of every dollar spent],” he said. “Once a new user signs up to Greener, open banking technology alongside data and expertise from the world’s leading climate scientists, enables the Greener app to instantly calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of the user’s spending.” When asked about users’ data privacy, Perrier explained that Basiq open banking makes it easy for Greener customers to sign up and connect their bank account. “Basiq open banking also allows us to securely pass anonymous, aggregated data back to businesses to provide them with insights that will help them build customer loyalty and attract even more climate-conscious customers,” Ferrier said. Offering a double-sided tech solution, Greener also provides tailored solutions for businesses of all sizes towards reducing their footprint based on business type, size, business model and current sustainable activities. Ferrier told ZebethMedia that a business can see where they are on the sustainability journey and is provided with personalized, clear advice on what they can do to reduce their carbon emissions and waste. From its consumer app trials, the company saw that it was able to help shoppers reduce the emissions of their purchases by 23%. The company also saw upwards of 10% of customer growth, with shoppers switching to greener businesses from non-green competition services. The startup is announcing a seed raise of 4 million AUD today ($2.5 million), led by NAB Ventures with participation from RealVC. It plans to use the funding to continue its product development, which is currently in beta, and ramp up to the public launch of its consumer app and Greener for Business solutions next year. “Although there are other carbon tracking and offset platforms in the market, no other business is tackling the climate solution from both sides – consumer and business,” Ferrier argued. Greener’s app is free for consumers, while businesses fund the model at a low margin and can be rewarded with new customers and personalized services, he told ZebethMedia. L-R: Co-founders of Greener, Tom Ferrier and Neil McVeigh (Image credits: Greener) Greener suggests the opportunity is enormous as 300g of CO2 is attached to every dollar spent, with $184 billion spent globally every day. The major challenge facing climate action is awareness, Ferrier continued. He added that the company sees education as the solution, closing the gap between motivation and know-how, and rewarding consumers and businesses for their efforts. The startup has partnered with a number of brands, such as Microsoft, T2 Tea, Scoop Wholefoods, Brew Dog, Huskee and Go for Zero, since its inception in 2019. Greener has also partnered with the City of Sydney and the Australian Retailer Association (ARA) to help their members accelerate net-zero strategies. Greener’s previous backers include Phil Vernon, former CEO of the managed investment fund Australian Ethical. “We all have a part to play in climate action and NAB certainly recognises our role,” said Todd Forest, managing director of NAB Ventures, in a statement. “We’re continuously looking at ways we can support our customers and colleagues to take action to reduce their carbon footprint and we think Greener’s product has great potential. Greener is an excellent fit for NAB Ventures and we look forward to working with them and exploring further opportunities together.”

Australia to toughen privacy laws with huge hike in penalties for breaches • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 24, 2022Posted in Australia, data breaches, Government & Policy, medibank breach, Optus breach, Privacy, privacy lawsNo Comments

Australia has confirmed an incoming legislative change will significant strengthen its online privacy laws following a spate of data breaches in recent weeks — such as the Optus telco breach last month. “Unfortunately, significant privacy breaches in recent weeks have shown existing safeguards are inadequate. It’s not enough for a penalty for a major data breach to be seen as the cost of doing business,” said its attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus, in a statement at the weekend. “We need better laws to regulate how companies manage the huge amount of data they collect, and bigger penalties to incentivise better behaviour.” The changes will be made via an amendment to the country’s privacy laws, following a long process of consultation on reforms. Dreyfus said the Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022 will increase the maximum penalties that can be applied under the Privacy Act 1988 for serious or repeated privacy breaches from the current AUS $2.22 million (~$1.4M) penalty to whichever is the greater of: AUS $50 million (~$32M); 3x the value of any benefit obtained through the misuse of information; or 30% of a company’s adjusted turnover in the relevant period These amounts are substantially higher than an earlier draft of the reform last year (when penalties of AUS $10M or 10% of turnover were being considered). Major breaches such as at Optus — and another that followed hard on its heels, at the health insurer Medibank Private — appear to have concentrated lawmakers’ minds. The change of government, earlier this year, also means there’s a new broom at work. Additional changes trailed by Dreyfus include greater powers for the Australian information commissioner and a beefed up Notifiable Data Breaches scheme to provide the privacy watchdog with a more comprehensive view of what’s been compromised in a breach, also so it can assess the risk of harm to individuals. The information commissioner and the Australian Communications and Media Authority will also be furnished with greater information sharing powers to enable more regulatory joint-working. Both agencies opened investigations of Optus following last month’s breach. The privacy legislation amendment bill is slated to be presented to Australia’s parliament this week, per Reuters. The Attorney-General’s Department is also undertaking a comprehensive review of the Privacy Act that’s due to be completed this year, with recommendations expected for further reform, it said. “I look forward to support from across the Parliament for this Bill, which is an essential part of the Government’s agenda to ensure Australia’s privacy framework is able to respond to new challenges in the digital era. The Albanese Government is committed to protecting Australians’ personal information and to further strengthening privacy laws,” added Dreyfus.