A Supreme Court barrister and former executive director of the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) has today been announced as Queensland’s new Privacy Commissioner.
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Shannon Fentiman said Paxton Booth would take up the role in December, when the term of the current Privacy Commissioner, Philip Green, concluded.
“I warmly welcome Paxton Booth, who has over 26 years experience in the legal and criminal justice sector, to the position of Privacy Commissioner,” Minister Fentiman said.
“Mr Booth brings a wealth of experience in governance, regulatory practice, compliance frameworks, disciplinary investigations and criminal law, and is well qualified to lead the team tasked with ensuring the privacy of Queenslanders is well protected.”
Mr Booth, who graduated from Bond University in Commerce and Law in the early 1990s, has held executive roles with the CCC, Office of the Health Ombudsman and Queensland Police Service over the past 21 years.
Prior to this he also worked as an acting Crown Prosecutor and Legal Officer within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for a number of years.
The Attorney-General said the Information Privacy Act 2009 (IP Act) established the Queensland Privacy Commissioner as a deputy to the Information Commissioner within the Office of the Information Commissioner.
“The Privacy Commissioner undertakes privacy oversight functions as delegated by the Information Commissioner,” she said.
“This includes providing support and guidance to agencies and the community in relation to the application of the IP Act in Queensland and issuing compliance notices where serious or deliberate breaches of the law have occurred.”
The Attorney-General also thanked outgoing Privacy Commissioner, Mr Green, who has held the position since December 2015.
“Mr Green has shown enormous dedication to the role over the past six years, and I thank him for the contribution he has given this state in helping ensure Queenslanders’ privacy is protected,” she said.
“I wish him well in his future endeavours.”
