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1. Introduction

This paper[1] examines the implications for Australia of the privacy laws of other countries, and international privacy agreements. The recent developments which have the most significant implications are the European Union's 1995 Directive concerning privacy, the recent privacy laws of other Asia-Pacific countries (particularly New Zealand, Hong Kong and Taiwan), and the development of a formal Asia-Pacific Information Infrastructure (APII) as part of the emerging world information infrastructure.

These developments lead me to argue that serious consideration should be given to the development of an Asia-Pacific privacy Convention, and that Australia should play an active part in promoting such a Convention as a cornerstone of the APII. [1] A version of this paper was presented at two commercial conferences in Sydney in December 1995: Recent Developments in Information Privacy (IIR); and Privacy of Information (AiC). Earlier versions of parts of this paper have been published in Privacy Law & Policy Reporter (1995) 2 PLPR 81, 105 and 127, and in a paper given to the Federation of Korean Information Industries, Seoul, 28 June 1995. A more detailed (but less up to date) discussion can be found in Greenleaf, G 'Implications for Australia of international privacy requirements' Protecting Information Privacy (Conference Proceedings), IIR Conferences, Sydney, June 1994, 64 pgs

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