“A privacy complaint is more than a compliance task – it’s a critical trust-building moment,” Commissioner Carly Kind (pictured) said.

“Trust isn’t built in privacy policies or polished statements. It’s built when someone raises a concern, and an organisation responds with clarity, fairness, accessibility and accountability.”

As part of the launch, the Commissioner shared some preliminary findings from the upcoming 2026 Australian Community Attitudes to Privacy Survey (ACAPS) Report.

The report found that 93 per cent of Australians believe that protecting their personal information is important, and that 87 per cent were more concerned about privacy now than they were five years ago.

64 per cent said they were concerned about how their data was handled by organisations, though 52 per cent did not raise those concerns as they did not believe reporting them would make a difference. And for those who did make themselves heard, only nine per cent reported a satisfactory resolution to their complaint.

“Australians care deeply about their privacy, but most have given up on the idea that raising a concern will lead anywhere,” Commissioner Kind said.

“That is a failure of process, not of public interest – and it’s entirely within the power of organisations to fix.

“As we sharpen our focus on systemic harms, organisations themselves become the first and most important place where privacy concerns should be resolved.

“Effective complaint handling builds customer loyalty, improves services, and for government, earns public trust.”

Speaking of Privacy Awareness week, Natasha Slater, Director, Head of Government, Policy and Regulatory Affairs, APJ at cloud communications firm Twilio, said that “Trust is often won or lost in a single customer message”.

“If consumers cannot immediately recognise who is speaking to them or why a message was sent, they will not engage and lose confidence before the conversation begins,” Slater said.

“Data privacy and customer experience are now inseparable – protecting personal information is no longer just a regulatory requirement, but a critical factor in whether communications are perceived as credible.”