The past year should be remembered as a milestone in the privacy landscape, Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk says.

The notifiable data breaches (NDB) scheme came into effect in February while other changes included the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which affects Australian organisations that operate in Europe.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) received 305 notifications under the NDB scheme and 174 voluntary notifications in the year to June 30, its annual report shows. In the previous year it received 114 voluntary notifications.

Ms Falk assumed her positions on a permanent basis in August after stepping up in an interim capacity in March when previous commissioner Timothy Pilgrim retired.

“My acting appointment coincided with a time of heightened community awareness of privacy, both domestic and global,” Ms Falk says in the OAIC annual report.

“Domestic and global regulatory developments are requiring greater transparency and accountability of personal information handling, and the community is increasingly expecting business and government to meet that challenge.”

The OAIC received 2947 privacy complaints last year, up 18% on the previous period. It closed 2766 of the complaints, up 11%.

The next 12 months will raise new challenges for privacy and access to information regulation, Ms Falk says.