The Department of Home Affairs has been ordered to pay thousands of asylum seekers compensation after it was found to have breached their privacy.
In 2014, the then department of immigration and border protection mistakenly released the private details of almost 10,000 detainees in immigration detention online, only taking the details down after the breach was revealed in media reports.
Information Commissioner Angelene Falk found the publication of the detention report in 2014 could identify all people in immigration detention on January 31 that year.
More than a thousand participating members of the class made submissions or gave evidence or provided evidence about the damage caused by the breach.
The department must pay compensation ranging from $500 to more than $20,000 to people affected, for non-economic loss, to members of the class who took the case. The amount for each person will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
"This matter is the first representative action where we have found compensation for non-economic loss payable to individuals affected by a data breach," Ms Falk said.
The process should be completed within a year.
Information about the determination by the commissioner will be published in 21 languages, to ensure that class members will be properly informed of the decision and the process for making a claim.
Sally Whyte
I report on a range of issues in federal politics and the public service, with a real passion for how decisions made in Canberra affect the lives of Australians.
I report on a range of issues in federal politics and the public service, with a real passion for how decisions made in Canberra affect the lives of Australians.
