The ACT government has not conceded there has been a breach of private information following the release of a spreadsheet containing details from about 30,000 workers' compensation claims dating back to 1989, but will conduct a review into the incident.
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There is no timeframe for the review and the government would not commit to releasing its findings before it was completed.
The government also said it would not refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner until a breach could be determined, but affected workers concerned about the release of their information could contact its workplace safety and industrial relations unit.
Special Minister of State Chris Steel told the Legislative Assembly on Thursday said the government was not yet aware of a particular breach of private information, but the privacy officer within the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development directorate would review the incident.
"We look forward to that review being undertaken and any recommendations that may come out of that review about whether there has in fact been a breach of privacy in this particular case and whether there are any further measures we can put in place to protect the privacy of individuals in procurements going forward," Mr Steel said in question time.
Mr Steel said the review would inform future government policy and the government would act on its findings.
A spreadsheet containing the details of thousands of workers' compensation claims between 1989 and 2018 was uploaded to the territory government's tender site in 2018. It was removed on Wednesday following questions from The Canberra Times.
While the names and birthdates of workers were removed in an effort to de-identify the data, it contains intimate details of their claims, including the injury date and type, location on the body and the financial compensation received.
The spreadsheet, which covers the period since self government, also includes the person's birth year and gender as well as occupation details, including the directorate they were employed in and their job title.
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Mr Steel told the Assembly the spreadsheet had been heavily redacted prior to its release, and it was necessary to provide potential tenderers with information about the costs associated with managing workers' compensation claims in the territory.
"The spreadsheet was heavily redacted prior to release so that the identity of workers' compensation claimants could not be determined. And this included removal of data fields such as claimant name, day and month of birth, address and contact details. I only became aware of any concern in relation to this particular procurement yesterday when I was contacted by the media," he said.
However, The Canberra Times has been able to identify individuals from the data contained in the spreadsheet and people familiar with the workers' compensation system in the ACT said they could also easily link information to individuals they knew or had worked with.
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