About the IAPP

Annelies' vision is to make privacy core business. Much of the value of an organisation lies in how well it manages the data it holds, making the chief privacy officer as important as the chief financial and digital & data officers. Annelies is the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Vanguard Oceania 2023 Award recipient for demonstrating exceptional leadership, expertise and creativity in privacy and data protection. She is also one of Australia's Superstars of STEM, selected in 2021-2022 for her widely recognised privacy expertise. She is a mentor for the Australian Government's Boosting Female Founders initiative and the Asia Pacific senior privacy consultant for TrustArc.

Annelies co-founded the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) in Australia and New Zealand in 2008. She was elected its President in 2011-2012. She has been consulting in privacy since 2012. Through Privcore, she and her team conduct privacy impact assessments, privacy health checks, data breach prevention and response, regulatory engagement and build privacy programs for clients so they can increase trust and confidence.

Prior to founding Privcore, Annelies was Deputy Managing Director at Information Integrity Solutions where she led with her team hundreds of client deliverables over six years. Annelies' work influenced the Australian government's decision to include Australia as a participant in the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules System for safer regional transfers of data. 

Annelies’ privacy career started at Australia's privacy regulator, now the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. During her regulatory role over five years, she led audit and investigation teams as Deputy Director, Compliance. Her previous roles have included External Relations Manager at AustLII, Group Manager and Chief Privacy Officer at Copyright Agency Limited.

She has presented at local and global forums, including APEC, Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities, IAPP, Centre for Information Policy and Leadership, Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), Australian Information Security Association and Standards Australia.

Women in Security featured her career journey and described her as a trailblazer in privacy. She has presented her work on "What makes a great PIA?" in multiple forums. She has contributed to Australia's law reform process advocating for clarity over complexity. The AICD published her summary of the reforms in "Australian privacy legislation is undergoing major legislative reform and directors need to know how to govern privacy risks within their organisations". The Journal of Data Protection & Privacy published her article on “Data is your organisation’s core business: Are you prepared to govern it?”

With an MBA in general international management (distinction) from the Vlerick Business School in Belgium, Annelies also has a first class honours Law, Arts (majoring in computer science) and Science degrees with emphasis on artificial intelligence from The University of Queensland. Annelies is admitted as a legal practitioner in NSW. She is a Fellow of the AICD, a Chartered Manager and Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders Australia | New Zealand, and an IAPP Fellow of Information Privacy. She is a Certified Information Privacy Technologist and Information Privacy Professional for European data protection law through the IAPP. She has also completed the Center for Humane Technology's course on Foundations of Humane Technology. Annelies has a certificate in advanced Dutch and understanding of French, Italian and Spanish.​

Annelies embraces the challenging and diverse nature of privacy work. Clients benefit from how she makes privacy easy for them. Next time you need an independent assessment of how your organisation is handling customer data, reach out to Annelies: moens [at] privcore.com.