A Conversation with Western Australia's Inaugural Information Commissioner

Western Australia established the new Office of the Information Commissioner on 1 July 2025. As the newest privacy regulator in the country, the Office of the Information Commissioner, Western Australia, brings fresh institutional perspective at a time when privacy enforcement, data governance expectations, and public accountability are intensifying across the region. In this fireside chat with Tim de Sousa, the inaugural Information Commissioner Annelies Moens will talk about her career as a privacy professional in the public and private sector and now as information commissioner. She will talk about what it takes to build a privacy regulator from the ground up, including institutional and operational priorities, enforcement strategy, and her vision for how the OIC WA will engage with regulated entities, government agencies and the public.

What you will learn:

• The foundational decisions, early priorities and institutional design choices shaping the regulatory character of the new Office of the Information Commissioner of Western Australia.

• How the Office of the Information Commissioner WA fits within the Australian privacy regulatory landscape, and what its establishment signals for privacy governance nationally.

• The information commissioner's reflections on the challenges of standing up a new regulatory body and prominent issues that have emerged. 

• The information commissioner's outlook on compliance expectations, engagement with regulated entities, and how to balance education, guidance and enforcement.