Currently, Weisbrot likens Australia's privacy laws to the Tax Act, in that it is written to cover every possible contingency for circumstances the ordinary user would never face.

A uniform set of privacy principles would remove significant amounts of confusion, and would be complemented by more specific laws pertinent to specific industries.

"A classic example of that would be in the health area or credit reporting where you have very unusual circumstances or need a high level of specificity. So in those areas let's have separate detailed codes which the people in that industry adhere to, but is not important for everyone else."

The ALRC will also be calling for the Privacy Commissioner to offer more guidance on what individuals, businesses, organisations and agencies must do to adhere to any new law reforms.

"In order to allow people, businesses and agencies to comply, lets give them a lot of examples and templates so they don't have to start from scratch and try to work out what it all means. So if you're a small business let's have a targeted package for small businesses offering a model privacy policy - 'here's what you need to put in your shop, on your receipts or on your web site, here are the kinds of records you must or musn't keep'.

"We think that will solve a lot of the problems, because people just aren't sure what to do," Weisbrot said.

Another significant issue the ALRC is considering in its proposals for reform is guidelines relating to cross border data flow, which Weisbrot says the ALRC is trying to make more rigorous and simple at the same time.

"That was another concern we heard in the community. It was a primal fear of their information going overseas, but we know that is a regular occurrence now. Even if you deal with a local institution - a bank or insurance company or whatever - a lot of the back office work is done overseas and people are a bit uncomfortable with that. So we're trying to provide a bit more assurance and certainty in how those kinds of things will be handled in the future," he said.