Pilgrim permanently appointed Information Commissioner

The government has formally appointed Timothy Pilgrim as its statutory Information Commissioner after a sequence of temporary stints.

Timothy Pilgrim

Former OAIC boss John McMillan left the agency during the rollercoaster period between the 2014 budget when the government announced it intended to dismantle the agency, and its subsequent backdown in the 2016 budget.

Since July 2015, the agency has been headed by Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim in a rolling sequence of three-month statutory re-appointments to the top job.

Pilgrim was the last man standing after FOI boss James Popple also left the OAIC in 2014.

Now after more than a year of leadership limbo, Pilgrim will be handed the job permanently, once the process is waved through by the Governor General.

“Mr Pilgrim has established a strong reputation in the business community for his considered approach to regulation and understanding of business needs,” Attorney-General George Brandis said today in a statement.

“[He] has worked internationally to help Australia deal with global privacy challenges, particularly through building closer relationships with other privacy regulators.”

Pilgrim will continue fulfilling all of the Information Commissioner duties in unison with his Privacy Commissioner role, to which he has also been permanently appointed.

He has served in the role since July 2010, and was deputy Privacy Commissioner for 12 years prior.