Australia’s privacy shift: what it means for marketing and how BFJ’s preparing

Australia’s moving fast toward tighter privacy laws — and it’s going to change how we all advertise. Think of what you see on European sites: clear “accept” or “reject” cookie options, no tricks, and real user control. That’s the direction we’re heading. It’s not just policy—it’s how marketing will run.

The first round of changes is already live, covering things like kids’ data, data breaches and automated decisions. The next wave will hit marketing directly — how we target, measure, and use personal data. Platforms like Google and Meta will enforce the new standards, not leave it up to us to interpret.

As a security concious organisaiton we need to be covering this for our clients, with that in mind...

For CMOs and leadership teams, a few key shifts are coming:

• Consent becomes the default. No more grey areas or pre-ticked boxes.
• First-party data becomes everything. Data you earn directly from your customers is what will hold value.
• Platform rules will tighten. Expect compliance to be built into ad tools themselves.
• Minors are off-limits for profiling. That’s already written into law.
• Transparency is key. If an algorithm decides who sees what, we’ll need to be able to explain it.

At BFJ, we’re already set up for this.

• We're rolling out consent management and tagging setups that respect user choices, not just log them.
• We have internal data regulations to protect our clients data flow — what’s collected, why, and how long it’s kept.
• We’ve built filters for under-18 audiences and tightened tracking limits as per the platforms we use.
• And we’re reviewing vendor contracts so every partner meets the same privacy standards.

The bigger picture: this isn’t just about compliance. It’s about trust. The brands that respect user control will win long-term. BFJ’s focus is to make privacy-first marketing deliver real performance — transparent, compliant and still high-impact.