Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) Scheme: Responding to Privacy Incidents with Confidence
Understanding the NDB Scheme
Australia’s Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme requires organisations to assess, contain, and notify eligible data breaches that are likely to cause serious harm to individuals. For financial services firms, the NDB scheme sits alongside Privacy Act obligations, CPS 234 information security, and broader operational resilience expectations, making coordinated incident response and defensible decision-making essential.
Why the NDB Scheme Matters
A clear, well-rehearsed approach to privacy incidents protects customers, meets regulator expectations, and reduces legal and reputational exposure. Financial institutions must rapidly determine whether an incident is an eligible breach, notify affected individuals with practical remediation steps, and submit reports to the regulator, while aligning activity with APRA, ASIC, and, where relevant, CDR obligations.
Key implications for firms include:
Time-sensitive triage and assessment to determine eligibility and harm.
Crisp stakeholder coordination across legal, privacy, security, and business units.
Clear customer communications that are accurate, actionable, and accessible.
Assurance evidence (logs, MI, decisions) to demonstrate a robust, repeatable process.
Third-party management where service providers or vendors are involved.
Key Challenges Facing Firms
Distinguishing eligible vs non-eligible breaches under time pressure.
Orchestrating multi-regulator notification (Privacy, APRA CPS 234, industry bodies) without duplication or gaps.
Managing third-party and cloud incidents, including contractual rights to data, forensics, and notification.
Producing customer-centric notifications that reduce confusion and harm.
Maintaining evidence packs to withstand audit, litigation, and regulatory scrutiny.
Embedding lessons learned into controls, training, and playbooks.
How OCG Can Help
Oceanic Consulting Group (OCG) helps financial services organisations design and operationalise privacy-incident and NDB responses that are practical, defensible, and fast.
Our services include:
Privacy incident playbooks aligned to the NDB scheme, CPS 234 and operational resilience.
Breach assessment frameworks (eligibility criteria, harm analysis, decision records).
War-room orchestration and table-top exercises to rehearse end-to-end response.
Customer notification design (templates, FAQs, vulnerable-customer guidance).
Assurance & MI (evidence packs, dashboards, post-incident review and remediation).
Third-party incident governance (contractual levers, joint comms, data recovery and oversight).
FAQs
What is an “eligible” data breach?
A breach involving unauthorised access, disclosure, or loss of personal information that is likely to cause serious harm to individuals if not mitigated.
Do I notify customers and the regulator every time?
No, only when eligibility is met. Firms must assess quickly, take remedial action, and notify if the risk of serious harm remains.
How does this relate to CPS 234?
CPS 234 requires information security governance and incident notification to APRA. The NDB scheme focuses on privacy harm to individuals. Many incidents trigger both processes.
What does good evidence look like?
Time-stamped decisions, eligibility rationale, harm assessment, communications, and remedial actions—captured in a consistent template and retained for audit.
Strengthen Your NDB Response
Work with OCG’s Privacy & Cyber Governance Specialists
Turn privacy incidents into disciplined, customer-centred responses. Contact OCG to implement playbooks, assessment frameworks, and assurance that meet NDB obligations and build regulator confidence.
