Laws requiring Australians be notified when an agency loses control of their private information will be introduced in the first half of the year.
Government frontbencher Scott Ryan said consultations with industry and stakeholders on data breach notification laws were still ongoing.
But Greens senator Scott Ludlam won Senate support for a motion demanding an explanation as to why the laws weren't introduced in 2015.
"Why doesn't the government simply get on with it?" Senator Ludlam told the Senate on Tuesday.
