Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Transport security in Australia continues to compare well with benchmark countries. There has been significant cooperation between Australian governments to improve transport security over recent years. Aviation and maritime security legislative regimes have been strengthened, and state and territory governments have been working to improve the security of the surface transport sector.

The Inspector of Transport Security Bill 2006 provides a strong legislative basis to support the conduct of independent and impartial inquiries into Australia’s transport security arrangements. Upon direction by the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, the Inspector of Transport Security will be able to inquire into major transport security incidents and patterns or series of incidents that point to a systemic failure or possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities in aviation and maritime transport and security regulated offshore facilities. There is also the ability for the minister to task the inspector with an inquiry into surface transport security. This will require the agreement of the relevant state or territory minister and the scope of the inquiry will be agreed between ministers.

The Inspector of Transport Security will not be responsible for regulating transport security in this country. The Office of Transport Security in the Department of Transport and Regional Services has the responsibility for the day-to-day regulation of transport security in the aviation and maritime sectors.

The strengths of the legislative framework to support the role of the Inspector of Transport Security include:

• the independence of the inspector;
• the no-blame nature of the inspector’s inquiries;
• protection of information collected as part of the inquiry; and
• the recognition that the work of investigative agencies should not be interfered with by inquiries undertaken by the inspector.

This bill enshrines the independence of the inspector. While the Minister for Transport and Regional Services tasks the inspector with an inquiry, the inspector is not subject to direction from the Minister for Transport and Regional Services in the conduct of that inquiry. Nor is the inspector subject to direction from the Secretary of the Department of Transport and Regional Services or any other public servant.

Another key feature of this bill is the ‘no blame’ aspect. The purpose of an inquiry by the inspector is not to gather evidence to apportion blame—other agencies properly exercise that role. Instead an inquiry by the Inspector of Transport Security will be seeking to establish how our already robust transport security arrangements can be improved. To ensure this, the bill provides that reports from the inspector are not admissible in proceedings which seek to apportion blame. Importantly, this will include disciplinary proceedings.

To further emphasise the ‘no blame’ aspect the bill ensures that except for coronial inquiries, the inspector, employees or third parties involved in an inquiry cannot be compelled to provide evidence in any proceedings.

Another key feature of the legislative framework is that protections are in place for information provided to the inspector in the course of an inquiry. All information gathered in the course of an inquiry is exempt from a freedom of information request. In addition, the bill protects information provided to the inspector in the course of an inquiry. Breach of these protections can result in up to two years imprisonment.

When the provisions in the bill regarding on-board recordings and cockpit voice recordings were being drafted, the Australian government was aware of the importance of protecting this type of information to fulfil our obligations under annex 13 of the Chicago convention and to ensure that safety investigations by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau are not affected. The bill protects this type of information by ensuring that on-board recordings and information arising from safety investigations will only be available to the inspector through the Executive Director of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Before agreeing to disclose this information, the bill requires the executive director to make a judgement that the public interest is served by disclosing the information. If the inspector obtains this information from the Executive Director of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau the inspector is then bound by strict restrictions in its use as part of the inquiry or in reports.

This bill balances two competing policy interests. One is to establish a ‘no blame’ legislative framework to encourage the provision of information to the inspector that will contribute to improving transport security. The second is to ensure that, where information acquired by the inspector in the conduct of an inquiry indicates that a serious offence is imminent, the legislation provides that the inspector may disclose this information to the appropriate law enforcement bodies.

If the inspector receives sensitive on-board recording or cockpit voice recording information that indicates that a serious offence is imminent and the information may be relevant to preventing a crime, the inspector may only reveal this information to the relevant agency if a judge or member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal agrees that the information should be disclosed.

It is important to note that the role of the inspector is not one of a law enforcement agency. The inspector’s inquiries will not hinder the important work of law enforcement agencies. The inspector will work cooperatively with state and territory governments and relevant agencies of the Australian government with direct investigative roles such as the police or the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. The bill contains specific provisions encouraging such cooperation. For example, the inspector may provide information from a transport security inquiry to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau where it is requested and disclosure of it will not adversely affect a current or future inquiry.

In preparing this bill extensive consultation has been undertaken with industry stakeholders and state and territory governments. Issues that have arisen during the consultation process have been, wherever possible, taken into account. The government has worked hard to address concerns raised.

This bill will further provide quality assurance for transport security as it establishes the Inspector of Transport Security, who will conduct no-blame inquiries focused solely on improving transport security for all Australians. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Gavan O’Connor) adjourned.