Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The purpose of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Bill 2008 is to amend the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 to extend by a further 18 months the operation of network protection provisions. This is due to a sunset provision that will come to an end on 13 June 2008. The bill also implements a number of minor yet quite important technical amendments, which I will refer to briefly a little later.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

As I indicated, this bill is to provide an extension of the sunset provisions of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979, which are due to end on 13 June 2008. There are no new powers in this bill for security or law enforcement agencies in relation to either telecommunications intercepts, the storage of communications or the access of data. What the bill does is to ensure that these agencies have a continuation of the tools that they find so necessary to combat the rapid growth in sophisticated crime networks around the country.

Madam Deputy Speaker, as you would no doubt appreciate, during my time with the Police Federation of Australia I had significant involvement with early negotiations for telephone and telecommunications intercepts. I know from my colleagues right across the nation that the highly evasive communications networks that have emerged are always difficult to detect and infiltrate and they require not only the development of equally sophisticated methods of maintaining access to telephone intercepts, upon receiving warrants, but also maintenance of the integrity of those networks.

The need for effective protection of corporate networks was also recognised in the Review of the Regulation of Access to Communications, conducted by Mr Anthony Blunn, who was a former secretary of the A-G’s department. That report was tabled in parliament back in September 2005. The Blunn report, as it has effectively become known, recommended that access be allowed to the content of communications outside of the warrant regime for the protection of corporate communications systems.

It proposed an 18-month extension to the existing network protection provisions that will ensure that law enforcement and security agencies can continue to protect their networks while comprehensive long-term solutions are developed. These comprehensive solutions are also subject to a rather comprehensive and very structured integrity regime with regard to how they are deployed.

When the initial legislation was introduced in this House in the form of the Telecommunications (Interception) Amendment Bill 2006, it initially only applied to the Australian Federal Police. These provisions are subject to a two-year sunset clause which will expire on 13 June. However, subsequently, access was granted to additional law enforcement agencies and other police services through the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Act 2007, but the original sunset clause was retained. Therefore, the sunset clause will expire on 13 June this year.

These amendments, by and large, provide some additional time to work on the recommendations contained in the Blunn report—many of which I have to say are very much supported. The legislation takes a contemporary view of the protection of a communications network and also looks positively at ensuring that the law enforcement agencies have the degree of access as required by the act on warrant. It also specifies the process and integrity regimes that need to be followed. These are matters that require additional work. This bill before us effectively grants additional time beyond the original scheme of the act, which was a sunset clause due to expire on 13 June.

In conclusion, this bill is an important element in ensuring that the legislative framework for access to telecommunications information for law enforcement and national security agencies remains clear and effective. It contains no new powers for security or law enforcement agencies and it strengthens the reporting and accountability framework. I commend the bill to the House.

Robert McClelland (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

in reply—I would like to thank the member for Werriwa for his contribution to the debate. He has taken a consistent interest in law enforcement and security matters generally and brings to the federal parliament considerable expertise in this area. The Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Bill 2008 is important in maintaining the capacity for stipulated agencies to protect their networks for an additional 18 months. This will provide the necessary time for the government to consult widely on a more permanent legislative solution. This solution needs to be focused on current network technologies and ensure that network operators have the legal capacity to protect their networks and provide a proper degree of privacy protection for users of that network. In many ways, the exercise that is being held this week, Cyber Storm 2, which was kicked off yesterday, I think, underlines the need for an overhaul of systems generally, both public and private.

The technical amendments to the interception regime will improve, clarify and simplify the operation of the T(I)A Act. These include removing several provisions that became redundant when certain functions were transferred from the Australian Federal Police to the Attorney-General’s Department, following the passage of the Telecommunications (Interception) Amendment Act 2006. As such, this bill is a further step in the ongoing modernisation of Australia’s laws for accessing telecommunications information for law enforcement or national security purposes. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.