Natasha Stott Despoja (SA, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian Democrats will be supporting the Labor amendment. It is a good amendment. It is one that was covered in the committee. It is something that we have not covered. This deals with the issue of whether a copy or a record can be considered the same as a stored communication and ensures that any copies of records are considered the same as a stored communication and are consequently subject to the same destruction provisions—something that we are quite concerned about. We believe that it is necessary to clear up some of those definitional issues in the schedule. Obviously this helps the AFP understand their requirements on the issue in relation to copied material specifically. So I will be supporting this amendment, which suggests that copies are not to be treated differently from the original stored communications.