David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank senators for their contribution. In 2005 an independent report prepared by Anthony Blunn AO recommended the development of a single, overarching legislative scheme regulating access to telecommunications interceptions, stored communications and telecommunication data. Simply put, the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Bill 2007 gives effect to that recommendation. The bill does this by moving relevant provisions of the Telecommunications Act 1997 and regulating the disclosure of telecommunications data to law enforcement agencies through the Telecommunications (Interceptions and Access) Act 1979.

In addition to these amendments to consolidate the regulation of access to communications, the bill also includes amendments to allow the use of telecommunications interception in the investigation of all offences related to child pornography. This change reflects the seriousness of child pornography offences and also recognises that these offences are committed via communication networks and are most effectively addressed through access to communications.

It is important to stress that this proposal does not represent new powers for the security and law enforcement agencies; rather, it creates new, more systemic and appropriate controls over the existing access framework. The bill has been considered by both the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills and the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. I thank senators on both committees for their diligent work and the matters they raised. I know that the Attorney-General tabled a revised explanatory memorandum in the other place to address the matters raised by the Scrutiny of Bills Committee. The government has also considered the recommendations of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee in relation to ensuring appropriate privacy protection. The committee made several recommendations, which I will briefly address.

Firstly, the committee recommended that the CrimTrac agency be removed as an enforcement agency. The government does not agree with this recommendation. CrimTrac plays a valuable and growing coordination role, providing assistance to Commonwealth, state and territory agencies in criminal investigations in its role as a provider of national information services. It is for this reason that CrimTrac has always been an ‘enforcement agency’ under section 282 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. The transferred provision simply updates the agency’s name.

Secondly, the committee supported the use of the Communications Access Coordinator’s determination making power to provide guidance to agencies on how they should take privacy matters into account in authorising access to prospective data. The government remains committed to privacy protection and supports this role for the Communications Access Coordinator. In this context, I note that the bill requires consultation with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner when developing this guidance.

Thirdly, the government agrees with the committee’s views on the role of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, IGIS. The inspector-general already has extensive oversight powers and will be able to use these powers with respect to ASIO’s use of the proposed regime without the need for additional legislative provision.

Fourthly, the committee recommended that the Attorney-General’s Department arrange for an independent review of the interception act within five years. As the Attorney has previously indicated, the government does not support this recommendation. While regular review is important, experience shows that the pace of technological change alone continues to drive regular re-examination of the act. In fact, there have been 10 such reviews in recent years—five by independent officers and five by committees of the Senate.

The bill is another significant step in making sure that Australia’s laws for accessing telecommunications information for law enforcement or national security purposes keep pace with the rapidly changing telecommunications environment. This bill dramatically clarifies the regime by collocating relevant provisions in a single regime. This will provide a more transparent, understandable regime for agencies, the telecommunications industry and the public. Again, I thank senators for their contribution. I commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.