George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Muir, as I tried to explain in answer to your primary question, it is not this bill that gives NBN Co a capacity to retain data. This bill requires companies like NBN Co to retain data in circumstances where perhaps they otherwise would not have done. Nevertheless, there are a range of protections that will prevent access of the kind you describe.

It is a criminal offence for employees of a carrier, including NBN Co, to use or disclose metadata without a lawful purpose. The bill, with the government amendments I will move in response to the PJCIS inquiry, further tightens the lawful access arrangements. Finally, I should point out that law enforcement agencies have lawfully accessed metadata for more than 20 years, including from Telecom as it then was, which was also a wholly owned government business enterprise.