Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move amendments (10) to (12) on sheet 7672 together:

(10) Schedule 1, item 6V, page 46 (lines 13 to 31), omit section 182A, substitute:

182A Disclosure/use offences: journalist information warrants

(1) A person commits an offence if:

  (a) the person discloses or uses information; and

  (b) the information is about any of the following:

     (i) whether a journalist information warrant (other than such a warrant that relates only to section 178A) has been, or is being, requested or applied for;

     (ii) the making of such a warrant;

     (iii) the existence or non-existence of such a warrant;

     (iv) the revocation of such a warrant; and

  (c) the person knows that the information is about a warrant as set out in paragraph (b); and

  (d) at the time of the disclosure or use, the matter to which the warrant relates is ongoing.

Penalty:   Imprisonment for 2 years.

(2) A person commits an offence if:

  (a) the person discloses or uses a document; and

  (b) the document consists (wholly or partly) of any of the following:

     (i) a journalist information warrant (other than such a warrant that relates only to section 178A);

     (ii) the revocation of such a warrant; and

  (c) the person knows that the document consists (wholly or partly) of the warrant or the revocation of the warrant; and

  (d) at the time of the disclosure or use, the matter to which the warrant relates is ongoing.

Penalty:   Imprisonment for 2 years.

(11) Schedule 1, item 6V, page 47 (before line 4), before paragraph 182B(a), insert:

  (aa) both:

     (i) the disclosure or use is by a person working in a professional capacity as a journalist; and

     (ii) the information or document is disclosed or used in that capacity for the purpose of disseminating information on a matter of public interest; or

(12) Schedule 1, item 6X, page 48 (before line 1), before section 185D, insert:

185CA Evidentiary certificate relating to ongoing Ombudsman matter

(1) The Director-General of Security or the Deputy Director-General of Security may issue a written certificate signed by him or her setting out:

  (a) whether a matter involving the grounds on which a journalist information warrant was issued is ongoing; and

  (b) whether the matter was ongoing on a specified date.

(2) A document purporting to be a certificate issued under subsection (1) by the Director-General of Security or the Deputy Director-General of Security and to be signed by him or her:

  (a) is to be received in evidence in an exempt proceeding without further proof; and

  (b) is, in an exempt proceeding, prima facie evidence of the matters stated in the document.

Note: An evidentiary certificate issued under this section relates to an offence under section 182A.

185CB Evidentiary certificate relating to ongoing enforcement agency matter

(1) A certifying offer of an enforcement agency may issue a written certificate signed by him or her setting out:

  (a) whether a matter involving the grounds on which a journalist information warrant was issued is ongoing; and

  (b) whether the matter was ongoing on a specified date.

(2) A document purporting to be a certificate issued under subsection (1) by a certifying officer of an enforcement agency and to be signed by him or her:

  (a) is to be received in evidence in an exempt proceeding without further proof; and

  (b) is, in an exempt proceeding, prima facie evidence of the matters stated in the document.

Note: An evidentiary certificate issued under this section relates to an offence under section 182A.

Amendment (10) amends the offences in the bill related to the disclosure and use of journalist information warrants. This amendment limits the offence to ensure it only applies when a person knows that the information disclosed or used relates to a journalist information warrant and that the matter to which the warrant relates is ongoing. The aim of this amendment is to ensure openness and transparency and, in practical terms, to allow reporting on matters that may, in the past, have related to journalist protection warrants. While acknowledging that such an offence provision may be necessary to protect ongoing investigations, these amendments prevent the offence from becoming a barrier to sharing information in the public interest.

Amendment (11) seeks to clarify the defences available to someone charged with the disclosure or use of information relating to journalist information warrants. It provides that disclosure or use by a journalist for the purpose of disseminating information in the public interest is a defence. In conjunction with the amendments in amendment (10), this amendment will ensure that journalists are free to report on matters of public interest even if they are the subject of a journalist information warrant.

Amendment (12) allows the Director-General of Security or Deputy Director-General of Security to provide evidentiary certificates relating to whether a matter involving the grounds on which a journalist information warrant was issued is ongoing and whether the matter specified was ongoing on a particular day. These provisions are consistent with others in the act relating to the issuing of evidentiary certificates. Under the same conditions, a certifying officer of an enforcement agency may issue a written certificate relating to the same matters. Again, this is consistent with existing provisions for the use of evidentiary certificates in the act.