National Security Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 and Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement Bill 2010
Information about the Inquiry
On 18 March 2010 the Senate jointly referred the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement Bill 2010 for inquiry and report.
National Security Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
The bill will implement a package of reforms to Australia's national security legislation. The reforms will introduce a number of changes to the Criminal Code Act 1995, including amendments to the treason and sedition offences and to the provisions concerning terrorist organisations. It will also make changes to the Crimes Act 1914, including amendments dealing with the investigation powers of law enforcement officers in relation to terrorist offences, and rights of appeal in relation to bail decisions for persons charged with terrorism or other national security offences. The bill will also seek to improve the standard for listing a person, entity, asset or class of assets under the Charter of the United Nations Act 1945; improve the operation of the National Security Information (Criminal and Civil Proceedings) Act 2004 in relation to the disclosure, storage and handling of national security information; and amend the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1986 to enable the Prime Minister to request the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security to inquire into an intelligence or security matter relating to any Commonwealth department or agency. Finally, the bill will make a number of consequential amendments as a consequence of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement Bill 2010.
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement Bill 2010
The bill will establish the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement (PJC-LE), and set out the functions and administrative arrangements for this new committee. The PJC-LE will be established by renaming and extending the functions of the current Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission, and will be responsible for providing parliamentary oversight of the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Crime Commission. It will also examine trends and changes in criminal activities, and inquire into any question in connection with its functions that is referred to the PJC-LE by either house of parliament.
Submissions should be received by 30 April 2010. The reporting date is 15 June 2010. On 15 June 2010,the Senate granted an extension of time for reporting until 17 June 2010.
The Committee is seeking written submissions from interested individuals and organisations preferably in electronic form submitted online or sent by email to legcon.sen@aph.gov.au as an attached Adobe PDF or MS Word format document. The email must include full postal address and contact details.
Alternatively, written submissions may be sent to:
Committee Secretary
Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia
Notes to help you prepare your submission are available from the website at https://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/wit_sub/index.htm. Alternatively, the Committee Secretariat will be able to help you with your inquiries and can be contacted on telephone +61 2 6277 3560 or facsimile +61 2 6277 5794 or by email to legcon.sen@aph.gov.au.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to Parliament House TTY number 02 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools at http://access.adobe.com/ for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. If you require any special arrangements to enable you to participate in the Committee's inquiry, please contact the Committee Secretariat.
Once the Committee accepts your submission, it becomes a confidential Committee document and is protected by Parliamentary Privilege. You must not release your submission without the Committee's permission. If you do, it will not be protected by Parliamentary Privilege. At some stage during the inquiry, the Committee normally makes submissions public and places them on its website. Please indicate if you want your submission to be kept confidential.
For further information, contact: Committee Secretary
Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia