Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Bill 2009
Information about the Inquiry
On 17 September 2009 the Senate referred the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Bill 2009 for inquiry and report.
Not all computer network protection activities are currently lawful under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (the TIA Act). This bill seeks to amend the TIA Act to ensure that all owners and operators of computer networks can undertake legitimate activities to operate, maintain and protect their networks. Further, the bill seeks to:
• enable Commonwealth agencies, security authorities and eligible State authorities to ensure that their computer network is appropriately used by employees, office holders or contractors of the agency or authority;
• limit secondary use and disclosure of information obtained through network protection activities to:
o network protection purposes
o undertaking disciplinary action against an employee, office holder or contractor of a Commonwealth agency, security authority and eligible authority of a State who has been given access to a network, and
o reporting illegal behaviour that attracts a minimum of three years' imprisonment penalty threshold to the relevant authorities; and
• require the destruction of records obtained by undertaking network protection activities when the information is no longer required for those purposes.
These provisions of the bill will replace the special interim provisions currently in place which cease to have effect after 12 December 2009.
The bill also seeks to amend the TIA Act in some other respects by:
• extending the evidentiary certificate regime;
• clarifying that lawfully intercepted information can be used by the AFP in control and preventative detention order proceedings; and
• making consequential amendments regarding the NSW Police Integrity Commission.
Submissions should be received by 09 October 2009. The reporting date is 16 November 2009.
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