Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Act 2015
| Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Act 2015 | |
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| Parliament of Australia | |
| Status: Current legislation |
The Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Act 2015 is an Act passed by the Australian Parliament on 13 April 2015 to amend the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (TIA Act) and the Telecommunications Act 1997 (The Telecommunications Act) to introduce a statutory obligation for Australian telecommunication service providers to retain, for a period of two years, particular types of telecommunications data (metadata) and introduces certain reforms to the regimes applying to the access of stored communications and telecommunications data under the TIA Act.
The Act is the third tranche of national security legislation passed by the Australian Parliament since September 2014. Pursuant to s 187AA, the following types of information will need to be retained by telecommunication service providers:
Phone Calls
Internet
The content or the substance of a communication is not considered to be metadata and will not be stored. Twenty-two agencies, including, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), state police forces, the Australian Crime Commission, the Australian Taxation Office and the NSW Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) will be able to view store metadata without a warrant. The only exception is the metadata of those defined under the Act as journalists. Under a concession driven by the opposition Australian Labor Party, agencies will need to seek a warrant before a judicial officer before they are able to view the metadata whilst ASIO will need to seek permission of the Attorney General.
The decision by the Abbott Government to introduce a mandatory telecommunications data regime into Australia led to considerable debate within the community. Supported by Australia’s law enforcement and national security agencies, including the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), who argue that telecommunications data is critical to criminal investigations and that is only through legislation that they can be assured that it will be available, the Act was opposed by a wide range of groups and individuals including journalists, human rights organizations and civil liberties groups. Their objections to the installment of a mandatory data regime are based on a number of different arguments such as the consequences for journalism and journalistic practice, the non-proportionate and increasing encroachment of the privacy of Australia’s population and the effectiveness of the regime as a tool to combat crime.
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