Revised Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by authority of the Attorney-General, the Honourable Christian Porter MP)PART 1 - AMENDMENTS COMMENCING AT THE SAME TIME AS SCHEDULE 2 TO THIS ACT
Item 1
1812. Item 1 inserts new subparagraph (vii) at the end of the definition of serious offence in paragraph 5D(1)(e) in relation to Division 122 of the Criminal Code (secrecy of information).
1813. Subparagraph 5D(1)(e)(vii) will include Division 122 of the Criminal Code (secrecy of information) in the definition of 'serious offence' for the purposes of the TIA Act. Protecting Australia from espionage and foreign interference relies heavily on strong protections for government information. Therefore, it is important to have robust secrecy laws in place to protect against unauthorised disclosure and handling that could cause harm.
1814. In the modern context, espionage may begin with the passage of government information in a way that would constitute a secrecy offence, but which falls short of an espionage offence (for example, because the person passing the information may not yet have formed an intention to prejudice Australia or to give an advantage to a foreign principal). As with espionage, in some circumstances a secrecy offence may only be detected through the use of interception powers, such as where a person is dealing with hard copy information and such powers will be critical in identifying and understanding a person's dealings with that information (for example, a person may have a conversation with a publisher indicating that they hold a hard copy of sensitive information that will inform a book they are writing). Further, electronic means present the most common and convenient method of passing information. Therefore, it is critical that investigators can intercept such communications to prevent serious harm.