Criminal Code Act 1995

Schedule - The Criminal Code  

Section 3

CHAPTER 5 - THE SECURITY OF THE COMMONWEALTH  

Part 5.2 - Espionage and related offences  

Division 92A - Theft of trade secrets involving foreign government principal  

SECTION 92A.1   Theft of trade secrets involving foreign government principal  

(1)    
A person commits an offence if:

(a) the person dishonestly receives, obtains, takes, copies or duplicates, sells, buys or discloses information; and

(b) all of the following circumstances exist:

(i) the information is not generally known in trade or business, or in the particular trade or business concerned;

(ii) the information has a commercial value that would be, or could reasonably be expected to be, destroyed or diminished if the information were communicated;

(iii) the owner of the information has made reasonable efforts in the circumstances to prevent the information becoming generally known; and

(c) any of the following circumstances exists:

(i) the conduct is engaged in on behalf of, or in collaboration with, a foreign government principal or a person acting on behalf of a foreign government principal;

(ii) the conduct is directed, funded or supervised by a foreign government principal or a person acting on behalf of a foreign government principal.

Penalty: Imprisonment for 15 years.

(2)    
For the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), dishonest means:

(a) dishonest according to the standards of ordinary people; and

(b) known by the defendant to be dishonest according to the standards of ordinary people.

(3)    
In a prosecution for an offence against this section, the determination of dishonesty is a matter for the trier of fact.

(4)    
For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c):

(a) the person does not need to have in mind a particular foreign government principal; and

(b) the person may have in mind more than one foreign government principal.