Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 (148 of 2018)

Schedule 4   Search warrants issued under the Customs Act 1901

Customs Act 1901

8A   After section 201

Insert:

201AA Use of electronic equipment at other place

(1) If electronic equipment is moved to another place under subsection 200(2), the executing officer or a person assisting may operate the equipment to access data (including data held at another place).

(2) If the executing officer or person assisting suspects on reasonable grounds that any data accessed by operating the electronic equipment constitutes evidential material, the executing officer or person assisting may copy any or all of the data accessed by operating the electronic equipment to a disk, tape or other associated device.

(3) If the Comptroller-General of Customs is satisfied that the data is not required (or is no longer required) for:

(a) investigating an offence against a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; or

(b) judicial proceedings or administrative review proceedings; or

(c) investigating or resolving a complaint under the Ombudsman Act 1976 or the Privacy Act 1988;

the Comptroller-General of Customs must arrange for:

(d) the removal of the data from any device subject to customs control; and

(e) the destruction of any other reproduction of the data subject to customs control.

(4) If the executing officer or a person assisting, after operating the equipment, finds that evidential material is accessible by doing so, the executing officer or person assisting may:

(a) seize the equipment and any disk, tape or other associated device; or

(b) if the material can be put in documentary form - put the material in that form and seize the documents so produced.

(5) The executing officer or a person assisting may seize equipment under paragraph (4)(a) only if:

(a) it is not practicable to copy the data as mentioned in subsection (2) or to put the material in documentary form as mentioned in paragraph (4)(b); or

(b) possession of the equipment by the person referred to in paragraph 200(2)(b) or (c) (as the case requires) could constitute an offence.