House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Attorney-General, the Honourable Robert McClelland MP)

NOTES ON CLAUSES

Clause 1 Short title

Clause 1 is a formal provision specifying the short title of the Bill. It provides that the Act may be cited as the Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Act 2011 .

Clause 2 Commencement

Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the Bill.

Schedules 1 and 2, the stored communications preservation regime and the amendments in relation to mutual assistance regime, commence on the 28th day after Royal Assent. This delay is primarily to ensure carriers and carriage service providers have sufficient time to make any necessary technical changes to be able to comply with new legislative requirements.

Schedule 3, computer offence amendments, commence on the 28th day after this Act receives Royal Assent, or the day on which Australia becomes a party to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, whichever occurs later. The reason for this timing is to ensure full Constitutional support for the provisions.

Schedules 4 and 5, telecommunications data confidentiality provisions and miscellaneous changes related to jurisdiction and the availability of real-time access to telecommunications data, commence on the 28th day after royal assent. This delay is to ensure these schedules commence at the same time as schedules 1 and 2.

Clause 3 Schedule(s)

Clause 3 provides that each Act that is specified in a Schedule is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.