Review of Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 (Cth)
The Law Council of Australia provided a submission to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor in response to its inquiry into the operation, effectiveness, and implications of the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 (Cth) (SLAID Act). The Law Council appreciates the critical importance of ensuring that Australia’s national security and law enforcement agencies have the necessary powers to combat serious cyber-enabled crime, whilst maintaining robust safeguards for civil liberties and the rule of law.
The Law Council acknowledges the need to periodically re-evaluate the powers of law enforcement agencies that have been adapted to the specialised context of cyber-enabled offences, particularly serious and harmful offences carried out online, such as child exploitation and terrorism. The safeguards in the framework must reflect the importance of accountability, transparency, the rule of law, privacy and other human rights.
The necessity and proportionality of these powers requires careful scrutiny. This is because these powers depart sharply from the traditional focus of law enforcement on the collection of admissible evidence of specific offences. In addition, these powers have the potential to adversely impact the right to privacy for large numbers of non-suspects who are lawfully using the networks, systems or accounts that are suspected of being used by offenders.
Read the full submission below.
Last Updated on 05/02/2025