Supplementary Submission: Review of the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 (Cth)
The Law Council of Australia attended a public hearing as part of your review of the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 (Cth) (SLAID Act) on 19 February 2025.
In the course of that hearing, the Law Council was asked for its views on the suggestion that an individual who has been served with an assistance order with respect to a SLAID Act warrant ought to be able to disclose the existence of that order to obtain independent legal advice.
The Law Council notes that this question relates to the following recommendation contained in the submission of Dr Brendan Walker-Munro to the review:
The ‘protected information’ and ‘protected network activity warrant information’ provisions in the Surveillance Devices Act 2004 (Cth) and Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) be amended to allow the disclosure of the existence of an assistance order by a person subject to its issue.1
As noted in Dr Walker-Munro’s submission, legislative prohibitions on the disclosure of the existence of a data disruption warrant, account takeover warrant or network activity warrant, have the effect of preventing the subject of an assistance order from disclosing the existence of that order, as to do so may disclose the existence of the underpinning warrant.
Read the full submission below.
1 Dr Brendan Walker-Munro, Submission to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Review of Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 (Submission 3), Recommendation 11.
Last Updated on 11/03/2025