Requests by foreign countries for telecommunications data
15D Requests by foreign countries for telecommunications data
This section applies if:
a foreign country requests the disclosure of specified information or specified documents that come into existence during a specified period; and
the information or documents relate to the fact of a communication passing over a telecommunications system.
To avoid doubt, information or documents do not relate to the fact of a communication passing over a telecommunications system:
if the information is the contents or substance of a communication; or
to the extent that the documents contain the contents or substance of a communication.
The Attorney‑General may authorise the making of an authorisation under section 180B of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979, of a disclosure of information or documents to which this section applies, if he or she is satisfied that:
an investigation relating to a criminal matter involving an offence against the law of the foreign country has commenced in that country; and
the offence:
is punishable by imprisonment for 3 years or more, imprisonment for life or the death penalty; or
involves an act or omission that, if it had occurred in Australia, would have constituted a serious offence within the meaning of section 5D of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979.
This Act’s bill:Second reading speech
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