Surveillance Devices Act 2004

A law enforcement officer of the Australian Federal Police (or another person on the law enforcement officer’s behalf) must not make an application for the issue of a data disruption warrant unless the making of the application has been endorsed, either orally or in writing, by an endorsing officer of the Australian Federal Police.

An endorsing officer of the Australian Federal Police must not endorse the making of an application for the issue of a data disruption warrant unless the endorsing officer is satisfied that the making of the application is appropriate in all the circumstances.

For the purposes of this section, an endorsing officer of the Australian Federal Police means:

a law enforcement officer of the Australian Federal Police who is declared, in writing, by the chief officer of the Australian Federal Police to be an endorsing officer of the Australian Federal Police; or

a person who is in a class of law enforcement officers of the Australian Federal Police that is declared, in writing, by the chief officer of the Australian Federal Police to be a class of endorsing officers of the Australian Federal Police.

The chief officer of the Australian Federal Police must not make a declaration under paragraph (3)(a) in relation to a law enforcement officer of the Australian Federal Police unless:

the law enforcement officer is a superintendent, or a person holding a higher rank, in the Australian Federal Police; and

the chief officer is satisfied that the law enforcement officer has the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to endorse the making of applications for the issue of data disruption warrants; and

the chief officer is satisfied that the law enforcement officer has completed all current internal training requirements relating to endorsing the making of applications for the issue of data disruption warrants.

The chief officer of the Australian Federal Police must not make a declaration under paragraph (3)(b) in relation to a class of law enforcement officers of the Australian Federal Police unless:

each person in that class is a superintendent, or a person holding a higher rank, in the Australian Federal Police; and

the chief officer is satisfied that each person in that class has the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to endorse the making of applications for the issue of data disruption warrants; and

the chief officer is satisfied that each person in that class has completed all current internal training requirements relating to endorsing the making of applications for the issue of data disruption warrants.

A declaration under this section is not a legislative instrument.