Telecommunications Act 1997

The Director‑General of Security or the chief officer of an interception agency may give a designated communications provider a notice, to be known as a technical assistance notice, that requires the provider to do one or more specified acts or things that:

are in connection with any or all of the eligible activities of the provider; and

are covered by subsection (2).

Section 317ZK deals with the terms and conditions on which such a requirement is to be complied with.

The specified acts or things must be by way of giving help to:

in a case where the technical assistance notice is given by the Director‑General of Security—ASIO; or

in a case where the technical assistance notice is given by the chief officer of an interception agency—the agency;

the performance of a function, or the exercise of a power, conferred by or under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, so far as the function or power relates to:

enforcing the criminal law, so far as it relates to serious Australian offences; or

assisting the enforcement of the criminal laws in force in a foreign country, so far as those laws relate to serious foreign offences; or

safeguarding national security; or

a matter that facilitates, or is ancillary or incidental to, a matter covered by paragraph (c).

The specified acts or things must not be directed towards ensuring that a designated communications provider is capable of giving help to ASIO or an interception agency.

The acts or things specified in a technical assistance notice given to a designated communications provider must be listed acts or things, so long as those acts or things:

are in connection with any or all of the eligible activities of the provider; and

are covered by subsection (2).

For listed acts or things, see section 317E.