Electronic surveillance laws to be overhauled after major review

The landmark review of legislation governing Australia's intelligence agencies by former spy boss Dennis Richardson has found the existing legislation covering intercepting and monitoring electronic communication needs to be simplified and modernised, with powers to be more uniform across different agencies.

"The TIA [Telecommunications (Interception and Access)] Act itself rests on outdated technological assumptions, and has become complex to the point of being opaque," Mr Richardson wrote.

Around 70 of the more than 200 recommendations in the report relate to telecommunications and survelliance devices, with Attorney-General Christian Porter saying on Friday the legislation relating to interception and surveillance have been amended many times since their introduction in previous decades and "have become increasingly hard to navigate and are unnecessarily complex".

Commissioned by the government in May 2018, the classified version of the review runs to 1600 pages, with 203 recommendations. A declassified, 1300-page version of the report was made public, with 13 recommendations remaining under wraps. Of the 190 recommendations made public, the government accepted 186 in full, in part or in principle.

Despite the significant number of recommendations by Mr Richardson, his findings about Australia's intelligence bodies were mainly positive, reporting oversight of the agencies was robust, and recommending against going down many paths.

READ MORE:

Mr Porter described the government's response as an "evolution, rather than revolution, of Australia's intelligence and security agencies".

"The government will ensure that these agencies continue to have the powers necessary to keep Australians safe against new and emerging threats. They will be backed by the oversight necessary to maintain the trust and confidence of all Australians," he said.

While Mr Richardson found the principles underpinning the legislation governing Australia's intelligence agencies was sound, he has called out unnecessary complexity and volume in the legislation.

"Complex laws also undermine public trust and confidence," he wrote.

"It should be clear to the Australian public what intrusive powers are available to NIC [national intelligence community] agencies, the circumstances in which they may be used, and the limits, controls, safeguards and accountability mechanisms that apply."

At the same time, Mr Richardson warned "too often during the review, proposals to 'clarify' or 'streamline' legislation amounted to no more than a bid to extend powers or functions".

Mr Richardson recommended some changes to the powers of agencies, but urged more co-operation between agencies rather than increasing powers to each organisation.