Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Act - Final Schedule Commences

The final Schedule of the Commonwealth Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Act 2012 (No. 120) has been slated to start on 1 March 2013, the same day as the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime comes into force for Australia.

The Act introduces changes in the Telecommunications Act 1997 and Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 and will force carriers and internet service providers (ISPs) to preserve stored communications, when requested by certain domestic authorities (such as the Australian Federal Police), or when requested by those authorities acting on behalf of nominated foreign countries.

Schedule 3 affects the Criminal Code Act 1995 (CTH) and reflects amendments made to ensure that computer related offences in Part 10.7 are applicable to both State and Territory offences as well as Commonwealth offences. In particular, Part 10.7 concentrates on offences relating to illegal access, modification and impairment of computer
data.

It is yet to be seen whether the privacy safeguards touted during the bill's second reading debate will have any impact on enforcement of the criminal provisions in the Act's third schedule.

To access documents regarding the bill's progress through Parliament, Apply for a free trial to TimeBase's LawOne Service, a one stop shop for Australian Legislation.