Committee recommends passage of telecommunications security bill

THE Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has today presented a bipartisan report on the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016.

The Bill introduces laws to manage national security risks of espionage, sabotage and foreign interference to Australia’s telecommunications networks and facilities.

The Committee recommends that the Bill be passed by the Parliament, and makes 12 further recommendations for improvements to the proposed framework.

“I am pleased to present a bipartisan report on this important piece of national security legislation”, the Chair of the Committee, Mr Andrew Hastie MP, said.

“The Committee recognises that protecting telecommunications infrastructure requires a joint partnership between Government and industry. Our recommendations will strengthen the proposed security framework by providing greater clarity and certainty for industry, encouraging information-sharing by the Government, and enhancing the transparency of the regime’s operation”, Mr Hastie added.

The Committee’s recommendations include:

• providing further clarity in guidelines to industry on the extent of the framework’s application in areas such as cloud computing and over-the-top services,
• ensuring effective and regular information-sharing between government and industry, in particular in relation to threat information,
• introducing a specific obligation for industry to notify government of any new or amended offshoring arrangements in relation to retained telecommunications data, and
• specifying annual reporting requirements in the legislation.

The Committee has also recommended that the framework be reviewed after three years to ensure it is operating effectively.

During its inquiry, the Committee received written submissions from industry, government and academia and held public hearings on the Bill. The inquiry followed several rounds of consultation with industry and the public since 2012.

The full report can be accessed via the Committee’s website.

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