Australian Parliament Rushed to Pass Its Encryption-Busting Bill Before the Year’s End

Today the Australian Parliament rushed through passage of its encryption bill, the Telecommunication and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018. The version of the bill that passed included 173 amendments that were released only hours before Parliament voted.

This new law will provide the Australian government with broad powers that threaten strong encryption, cybersecurity, and fundamental human rights, including privacy, of people all over the world. While the amendments include minor improvements over the version of the bill considered by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS), these changes do not cure the many harms created by the legislation.

New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) previously called for the Australian Parliament to slow down its consideration of the bill, and submitted three rounds of coalition comments on behalf of an international coalition of civil society organizations, technology companies, and trade associations. The coalition comments criticized the bill’s sweeping new authorities, and the final set outlined amendments that would have ameliorated some of the most significant concerns we identified.

The following quote can be attributed to Sharon Bradford Franklin, Director of Surveillance & Cybersecurity Policy, New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“Sadly, the Australian Parliament scrambled to meet an artificial end-of-the-year deadline, and last night granted the government unprecedented new surveillance powers. Parliament failed to take the time to assess law enforcement’s actual needs compared to the imperative to protect cybersecurity for everyone. Rather than heeding calls to stand strong for digital security and human rights, they tried to appear strong on terrorism, and wound up passing a bill that could undermine their stated goal. Leaders of the Australian Labor Party promised to review and reform the bill early in the new year, and we look forward to supporting these efforts.”

See the September 9, 2018 coalition comments from 31 civil society organizations, technology companies, and trade associations, that OTI submitted on the original Exposure Draft of the bill here.

See the October 11, 2018 coalition comments from 38 civil society organizations, technology companies, and trade associations, that OTI submitted to the PJCIS inquiry here.

See the November 21, 2018 supplemental coalition comments from 29 civil society organizations, technology companies, and trade associations, that OTI submitted to the PJCIS inquiry here.