Committee to review international production order scheme for sharing electronic information

THE Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) has commenced a review of provisions in the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (TIA Act) relating to international production orders for electronic information.

Schedule 1 to the TIA Act, which was added to the Act in July 2021, established a scheme to enhance law enforcement cooperation between Australia and a foreign country with which it has made a designated international agreement, in relation to electronic information held or controlled by communications providers.

The scheme is intended to assist Australia combat serious crimes such as terrorism, child sexual abuse and cybercrime, by enabling a pathway for law enforcement and intelligence agencies to request access to electronic data held by service providers in foreign jurisdictions and subject to foreign laws. The legislation places various conditions and requirements on the use of international production orders.

To date, one agreement has been made to facilitate international production orders – the Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the United States of America on Access to Electronic Data for the Purpose of Countering Serious Crime, also known as the Australia-US CLOUD Act Agreement, which entered into force on January 31, 2024.

The PJCIS is required by law to review the operation, effectiveness and implications of the international production orders provisions, five years after their commencement.

Additional information on the committee’s review may be found here.

The committee requests submissions to this review by Thursday, September 24. Submissions should be prepared solely for this inquiry and should not be published prior to being accepted by the committee.

Further information about making a submission can be found at this link.

ends