The A-G's site states
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security Advisory report on the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2014, recommended that civil litigants be prohibited from being able to access telecommunications data held by a service provider solely for the purpose of complying with the mandatory data retention regime.
The committee considered that as the data retention regime was established specifically for law enforcement and national security purposes, as a general principle it would be inappropriate for data retained under the scheme to be drawn on as a new source of evidence in civil proceedings.
However, the committee also indicated that it was aware of the potential for unintended consequences resulting from a prohibition on courts authorising access to data retained under the scheme and recommended that the Minister for Communications and the Attorney-General review this measure.
Consequently, section 280 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 was amended such that data retained solely for the purposes of the data retention scheme cannot be used for civil proceedings. That prohibition commences on 13 April 2017. The provision includes a regulation making power to enable appropriate exceptions to be made.The brief paper released as part of the invitation states
In essence, the legislation is designed to preserve the longstanding power of courts to order access to relevant telecommunications data in civil proceedings while limiting access to data that has been retained solely for the purposes of the data retention scheme. The Committee’s recommendation to include a regulation-making power, which the Government accepted, is designed to mitigate the risk that restricting parties to civil proceedings’ access to such data could adversely impact the effective operation of the civil justice system, or the rights or interests of parties to civil proceedings.
The Department of Communications and the Arts and the Attorney-General’s Department are seeking the views of stakeholders with an interest in the civil justice system and privacy to support the Minister for Communications and the Attorney-General in their review of the prohibition and regulation-making power. In particular, the departments are interested in views about the following questions:
1. In what circumstances do parties to civil proceedings currently request access to telecommunications data in the data set outlined in section 187AA of the TIA Act (refer to Attachment A [below])?
2. What, if any, impact would there be on civil proceedings if parties were unable to access the telecommunications data set as outlined in section 187AA of the TIA Act?
The Attachment reads3. Are there particular kinds of civil proceedings or circumstances in which the prohibition in section 280(1B) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 should not apply?
Topic 1 The subscriber of, and accounts, services, telecommunications devices and other relevant services relating to, the relevant service
Description of information for Topic 1 The following: (a) any information that is one or both of the following: (i) any name or address information; (ii) any other information for identification purposes; relating to the relevant service, being information used by the service provider for the purposes of identifying the subscriber of the relevant service; (b) any information relating to any contract, agreement or arrangement relating to the relevant service, or to any related account, service or device; (c) any information that is one or both of the following: (i) billing or payment information; (ii) contact information; relating to the relevant service, being information used by the service provider in relation to the relevant service; (d) any identifiers relating to the relevant service or any related account, service or device, being information used by the service provider in relation to the relevant service or any related account, service or device; (e) the status of the relevant service, or any related account, service or device.
Topic 2 The source of a communication
Description of information for Topic 2 Identifiers of a related account, service or device from which the communication has been sent by means of the relevant service.
Topic 3 The destination of a communication
Description of information for Topic 3 Identifiers of the account, telecommunications device or relevant service to which the communication: (a) has been sent; or (b) has been forwarded, routed or transferred, or attempted to be forwarded, routed or transferred.
Topic 4 The date, time and duration of a communication, or of its connection to a relevant service
Description of information for Topic 4 The date and time (including the time zone) of the following relating to the communication (with sufficient accuracy to identify the communication): (a) the start of the communication; (b) the end of the communication; (c) the connection to the relevant service; (d) the disconnection from the relevant service.
Topic 5 The type of a communication or of a relevant service used in connection with a communication
Description of information for Topic 5 The following: (a) the type of communication; Examples: Voice, SMS, email, chat, forum, social media. (b) the type of the relevant service; Examples: ADSL, Wi-Fi, VoIP, cable, GPRS, VoLTE, LTE. (c) the features of the relevant service that were, or would have been, used by or enabled for the communication. Examples: Call waiting, call forwarding, data volume usage. Note: This item will only apply to the service provider operating the relevant service: see paragraph 187A(4)(c).
Topic 6 The location of equipment, or a line, used in connection with a communication
Description of information for Topic 6 The following in relation to the equipment or line used to send or receive the communication: (a) the location of the equipment or line at the start of the communication; (b) the location of the equipment or line at the end of the communication. Examples: Cell towers, Wi-Fi hotspots.
