A review of the Telecommunications and other Legislation Amendment (Assistance & Access) Act 2018 has been tabled in Parliament.
Attorney-General and Acting Home Affairs Minister, Christian Porter, thanked the former Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM), Dr James Renwick CSC SC for the report and his work over the past three years as INSLM.
Dr Renwick completed his term on the 30th June.
"This review's recommendations will be an important consideration for the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) which referred the matter to the INSLM in March 2019 as part of its own review of the Assistance and Access Act, due to be completed in September 2020," the Attorney-General said.
"Given the PJCIS review, it would be sensible for the Government to await the PJCIS findings before responding to the INSLM's report.
"What is clear however, is that the counter encryption laws have been critical to helping protect Australia's national security.
"As the Director-General of Security, Mike Burgess, said in February, these laws were used within 10 days of them coming into effect, helping ASIO "prevent a real risk of injury to Australians".
"The Government will carefully review the report's recommendations along with the findings from the PJCIS review later this year to ensure our agencies continue to have the most effective and proportionate laws available to them."
The report is available here
