UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Davis,

Freedom of Information request FOI17/056

I refer to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act) for access to documents relating to telecommunications data.
Specifically:

‘A complete and up to date (as at 17 March 2017) list of all agencies and
other entities authorised to access the data collected under the
Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention)
Act 2015’.

I apologise for the delay in acknowledging your request. We received your
request on 18 March 2017 and the 30 day statutory period for processing
your request commenced from the day after that date. You should therefore
expect a decision from us by 15 April 2017. The period of 30 days may be
extended if we need to consult third parties or for other reasons. We will
advise you if this happens.

It is the usual practice of the department to not disclose the names and
contact details of junior officers of the department and other government
agencies, where that personal information is contained in documents within
the scope of a request. The names and contact details of senior officers
will generally be disclosed. We will take it that you agree to the removal
of junior officers personal details unless you advise that you would like
us to consider releasing that information as part of the documents you
have requested.

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our disclosure log:
http://www.ag.gov.au/RightsAndProtection...
subject to certain exceptions. For example, personal infromation will not
be published where this would be unreasonable.

We will contact you using the email address you have provided. Please
advise if you prefer an alternative means of contact.

If you have any questions, please contact me by telephone (02) 6141 6666
or email [AGD request email].

Yours sincerely,

Courtney

Freedom of Information and Privacy Section  |  Strategy and Delivery
Division

Attorney-General’s Department

T: (02) 6141 6666 | E: [1][AGD request email]

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UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Craig,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information Request dated 18 March 2017 in
which you asked the Department to provide an up‑to‑date list of all
agencies and other entities authorised to access the data collected under
the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data
Retention) Act 2015. 

The data retention legislation introduced a number of safeguards and
restricted existing access to metadata. The number of agencies eligible to
access metadata was reduced from over 80 to 21 national security and
criminal law enforcement agencies.

Section 176A of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979
(TIA Act) provides the meaning of an enforcement agency. Within this
section is a cross reference to section 110A, which lists the criminal
law‑enforcement agencies that can apply for access to retained data: ^

·         Australian Federal Police (Cth)

·         a police force of a state

·         Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (Cth)

·         Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (Cth)

·         subject to some exceptions, the Department of Immigration and
Border Protection (Cth)

·         Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Cth)

·         Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (Cth)

·         Independent Commission Against Corruption (NSW)

·         Police Integrity Commission (to be replaced by the Law
Enforcement Conduct Commission) (NSW)

·         Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (VIC)

·         Crime and Corruption Commission (QLD)

·         Corruption and Crime Commission (WA)

·         Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (SA)

·         Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Cth)

·         or an authority or body for which a declaration is in force.

Under section 176A (3) of the TIA Act, there is a declaration making power
which permits the Attorney‑General to declare additional agencies,
subject to strict criteria. To date, no declarations have been made under
this regime.

We hope the above response answers your query regarding agencies with
access to telecommunications data.

Kind regards,

Courtney

Freedom of Information and Privacy Section

Strategy and Delivery Division | Attorney-General’s Department

T: (02) 6141 6666 | E: [1][AGD request email]

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