Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) If:
(a) a foreign country (the requesting country ) has commenced an investigation into, or proceedings in relation to, a serious offence against the laws of that country; and
(b) that foreign country requests the provision of material relevant to that investigation or those proceedings; and
(c) the Attorney - General is satisfied that the material requested is:
(i) material lawfully obtained by an enforcement agency in Australia; and
(ii) material lawfully in the possession of that enforcement agency;
the Attorney - General may, by writing in accordance with the approved form, authorise the provision of that material to the requesting country.
(2) The Attorney - General may only authorise the provision to the requesting country of material specified in column 1 of the following table if the request relates to a serious offence against the laws of that country specified in column 2 of the table:
Offences for which provision of particular material may be authorised | ||
Item | Column 1 | Column 2 |
1 | material that is or includes protected SD information | a serious offence punishable by a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 3 years or more, imprisonment for life or the death penalty |
2 | material that is or includes lawfully accessed information or stored communications warrant information | a serious offence punishable by a maximum penalty of: (a) imprisonment for 3 years or more, imprisonment for life or the death penalty; or (b) a fine of an amount that is at least equivalent to 900 penalty units |
3 | material that is or includes lawfully intercepted information or interception warrant information | (a) a serious offence punishable by a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 7 years or more, imprisonment for life or the death penalty; or (b) a cartel offence punishable by a maximum penalty of a fine of an amount that is at least equivalent to $10,000,000 |
4 | material that is or includes protected IPO intercept information | a serious offence punishable by a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 7 years or more, imprisonment for life or the death penalty |
5 | material that is or includes: (a) protected IPO stored communications information; or (b) protected IPO telecommunications data information | a serious offence punishable by a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 3 years or more, imprisonment for life or the death penalty |
(3) An authorisation by the Attorney - General under subsection (1) may include a direction to an authorised officer of the enforcement agency having possession of the material about how the material is to be provided to that foreign country.
(4) In authorising the provision of material to a foreign country, the Attorney - General may specify the uses to which that material can be put.
(5) An authorisation by the Attorney - General under subsection (1) is not a legislative instrument.
(6) In this section:
"authorised officer" includes a law enforcement officer within the meaning of the Surveillance Devices Act 2004 .
"enforcement agency" includes a law enforcement agency within the meaning of the Surveillance Devices Act 2004 .
"material lawfully obtained by an enforcement agency in Australia" includes:
(a) material obtained from individuals or entities by consent; and
(b) material obtained by warrant or the exercise of a coercive power by a court in Australia for the purposes of a domestic investigation or prosecution.