Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsGeneral rule--places occupied by Commonwealth agencies
(1) For the purposes of a corruption investigation, the Commissioner (or another authorised officer) may:
(a) enter any place occupied by a Commonwealth agency, at any reasonable time of the day; and
(b) carry on the investigation at that place; and
(c) inspect any documents relevant to the investigation that are kept at that place; and
(d) make copies of, or take extracts from, any documents so inspected; and
(e) for the purpose of making a copy of, or taking an extract from, a document, remove the document from that place; and
(f) seize a document or thing found at that place if the Commissioner (or other authorised officer) believes on reasonable grounds that:
(i) the document or thing is relevant to an indictable offence; and
(ii) seizure of the document or thing is necessary to prevent its concealment, loss or destruction or its use in committing an indictable offence.
Exception--Court premises and places occupied by parliamentarians or their staff, the ABC and SBS
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to:
(a) premises occupied by the High Court or a court created by the Parliament; or
(b) any place in the Parliamentary precincts (within the meaning of the Parliamentary Precincts Act 1988 ); or
(c) premises made available to a parliamentarian under the Parliamentary Business Resources Act 2017 ; or
(d) any premises occupied by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation or the Special Broadcasting Service Corporation.
Exception--prohibited and restricted Defence areas
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to a place mentioned in subsection (4), unless:
(a) the Minister administering the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act 1952 (or another Minister acting for and on behalf of that Minister) has approved the person entering the place or area; and
(b) the person complies with any conditions imposed by the Minister giving the approval in relation to:
(i) the person entering that place or area; and
(ii) the manner in which the investigation is to be carried on at that place or area.
(4) The places are as follows:
(a) a place that is a prohibited area for the purposes of the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act 1952 under section 7 of that Act;
(b) an area of land or water, or an area of land and water, that is declared under section 14 of that Act to be a restricted area for the purposes of that Act.
Exception--places declared by the Attorney - General
(5) If the Attorney - General is satisfied that carrying on an investigation of a corruption issue at a place might prejudice the security or defence of the Commonwealth, the Attorney - General may, by written notice to the Commissioner, declare the place to be a place to which this subsection applies.
(6) While the declaration is in force, subsection (1) does not authorise a person to do anything at the place unless:
(a) a Minister specified in the declaration (or another Minister acting for and on behalf of that Minister) has approved the person entering the place; and
(b) the person complies with any conditions imposed by the Minister giving the approval in relation to:
(i) the person entering that place; and
(ii) the manner in which the investigation is to be carried on at that place.
(7) A declaration by the Attorney - General under this section is not a legislative instrument.