Digital Rights Watch worked with a number of civil society partners in providing a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) Review of the Telecommunications and Other Legislation (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 (TOLA).
Our key recommendations:
- Repeal of the TOLA Act in its entirety.
- The introduction of an enforceable federal human rights framework.
- Enshrine robust protections for whistleblowers who expose wrongdoing in relation the Act.
- Introduce a warrant-based system with judicial consent.
- Amend the Act to close the loophole that currently allows agencies to use powers to access journalist metadata without a warrant.
- Address the problems with the definition of ‘systemic weakness’, ‘systemic vulnerability’ and ’target technology.’
- Put in place annual reporting requirements on the part of the Attorney General in respect of powers exercised under the Act.