The AA Act has wide implications for the international community as it has been enacted despite:

• Vague and unclear limits on ill defined, wide reaching powers;
• Involving Australia’s enforcement of laws of foreign countries including countries with the death penalty or offences not recognised in Australia (lack of dual criminality);
• Limited transparency and a lack of detailed reports accessible to Australians seeking to assess threats impacting on their information security;
• The removal of judicial review; and,
• Enhanced capability for information sharing among ‘Five Eyes’ (intelligence services from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and the US) nations, with no effective protections from abuse or misuse due to a lack of human rights protections for Australians.

The rapid development of technology in the Australia human rights context requires careful consideration as technology can be used for both the benefit and detriment of society. The lack of human rights legislation in Australia makes this consideration particularly important.

It is our submission that many of the concerns contained in this submission may be able to be alleviated with an increased focused on human rights education and the introduction of a comprehensive and enforceable federal human rights legislative framework.

The APF, QCCL and EFA appreciate the Commissioner’s Issues Paper and the opportunity to provide this submission on this important issue.

The full submission can be read here

In the brief, we first provide an overview of some of the systemic issues in Australia’s human rights and privacy framework, followed by an examination of some of the recent symptomatic manifestations of these systemic issues. We conclude the brief with a list of key recommendations for the UN Special Rapporteur on Privacy to consider in the Australian context.