Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS (INTERCEPTION) AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2002 (NO. 1) 2002 NO. 184

STATUTORY RULES 2002 No. 184

ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Telecommunications (Interception) Act 1979

TELECOMMUNICATIONS (INTERCEPTION) AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2002 (NO. 1)

Section 108 of the Telecommunications (Interception) Act 1979 ('the Act') provides for the Governor-General to make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

The Act regulates the interception of communications which pass over the telecommunications system. Interception of a communication passing over a. telecommunications system is defined in subsection 6(1) of the Act as consisting of "listening to or recording, by any means, such a communication in its passage over that telecommunications system without the knowledge of the person making the communication". The Act contains a general prohibition on the interception of communications, unless otherwise exempted or authorised under the Act.

The Telecommunications Interception Legislation Amendment Act 2002 amended the Act to provide that listening to or recording communications to "emergency services numbers" in certain circumstances will not amount to an interception under subsection 6(1) of the Act.

Under subsection 6(2A) of the Act, an "emergency services number" is defined as a telephone number on which assistance in emergencies may be sought from a police, fire or ambulance service, and which is specified in regulations or is in a class of numbers specified in regulations for the purposes of paragraph 6(2A)(b).

Subsection 6(2B) of the Act provides that listening to or recording communications to these emergency services numbers will not constitute interception, so long as it is performed by a person who is lawfully engaged in duties relating to the receiving or handling of these communications.

The purpose of the Regulations is to prescribe certain numbers as "emergency services numbers" for the purposes of subsections 6(2A) and 6(2B) of the Act. The effect of the Regulations will be to enable communications to these numbers to be recorded or listened to by those persons lawfully engaged in the receipt of such communications, without the knowledge of all parties to the communication.

The Regulations specify the numbers '000', '112' and '106' as "emergency services numbers" for the purposes of subsection 6(2A) of the Act. These numbers are those which are currently prescribed in the Telecommunications Numbering Plan as 'emergency service numbers' for the purposes of section 466 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. Section 466 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 provides for the specification of numbers for the purpose of calling an emergency call service in connection with emergencies which may require the provision of assistance by a police, fire or ambulance service. These numbers are specified as 'emergency service numbers' under the Telecommunications Numbering Plan 1997 and the Telecommunications Numbering Plan Amendment 2000 (No. 7). The primary emergency service number is '000' and the secondary emergency service numbers are '112' and '106', being the international mobile phone and teletypewriter equivalents, respectively.

Schedule 1 - Clause 1

Regulation 2 of the Principal Regulations have been amended to insert a new clause 2A which specifies emergency services numbers under paragraph 6(2A)(b) of the Act

The Regulations commenced on gazettal.