{"id":"F2014L00644","name":"Notice of a declaration of a Commonwealth Royal Commission as an eligible Commonwealth authority under section 5AA of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979","slug":"notice-of-a-declaration-of-a-commonwealth-royal-commission-as-an-eligible-commonwealth-authority-und","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":91768,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2014L00644-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Notice of a declaration of a Commonwealth Royal Commission as an eligible Commonwealth authority under section 5AA of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\nmeta-generator: Aspose.Words for .NET 20.2\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n \n\n \n\nNotice of a declaration of a Commonwealth Royal Commission as an eligible Commonwealth authority under section 5AA of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979\n\n \n\n \n\nI, George Brandis QC, Attorney-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting under section 5AA of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979, declare the Commonwealth Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption to be an eligible Commonwealth authority for the purposes of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979.\n\n \n\n \n\nDated 27 May 2014\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n………………………………………\n\nGEORGE BRANDIS QC  Attorney-General\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"model":"kimi-k2.5","source":"moonshot-batch","completionTokens":2235},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The declaration operates strictly within the parameters of section 5AA of the Act, applying the existing framework to a specific Royal Commission without expanding the scope or purpose of the underlying legislation."},"complexity_factors":[],"plain_english_summary":"**What this does**\n\nThis declaration gives the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption access to powerful surveillance tools under the *Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979*.\n\n**The practical effect**\n\nBy declaring the Commission an \"eligible Commonwealth authority\" (a specially approved government body), it may now apply for judicial warrants to:\n\n* **Intercept** live phone calls, texts, and internet communications\n* **Access** stored emails, messages, and metadata held by telecommunications companies\n\nThese are covert investigative powers typically reserved for police and anti-corruption agencies.\n\n**Who is affected**\n\n* **The Royal Commission** gains surveillance capabilities beyond its usual powers to summon witnesses and hold public hearings\n* **Individuals and organisations under investigation** may have their private communications monitored (subject to judicial approval)\n* **Telecommunications providers** may receive legal orders to assist with technical access\n\n**Why it matters**\n\nRoyal Commissions traditionally rely on public testimony and document production. This declaration upgrades the Commission to law-enforcement status for the purposes of telecommunications interception, significantly strengthening its ability to uncover evidence of serious misconduct within trade unions."},"summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This declaration did not amend the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979. It simply added the specified Royal Commission to the list of eligible Commonwealth authorities, using a power already in the Act, and the declaration ceased to have ongoing effect once the Royal Commission completed its work."},"complexity_factors":["Straightforward ministerial declaration under an existing statutory provision","Narrow, single-purpose instrument applicable to one named Royal Commission"],"plain_english_summary":"This short declaration (27 May 2014) named the Commonwealth Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption as an “eligible Commonwealth authority” under s.5AA of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979, enabling limited access to stored communications and applications for interception warrants. It applied only to that Commission, affected its investigators, relevant telecom carriers and subjects of inquiries, and was administrative and time‑limited—now of historical record."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/notice-of-a-declaration-of-a-commonwealth-royal-commission-as-an-eligible-commonwealth-authority-und","history":"/api/acts/notice-of-a-declaration-of-a-commonwealth-royal-commission-as-an-eligible-commonwealth-authority-und/history","analysis":"/api/acts/notice-of-a-declaration-of-a-commonwealth-royal-commission-as-an-eligible-commonwealth-authority-und/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/notice-of-a-declaration-of-a-commonwealth-royal-commission-as-an-eligible-commonwealth-authority-und/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/notice-of-a-declaration-of-a-commonwealth-royal-commission-as-an-eligible-commonwealth-authority-und/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/notice-of-a-declaration-of-a-commonwealth-royal-commission-as-an-eligible-commonwealth-authority-und/documents"}}