27Inspection of postal articles

#### 27 Inspection of postal articles (1) It is unlawful: (a) for a person, being the Director‑General, an ASIO employee or an ASIO affiliate acting in his or her capacity as such, to seek from the Australian Postal Corporation or from an employee or agent of that Corporation; or (b) for that Corporation or an employee or agent of that Corporation to provide to such a person; access to a postal article that is in the course of the post or information concerning the contents or cover of any postal article except in pursuance of, or for the purposes of, a warrant under this Division, and it is the duty of the Director‑General to take all reasonable steps to ensure that this subsection is not contravened. (2) Where, upon receipt by the Attorney‑General of a request by the Director‑General for the issue of a warrant under this section in relation to a person, the Attorney‑General is satisfied that: (a) that person is engaged in or is reasonably suspected by the Director‑General of being engaged in, or of being likely to engage in, activities prejudicial to security; and (b) access by the Organisation to postal articles posted by or on behalf of, addressed to or intended to be received by, that person, while the articles are in the course of the post, will, or is likely to, assist the Organisation in carrying out its function of obtaining intelligence relevant to security; the Attorney‑General may, by warrant under his or her hand, authorize the Organisation to do such of the following acts and things as the Attorney‑General considers appropriate in the circumstances, namely, with respect to postal articles in the course of the post that were posted by or on behalf of, or are addressed to, that person or are reasonably suspected by a person authorized to exercise the authority of the Organisation under the warrant to be intended to be received by that person, to inspect, and make copies of, or of the covers of, the articles, and to open the articles and inspect and make copies of the contents of any such article. (3) Where, upon receipt by the Attorney‑General of a request by the Director‑General for the issue of a warrant under this section in relation to an address, the Attorney‑General is satisfied that: (a) some or all of the postal articles that are being, or are likely to be, sent by post to that address are or will be intended to be received by a person (whether of known identity or not) engaged in, or reasonably suspected by the Director‑General of being engaged in, or of being likely to engage in, activities prejudicial to security; and (b) access by the Organisation to postal articles posted to that address and intended to be received by the person referred to in paragraph (a) will, or is likely to, assist the Organisation in carrying out its function of obtaining intelligence relevant to security; the Attorney‑General may, by warrant under his or her hand, authorize the Organisation to do such of the following acts and things as the Attorney‑General considers appropriate in the circumstances, namely, with respect to postal articles in the course of the post that are addressed to that address and appear on their face to be, or are reasonably suspected by a person authorized to exercise the authority of the Organisation under the warrant to be, intended to be received by the person referred to in paragraph (a), to inspect, and make copies of, or of the covers of, the articles and to open the articles and inspect and make copies of the contents of any such article. (4) A warrant under this section shall specify the period for which it is to remain in force, being a period not exceeding 6 months, but may be revoked by the Attorney‑General at any time before the expiration of the period so specified. (5) Subsection (4) shall not be construed as preventing the issue of any further warrant. (6) Where the Director‑General is informed under section 32 of the issue of a warrant under this section, the Director‑General must: (a) cause the Australian Postal Corporation to be informed of the issue of the warrant without delay; and (b) where, under section 32, the Director‑General receives the warrant—cause a certified copy of the warrant to be given to the Australian Postal Corporation as soon as practicable. (6A) Where: (a) the Director‑General has been informed under section 32 of the issue of a warrant under this section; and (b) the Director‑General is informed under that section that the warrant has been revoked; the Director‑General must: (c) cause the Australian Postal Corporation to be informed of the revocation without delay; and (d) where, under section 32, the Director‑General receives the instrument of revocation—cause a certified copy of the instrument of revocation to be given to the Australian Postal Corporation as soon as practicable. (7) The Australian Postal Corporation shall give to a person acting in pursuance of a warrant under this section all reasonable assistance. (8) Nothing in Part VIIA of the Crimes Act 1914 or the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 shall be taken to prohibit the doing of anything in pursuance of, or for the purposes of, a warrant under this section. (9) Nothing in subsection (1) applies in relation to a postal article addressed to, or appearing to be intended to be received by or on behalf of, the Organisation. (10) In this section: > address means any premises or place (including a post office box or bag service) to which postal articles may be addressed. > agent, in relation to the Australian Postal Corporation, includes any person performing services for that Corporation otherwise than under a contract of service and an employee of such a person.