(a) the order is later revoked or reversed on appeal; and
(b) the warrant is still in force when the order is revoked or reversed.
487S Expert assistance to operate electronic equipment
(1) This section applies if an authorised officer enters premises under a search warrant.
Securing equipment
(2) The authorised officer may do whatever is necessary to secure any electronic equipment that is on premises if the authorised officer reasonably believes that:
(a) there is on the premises evidential material of the kind specified in the search warrant; and
(b) that evidential material may be accessible by operating the equipment; and
(c) expert assistance is required to operate the equipment; and
(d) the evidential material may be destroyed, altered or otherwise interfered with, if the authorised officer does not take action under this subsection.
The equipment may be secured by locking it up, placing a guard or any other means.
(3) The authorised officer must give notice to the occupier of the premises, or another person who apparently represents the occupier, of:
(a) the authorised officer’s intention to secure the equipment; and
(b) the fact that the equipment may be secured for up to 24 hours.
Period equipment may be secured
(4) The equipment may be secured until the earlier of the following happens:
(a) the 24‑hour period ends;
(b) the equipment has been operated by the expert.
Note: For compensation for damage to electronic equipment, see section 487T.
Extensions
(5) The authorised officer may apply to an issuing officer for an extension of the 24‑hour period if the authorised officer reasonably believes that the equipment needs to be secured for longer than that period.
(6) Before making the application, the authorised officer must give notice to the occupier of the premises, or another person who apparently represents the occupier, of the authorised officer’s intention to apply for an extension. The occupier or other person is entitled to be heard in relation to that application.
(7) The provisions of this Division relating to the issue of search warrants apply, with such modifications as are necessary, to the issue of an extension.
(8) The 24‑hour period may be extended more than once.
487T Compensation for damage to electronic equipment
(1) This section applies if:
(a) as a result of electronic equipment being operated as mentioned in this Division:
(ii) the data recorded on the equipment is damaged; or
(iii) programs associated with the use of the equipment, or with the use of the data, are damaged or corrupted; and
(b) the damage or corruption occurs because:
(i) insufficient care was exercised in selecting the person who was to operate the equipment; or
(ii) insufficient care was exercised by the person operating the equipment.
(2) The Commonwealth must pay the owner of the equipment, or the user of the data or programs, such reasonable compensation for the damage or corruption as the Commonwealth and the owner or user agree on.
(3) However, if the owner or user and the Commonwealth fail to agree, the owner or user may institute proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction for such reasonable amount of compensation as the court determines.
(4) In determining the amount of compensation payable, regard is to be had to whether the occupier of the premises, or the occupier’s employees or agents, if they were available at the time, provided any appropriate warning or guidance on the operation of the equipment.
(5) In this section:
damage, in relation to data, includes damage by erasure of data or addition of other data.
Subdivision D—Occupier’s rights and responsibilities
487U Occupier entitled to observe execution of search warrant
(1) The occupier, or another person who apparently represents the occupier, is entitled to observe the execution of a search warrant if the occupier or other person is present at the premises while the warrant is being executed.
(2) The right to observe the execution of the search warrant ceases if the occupier or other person impedes that execution.
(3) This section does not prevent the execution of the search warrant in 2 or more areas of the premises at the same time.
487V Occupier to provide authorised officer with facilities and assistance
(1) The occupier of premises to which a search warrant relates, or another person who apparently represents the occupier, must provide:
(a) an authorised officer executing the warrant; and
(b) any person assisting the authorised officer;
with all reasonable facilities and assistance for the effective exercise of their powers, and the effective performance of their functions and duties.
Offence
(2) A person commits an offence if:
(a) the person is subject to subsection (1); and
(b) the person fails to comply with that subsection.
Penalty for contravention of this subsection: 30 penalty units.
Subdivision E—General provisions relating to seizure
487W Copies of seized things to be provided
(1) This section applies if:
(a) a search warrant is being executed in relation to premises; and
(b) an authorised officer seizes one or more of the following from the premises under this Division:
(i) a document, film, computer file or other thing that can be readily copied;
(ii) a storage device, the information in which can be readily copied.
(2) The occupier of the premises, or another person who apparently represents the occupier and who is present when the search warrant is executed, may request the authorised officer to give a copy of the thing or the information to the occupier or other person.
(3) The authorised officer must comply with such a request as soon as practicable after the seizure.
(4) However, the authorised officer is not required to comply with such a request if possession of the document, film, computer file, thing or information by the occupier or other person could constitute an offence against a law of the Commonwealth.
487X Receipts for seized things
(1) An authorised officer must provide a receipt for a thing that is seized under this Division.
(2) One receipt may cover 2 or more things that are seized.
487Y Return of seized things
(1) The Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner must take reasonable steps to return a thing seized under this Division when the earliest of the following happens:
(a) the reason for the thing’s seizure no longer exists;
(b) it is decided that the thing is not to be used in evidence;
(c) the period of 60 days after the thing’s seizure ends.
Note: See subsections (2) and (3) for exceptions to this rule.
Exceptions
(2) Subsection (1):
(a) is subject to any contrary order of a court; and
(b) does not apply if the thing:
(i) is forfeited or forfeitable to the Commonwealth; or
(ii) is the subject of a dispute as to ownership.
(3) The Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner is not required to take reasonable steps to return a thing because of paragraph (1)(c) if:
(a) proceedings in respect of which the thing may afford evidence were instituted before the end of the 60 days and have not been completed (including an appeal to a court in relation to those proceedings); or
(b) the thing may continue to be retained because of an order under section 487Z; or
(c) the Commonwealth, the Secretary, the Australian Border Force Commissioner or an authorised officer is otherwise authorised (by a law, or an order of a court, of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory) to retain, destroy, dispose of or otherwise deal with the thing.
Return of thing
(4) A thing that is required to be returned under this section must be returned to the person from whom it was seized (or to the owner if that person is not entitled to possess it).
487Z Issuing officer may permit a seized thing to be retained
Application to retain seized thing
(1) The Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner may apply to an issuing officer for an order permitting the retention of a thing seized under this Division for a further period if proceedings in respect of which the thing may afford evidence have not commenced before the end of:
(a) 60 days after the seizure; or
(b) a period previously specified in an order of an issuing officer under this section.
(2) Before making the application, the Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner must:
(a) take reasonable steps to discover who has an interest in the retention of the thing; and
(b) if it is practicable to do so, notify each person whom the Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner believes to have such an interest of the proposed application.
Order to retain seized thing
(3) The issuing officer may order that the thing may continue to be retained for a period specified in the order if the issuing officer is satisfied that it is necessary for the thing to continue to be retained:
(a) for the purposes of investigating whether:
(i) a sponsorship‑related offence has been committed; or
(ii) a sponsorship‑related provision has been contravened; or
(iii) a work‑related offence has been committed; or
(iv) a work‑related provision has been contravened; or
(b) to enable evidence of such an offence or contravention to be secured for the purposes of a prosecution or action.
(4) The period specified must not exceed 3 years.
487ZA Disposal of seized things
(1) The Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner may dispose of a thing seized under this Division if:
(a) the Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner has taken reasonable steps to return the thing to a person; and
(b) either:
(i) the Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner has been unable to locate the person; or
(ii) the person has refused to take possession of the thing.
(2) The Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner may dispose of the thing in any manner that he or she thinks appropriate.
487ZB Compensation for acquisition of property
(1) If the operation of section 487ZA would result in an acquisition of property from a person otherwise than on just terms, the Commonwealth is liable to pay a reasonable amount of compensation to the person.
(2) If the Commonwealth and the person do not agree on the amount of the compensation, the person may institute proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction for the recovery from the Commonwealth of such reasonable amount of compensation as the court determines.
(3) In this section:
acquisition of property has the same meaning as in paragraph 51(xxxi) of the Constitution.
just terms has the same meaning as in paragraph 51(xxxi) of the Constitution.
Subdivision F—Issue of search warrants
487ZC Issue of search warrants
Application for search warrant
(1) An authorised officer may apply to an issuing officer for a search warrant under this section in relation to premises.
Issue of search warrant
(2) The issuing officer may issue the search warrant if the issuing officer is satisfied, by information on oath or affirmation, that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is, or there may be within the next 72 hours, evidential material on the premises.
(3) However, the issuing officer must not issue the search warrant unless the authorised officer or some other person has given to the issuing officer, either orally or by affidavit, such further information (if any) as the issuing officer requires concerning the grounds on which the issue of the warrant is being sought.
Content of search warrant
(4) The search warrant must:
(a) state:
(i) the sponsorship‑related offence or offences; or
(ii) the sponsorship‑related provision or provisions; or
(iii) the work‑related offence or offences; or
(iv) the work‑related provision or provisions;
to which the warrant relates; and
(b) describe the premises to which the warrant relates; and
(c) state that the warrant is issued under this Subdivision; and
(d) specify the kind of evidential material that is to be searched for under the warrant; and
(e) state that the evidential material specified, and any other evidential material found in the course of executing the warrant, may be seized under the warrant; and
(f) name one or more authorised officers; and
(g) authorise the authorised officers named in the warrant:
(i) to enter the premises; and
(ii) to exercise the powers set out in this Division in relation to the premises; and
(h) state whether entry is authorised to be made at any time of the day or during specified hours of the day; and
(i) specify the day (not more than 1 week after the issue of the warrant) on which the warrant ceases to be in force.
487ZD Search warrants by telephone, fax etc.
Application for search warrant
(1) An authorised officer may apply to an issuing officer by telephone, fax or other electronic means for a search warrant under section 487ZC in relation to premises:
(a) in an urgent case; or
(b) if the delay that would occur if an application were made in person would frustrate the effective execution of the warrant.
(2) The issuing officer may require communication by voice to the extent that it is practicable in the circumstances.
(3) Before applying for the search warrant, the authorised officer must prepare an information of the kind mentioned in subsection 487ZC(2) in relation to the premises that sets out the grounds on which the warrant is sought. If it is necessary to do so, the authorised officer may apply for the warrant before the information is sworn or affirmed.
Issuing officer may complete and sign search warrant
(4) The issuing officer may complete and sign the same search warrant that would have been issued under section 487ZC if the issuing officer is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for doing so:
(a) after considering the terms of the information; and
(b) after receiving such further information (if any) as the issuing officer requires concerning the grounds on which the issue of the warrant is being sought.
(5) After completing and signing the search warrant, the issuing officer must inform the authorised officer, by telephone, fax or other electronic means, of:
(a) the terms of the warrant; and
(b) the day on which, and the time at which, the warrant was signed.
Obligations on authorised officer
(6) The authorised officer must then do the following:
(a) complete a form of search warrant in the same terms as the warrant completed and signed by the issuing officer;
(b) state on the form the following:
(i) the name of the issuing officer;
(ii) the day on which, and the time at which, the search warrant was signed;
(c) send the following to the issuing officer:
(i) the form of search warrant completed by the authorised officer;
(ii) the information referred to in subsection (3), which must have been duly sworn or affirmed.
(7) The authorised officer must comply with paragraph (6)(c) by the end of the day after the earlier of the following:
(a) the day on which the search warrant ceases to be in force;
(b) the day on which the search warrant is executed.
Issuing officer to attach documents together
(8) The issuing officer must attach the documents provided under paragraph (6)(c) to the search warrant signed by the issuing officer.
487ZE Authority of search warrant
(1) A form of search warrant duly completed under subsection 487ZD(6) is authority for the same powers as are authorised by the search warrant signed by the issuing officer under subsection 487ZD(4).
(2) In any proceedings, a court is to assume (unless the contrary is proved) that an exercise of power was not authorised by a search warrant under section 487ZD if:
(a) it is material, in those proceedings, for the court to be satisfied that the exercise of power was authorised by that section; and
(b) the warrant signed by the issuing officer authorising the exercise of the power is not produced in evidence.
487ZF Offence relating to search warrants by telephone, fax etc.
An authorised officer must not:
(a) state in a document that purports to be a form of search warrant under section 487ZD the name of an issuing officer unless that issuing officer signed the warrant; or
(b) state on a form of search warrant under that section a matter that, to the authorised officer’s knowledge, departs in a material particular from the terms of the warrant signed by the issuing officer under that section; or
(c) purport to execute, or present to another person, a document that purports to be a form of search warrant under that section that the authorised officer knows departs in a material particular from the terms of a warrant signed by an issuing officer under that section; or
(d) give to an issuing officer a form of search warrant under that section that is not the form of search warrant that the authorised officer purported to execute.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 2 years.
Subdivision G—Identity cards
487ZG Identity cards
(1) The Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner must issue an identity card to an authorised officer for the purposes of this Division.
Identity card must be carried by authorised officer
(2) An authorised officer must carry his or her identity card at all times when exercising powers as an authorised officer under this Division.
Form of identity card
(3) The identity card must:
(a) be in the form approved by the Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner; and
(b) contain a recent photograph of the authorised officer.
Offence
(4) A person commits an offence if:
(a) the person has been issued with an identity card under subsection (1); and
(b) the person ceases to be an authorised officer; and
(c) the person does not, as soon as practicable after so ceasing, return the identity card to the Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner.
Penalty: 1 penalty unit.
(5) An offence against subsection (4) is an offence of strict liability.