Surveillance Devices Act 2004

Judges or nominated members of the Administrative Review Tribunal (a government body that reviews decisions) issue most warrants.

Who Does This Law Affect?

Directly:

• Law enforcement agencies and their officers — it defines exactly what they can and can't do
• Suspects in serious criminal investigations (offences punishable by 3+ years imprisonment)
• People on control orders or supervision orders (court orders imposed on terrorism suspects or high-risk offenders who have finished their prison sentence)
• Serious offenders released from prison on community safety supervision orders, who can be tracked and surveilled to check they're complying

Indirectly (and this is where it affects ordinary Australians):

• Anyone whose conversations, movements, or computer data might be captured during a surveillance operation — even if they're not the target

Strict Rules on What Happens With the Information

The Act tightly controls what agencies can do with information collected:

• It cannot be freely shared — there are strict rules about who can see it
• It cannot be published — leaking it is illegal
• Records must be securely stored and eventually destroyed
• Agencies must file reports about their surveillance activities

The Computer Hacking Power — Worth Noting

One of the most significant aspects of this law is that it allows law enforcement to not just read data on computers but to actually modify, add to, copy, or delete data. This is an extraordinary power — essentially legalised hacking. It requires a special warrant (data disruption warrant) and is limited to AFP and ACC officers.

Intelligence Gathering on Criminal Networks

The AFP and ACC can also obtain warrants to access computer data purely for intelligence gathering about criminal networks — even without an active criminal investigation into specific individuals. This is a broader, more proactive power.

Post-Sentence Surveillance

People who have already served their prison sentence for terrorism or serious violent/sexual offences can still be subjected to surveillance if they are under court-imposed supervision orders. The law specifically authorises this ongoing monitoring.

Oversight

The Commonwealth Ombudsman (an independent watchdog) is given a role in inspecting how the powers are used, providing a check on potential abuse.