Commonwealth act

Telecommunications Amendment Act 1979

RepealedCTH

This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth

Act Number

115 of 1979

Collection

act

Plain English Summary

1/10 complexity

This Act removes Section 86 from the Telecommunications Act 1975, which previously dealt with the interception of information (essentially, the rules about listening in on or recording communications).

What it does:

Repeals (deletes) the entire Section 86 from the 1975 Telecommunications Act
Takes effect on the same day the Australian Security Intelligence Organization Act 1979 starts operating

Why it matters: This change likely shifted responsibility for telecommunications interception from the general telecommunications regulator to Australia's security intelligence service (ASIO) under its new legislative framework. It represents a move to centralise national security surveillance powers under dedicated intelligence legislation rather than general telecommunications law.

JSON API

Deep dive

Want the full deep dive?

Zoe can write the in-depth analysis on top of the summary above: how it works, who it affects and what each part actually does.

Current sections

Direct links to the current provisions in Telecommunications Amendment Act 1979.