The Telecommunications Amendment (Disclosure of Information for the Purpose of Cyber Security) Regulations 2023 (Amendment) commenced on 30 September 2023.
The Amendment extends the operation of ss 15A and 15B of the Telecommunications Regulations 2021 for an additional year. Doing so grants the government more time to weigh in on the ongoing appropriateness and effectiveness of the Regulations to implement a more permanent solution in the related legislation.
Sections 15A and 15B concern the disclosure of information and/or documents to financial services entities or government entities, circumventing the prohibitions in s 276 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth) if the disclosure is for the purpose of cyber security. The Regulations further provide limited circumstances for when this disclosure is permitted. The Amendment also changes the manner by which the Minister for Communications may specify additional types of information or documents as disclosable from a notifiable instrument form to a legislative instrument form.
The relevant sections of the Amendment were originally supposed to be a temporary measure, scheduled to be repealed on 12 October 2022, however, this Amendment now extends the repeal date to 12 October 2024.
For a full reading of the legislation, see here.
