Crime Point-in-Time Service Updates

The Crime Point-in-Time Service has been updated to include the amendments from  the Criminal Code Amendment (Impersonating a Commonwealth Body) Act 2018 (Cth) (Act 44 of 2018) and the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Act 2018 (Cth) (Act 67 of 2018).

Act 44 of 2018

The Act will introduce new offences and a new injunction power to prohibit and prevent conduct amounting to false representation of a Commonwealth body.
Specifically, the offences and the injunction power will prohibit a person from falsely representing themselves to be, or to be acting on behalf of, or with the authority of, a Commonwealth body.
The Act strengthens public confidence in all communications emanating from Commonwealth bodies and will put the criminalisation of such conduct beyond doubt, ensuring that those who create false representations in this way are captured by the law. It will also provide aggrieved parties with an opportunity to prevent such conduct through a court-issued injunction.

Act 67 of 2018

This Act aims to comprehensively reform key offences dealing with threats to national security, particularly those posed by foreign principals. The Act:

• strengthens existing espionage offences
• introduces new foreign interference offences targeting covert, deceptive or threatening actions by foreign actors who intend to influence Australia’s democratic or government processes or to harm Australia
• reforms Commonwealth’s secrecy offences, ensuring they appropriately criminalise leaks of harmful information while also protecting freedom of speech
• introduces comprehensive new sabotage offences that effectively protect critical infrastructure in the modern environment
• modernises and reforms offences against government, including treason, to better protect Australia’s defence and democracy
• introduces a new theft of trade secrets offence to protect Australia from economic espionage by foreign government principals,
• introduces a new aggravated offence for providing false and misleading information in the context of security clearance processes, and
• ensures law enforcement agencies have access to telecommunications interception powers to investigate these serious offences.

The amendments made by these Acts have been updated in the Point-in-Time Crime Service current to 21 August 2018. (NB: Subscription required).

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