Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

TELECOMMUNICATIONS (INTERCEPTION AND ACCESS) ACT 1979 - SECT 46

             (1)  Where an agency applies to an eligible Judge or nominated AAT member for a warrant in respect of a telecommunications service and the Judge or nominated AAT member is satisfied, on the basis of the information given to the Judge or nominated AAT member under this Part in connection with the application, that:

                     (a)  Division 3 has been complied with in relation to the application; and

                     (b)  in the case of a telephone application--because of urgent circumstances, it was necessary to make the application by telephone; and

                     (c)  there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that a particular person is using, or is likely to use, the service; and

                     (d)  information that would be likely to be obtained by intercepting under a warrant communications made to or from the service would be likely to assist in connection with the investigation by the agency of a serious offence, or serious offences, in which:

                              (i)  the particular person is involved; or

                             (ii)  another person is involved with whom the particular person is likely to communicate using the service; and

                     (e)  having regard to the matters referred to in subsection (2), and to no other matters, the Judge or nominated AAT member should issue a warrant authorising such communications to be intercepted;

the Judge or nominated AAT member may, in his or her discretion, issue such a warrant.

Note:          Subparagraph (d)(ii)--subsection (3) restricts the issuing of warrants if subparagraph (d)(ii) applies.

             (2)  The matters to which the Judge or nominated AAT member shall have regard are:

                     (a)  how much the privacy of any person or persons would be likely to be interfered with by intercepting under a warrant communications made to or from the service referred to in subsection (1); and

                     (b)  the gravity of the conduct constituting the offence or offences being investigated; and

                     (c)  how much the information referred to in paragraph (1)(d) would be likely to assist in connection with the investigation by the agency of the offence or offences; and

                     (d)  to what extent methods of investigating the offence or offences that do not involve so intercepting communications have been used by, or are available to, the agency; and

                     (e)  how much the use of such methods would be likely to assist in connection with the investigation by the agency of the offence or offences; and

                      (f)  how much the use of such methods would be likely to prejudice the investigation by the agency of the offence or offences, whether because of delay or for any other reason; and

                     (g)  in relation to an application by an interception agency of Queensland--any submissions made by the PIM under section 45 to the Judge or nominated AAT member.

             (3)  The Judge or nominated AAT member must not issue a warrant in a case in which subparagraph (1)(d)(ii) applies unless he or she is satisfied that:

                     (a)  the agency has exhausted all other practicable methods of identifying the telecommunications services used, or likely to be used, by the person involved in the offence or offences referred to in paragraph (1)(d); or

                     (b)  interception of communications made to or from a telecommunications service used or likely to be used by that person would not otherwise be possible.