Commonwealth Numbered Acts

AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANIZATION ACT 1979 No. 113 of 1979 - SECT 25

25. (1) Where, upon receipt by the Minister of a request by the
Director-General for the issue of a warrant under this section, the Minister
is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that there are in
any premises any records without access to which by the Organization the
collection of intelligence by the Organization in accordance with this Act in
respect of a matter that is important in relation to security would be
seriously impaired, the Minister may, by warrant under his hand, authorize the
Organization to do such of the following acts and things as the Minister
considers appropriate in the circumstances but subject to any restrictions or
conditions that are specified in the warrant, namely-

   (a)  to enter the premises;

   (b)  to search the premises for the purpose of finding records relevant to
        that matter and, for that purpose, to open any safe, box, drawer,
        parcel, envelope or other container in which there is reasonable cause
        to believe that any such records may be found;

   (c)  to inspect or otherwise examine any records found in the premises and
        to make copies or transcripts of any record so found that appears to
        be relevant to the collection of intelligence by the Organization in
        accordance with this Act; and

   (d)  to remove any record so found for the purposes of its inspection or
        other examination, and the making of copies or transcripts, in
        accordance with the warrant and to retain a record so removed for such
        time as is reasonable for those purposes.

(2) The Minister shall not issue a warrant under this section on a ground that
relates to domestic subversion unless he is satisfied that a person or
organization occupying or using, or that has recently occupied or used, the
premises specified in the warrant is engaged in activities constituting, or in
preparation for, domestic subversion.

(3) A warrant under this section shall state whether entry under the warrant
may be made at any time of the day or night or only during specified hours and
may, if the Minister thinks fit, provide that entry may be made, or that
containers may be opened, without permission first sought or demand made and
authorize measures that he is satisfied are necessary for that purpose.

(4) A warrant under this section shall specify the period for which it is to
remain in force, being a period not exceeding 7 days, but may be revoked by
the Minister at any time before the expiration of the period so specified.

(5) Sub-section (4) shall not be construed as preventing the issue of any
further warrant.