(1) General In this Act,
"terrorist act" means an action where--
(a) the action falls within subsection
(2) and does not fall within subsection (3), and
(b) the action is done with
the intention of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause, and
(c) the action is done with the intention of--
(i) coercing, or influencing by
intimidation, the government of the Commonwealth or a State, Territory or
foreign country, or of part of a State, Territory or foreign country, or
(ii)
intimidating the public or a section of the public.
(2) Action included
Action falls within this subsection if it--
(a) causes serious harm that is
physical harm to a person, or
(b) causes serious damage to property, or
(c)
causes a person's death, or
(d) endangers a person's life, other than the
life of the person taking the action, or
(e) creates a serious risk to the
health or safety of the public or a section of the public, or
(f) seriously
interferes with, seriously disrupts, or destroys, an electronic system
including, but not limited to--
(i) an information system, or
(ii) a
telecommunications system, or
(iii) a financial system, or
(iv) a system
used for the delivery of essential government services, or
(v) a system used
for, or by, an essential public utility, or
(vi) a system used for, or by, a
transport system.
(3) Action excluded Action falls within this subsection if
it--
(a) is advocacy, protest, dissent or industrial action, and
(b) is not
intended--
(i) to cause serious harm that is physical harm to a person, or
(ii) to cause a person's death, or
(iii) to endanger the life of a person,
other than the person taking the action, or
(iv) to create a serious risk to
the health or safety of the public or a section of the public.
(4)
Application In this section--
(a) a reference to any person or property is a
reference to any person or property wherever situated, within or outside the
State (including within or outside Australia), and
(b) a reference to the
public includes a reference to the public of another State or Territory or of
a country other than Australia.
Note : The above definition is in the same
terms as those used in Part 5.3 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code (as inserted
by the Security Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Act 2002 of the
Commonwealth), except that threats of terrorist acts are excluded since it is
not necessary to refer to threats in the context in which the expression is
used in this Act.
