NCJ Number
114105
Date Published
1987
Length
15 pages
Annotation
About 175 telephone tap warrants are issued in Australia each year, and, as a consequence, over 8,000 citizens have their conversations overheard.
Abstract
During January 1985 through May 1986, the Australian Federal Police monitored 7,502 days of conversation under 117 warrants. Three territories have no regulation of listening devices, and of those with such legislation, only two require an annual report on the use of listening devices. In 1986, 207 police bugging warrants were issued in New South Wales. In addition, to legal phone taps, there have been numerous incidents of illegal electronic surveillance by police, including a 16-year long operation in New South Wales. The easy availability of listening devices, scanners, and bugs also has made illegal interception by amateurs possible. While judicial review is supposed to provide a safeguard against abuses, judges approve nearly 100 percent of applications made for warrants. Further, provisions for parliamentary oversight and public scrutiny through annual reports fail to provide adequate protection of privacy. Unlike in the United States and Canada, where warrants have been challenged in court and where civil actions for breach of privacy rights are possible, Australia has no such protections. Additionally, the admissibility of illegally-obtained evidence is currently a matter of common law discretion. Enactment of Federal and State enforceable rights to privacy is needed to redress the imbalance of police powers to conduct electronic surveillance.