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TELECOMMUNICATIONS INTERCEPTION AND INTELLIGENCE SERVICES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2010

                                  2010-2011







               THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA







                                   SENATE





    TELECOMMUNICATIONS INTERCEPTION AND INTELLIGENCE SERVICES LEGISLATION
                             AMENDMENT BILL 2010





                    SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM



             New Clauses to be Moved on Behalf of the Government









              (Circulated by authority of the Attorney-General,
                    the Honourable Robert McClelland MP)

 AMENDMENTS TO THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INTERCEPTION AND INTELLIGENCE SERVICES
                       LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2010



OUTLINE

The Telecommunications Interception and Intelligence Services Legislation
Amendment Bill 2010 amends the Telecommunications (Interception and Access)
Act 1979 (TIA Act), the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act
1979 and the Intelligence Services Act 2001.  The Bill is intended to
enhance cooperation, assistance and information sharing among Australia's
law enforcement and national security community, and improve the operation
of the TIA Act.

The proposed government amendment will add an additional Schedule to the
Bill, which will amend the Intelligence Services Act 2001 to expand the
membership of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and
Security (the Committee) from nine to eleven members and make some
consequential amendments.


FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT


The amendments will have no financial impact. 
NOTES ON CLAUSES

Amendment (1)

This amendment will insert a new Schedule 8 at the end of the Bill, which
will make amendments to the Intelligence Services Act 2001 (IS Act)
relating to the membership of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on
Intelligence and Security ('the Committee').

Item 1 - Subsection 28(2)

Item 1 will increase the number of members that constitute the Committee
from nine to eleven members.  It will repeal the existing subsection 28(2)
and substitute it with a provision that requires the Committee to consist
of 11 members, 5 of whom must be Senators and 6 of whom must be members of
the House of Representatives.

Item 2 - Paragraph 8(1)(b) of Schedule 1

Item 2 will clarify that the Committee is able to consider any evidence
taken by or produced to the Committee during the same or another
Parliament, even where the Committee ceases to exist or changes its
constitution.  It repeals paragraph 8(1)(b) of Schedule 1 and substitutes
it with a provision that is intended to put beyond any doubt that the
provision applies to preserve the use of evidence previously obtained by
the Committee in the following circumstances:

    . where the committee ceases to exist, such as when Parliament is
      prorogued; and

    . if the Committee membership changes, for example if an individual
      member is replaced by a different member, or if the size of the
      Committee's membership changes.

Item 3 - Paragraph 18(1)(a) of Schedule 1

Item 3 will increase the number of members required to form a quorum of the
Committee from 5 to 6 members.  It substitutes the existing requirement in
paragraph 18(1)(b) of Schedule 1 to provide that a quorum of the Committee
is constituted if at least 6 members are present.  This measure reflects
the expansion in membership of the Committee from nine to eleven members
and ensures that a quorum continues to require a majority of members.

Item 4 - Transitional - existing appointments not affected

Item 4 is a transitional provision that ensures that the increase in the
membership of the Committee made by these amendments does not affect the
appointment of members to the Committee before commencement of Schedule 8.
This is intended to ensure that the business of the Committee may continue
and it is not necessary to re-appoint those members that are currently
appointed to the Committee.