The Encryption Forum organised by Communications Alliance and hosted by Baker McKenzie, will take place in Sydney on Thursday, 20 September, and follows a widespread outpouring of opposition to many of the measures contained within the draft legislation that was released for public comment four weeks ago.

• Stephen Blanks, President, NSW Council for Civil Liberties:
  
• Lizzie O’Shea, Board Member, Digital Rights Watch;
  
• Patrick Fair, Partner, Baker McKenzie and Chair, Communications Security Reference Panel at Communications Alliance;
  
• Peter Leonard, Privacy Expert, Data Synergies;
  
• Chris Wiley, Senior Security Analyst, AARNet; and
  
• John Stanton, CEO, Communications Alliance
  

Overwhelmingly, involved stakeholders support the high-level objective of the draft legislation – to assist the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies in an environment where criminals can and do use encryption to attempt to mask the content of their communications. 

Nonetheless, elements and potential impacts of the draft legislation that are generating controversy and fear include that: 

• the Bill may undermine Australians’ cyber-security, including by forcing telcos to create vulnerabilities in their goods or services that can be exploited by criminals;
  
• there are serious potential compromises for the privacy of all Australians;
  
• the Bill lacks appropriate Ministerial and Judicial oversight of the actions of security agencies;
  
• the scope of the Bill is extremely wide, seeking to capture the actions of telcos, internet players, IT companies, electronics manufacturers, installers, facility owners, component and software suppliers, among others;
  
• the wide application to overseas organisations may cause those firms to withdraw service offerings from the Australian market while simultaneously placing Australian organisations at a competitive disadvantage;
  
• the Bill risks placing industry players in an invidious position by requiring them to break the laws of foreign countries in which they operate; and
  
• the Bill may contribute to the fragmentation of the global internet and risks seeing Australia’s inputs to global internet governance fora sidelined.

ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE Communications Alliance is the primary communications industry body in Australia. Its membership is drawn from a wide cross-section of the communications industry, including carriers, carriage and internet service providers, content providers, platform providers, equipment vendors, IT companies, consultants and business groups.

Its vision is to be the most influential association in Australian communications, co-operatively initiating programs that promote sustainable industry development, innovation and growth, while generating positive outcomes for customers and society.  

The prime mission of Communications Alliance is to create a co-operative stakeholder environment that allows the industry to take the lead on initiatives which grow the Australian communications industry, enhance the connectivity of all Australians and foster the highest standards of business behaviour.  For more details about Communications Alliance, see www.commsalliance.com.au.

Media information contact:
info@commsalliance.com.au