Australia's law enforcement agencies rely on a variety of law enforcement tools to catch and prosecute serious criminals.

One important tool is the use of surveillance devices which could be anything from a hidden microphone to an ordinary video camera.

Today, however, the powers available to Commonwealth law enforcement to use such devices lag sadly behind what the technology makes possible and what other jurisdictions permit.

This Bill began as an initiative of the Leaders' Summit on Terrorism and Multi-Jurisdictional Crime held on 5 April 2002.

A Joint Working Group of Commonwealth and State and Territory officials was established by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General and the Australasian Police Ministers' Council.

The Joint Working Group developed comprehensive model laws for all Australian jurisdictions to improve the effectiveness of cross-border criminal investigations in the areas of controlled operations, assumed identities, protection of witness identity and electronic surveillance.

These model laws were released in a public discussion paper to solicit feedback from groups and individuals on the suitability of these proposed powers.

The Surveillance Devices Bill [No. 2] 2004 (the Bill) implements the electronic surveillance model Bill, tailoring it to the needs of the Commonwealth.

This Bill differs in a number of respects from the Surveillance Devices Bill [No.1] 2004 which is currently before the Parliament and is being introduced for the purposes of expediency so as to ensure that this important legislation is passed before the Winter recess.

The Bill will consolidate, expand and modernise the now somewhat outdated surveillance device powers available to the Commonwealth and provide law enforcement agencies with access to the surveillance tools necessary to protect Australians and to investigate and stop crime.

The Bill allows law enforcement officers of the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Crime Commission or a State or Territory police force or other specified agencies investigating a Commonwealth offence to use a greater range of surveillance devices including data surveillance devices, optical surveillance devices and tracking devices.

The Bill also allows for a surveillance device warrant or authorisation to be issued in relation to a wider range of offences.

Surveillance device warrants may be issued under this Bill, where a child recovery order has been issued by the Family Court to assist with the location and safe recovery of any child who is subject to an order.

The Bill also permits emergency authorisations to be given by a senior executive officer of the law enforcement agency to a law enforcement officer for the use of a surveillance device in circumstances that are characterised by urgency.

The Bill provides for three such situations: where there is an imminent threat of serious risk to a person or substantial damage to property, to recover a child the subject of a recovery order and where there is a risk of the loss of evidence in relation to important specified Commonwealth offences, including terrorism, serious drug offences, treason, espionage and aggravated people smuggling.

In recognition of the privacy implications of this Bill, the Bill imposes a range of strong accountability measures.

The most intrusive types of surveillance must be subject to the scrutiny of a judge or AAT member before the surveillance begins, or, in the case of an emergency authorisation, shortly after the authorisation has been given.

The subsequent use, disclosure or communication of material gathered by, or relating to, a surveillance device is subject to stringent restrictions.

Record-keeping requirements ensure that documents relevant to surveillance devices must be kept to establish compliance with the law.

Chief Officers of law enforcement agencies using Commonwealth warrants and authorisations must submit detailed reports, both after a warrant or authorisation has expired and also annually.

The Bill also imposes a duty on the Chief Officers to destroy surveillance device material when it is not longer relevant to one of the permitted purposes in the Bill.

The role of the Commonwealth Ombudsman as an oversight body is reinforced by this Bill. The Ombudsman must report on a six-monthly basis to the Attorney-General who in turn must table these reports in Parliament.

Importantly, the Ombudsman has the power to compel law enforcement officers to answer questions or produce relevant documents.

This Bill will greatly increase the capacity of Australian law enforcement agencies to investigate serious offences, including terrorism, while maintaining an appropriate respect for the privacy of all Australians.

This Bill differs from the Surveillance Devices Bill (No.1) 2004 in a number of important ways.

I urge that this Bill be passed as a matter of priority so that these important investigative tools are made available to law enforcement as soon as possible.