61 agencies after warrantless access to Australian telecommunications metadata

The names of 57 agencies that are seeking to gain access to telecommunications metadata stored on Australian residents without a warrant have been released under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

The names of four agencies have been redacted, with the Attorney-General's Department (AGD) previously saying that disclosing the names of these agencies would be contrary to the public interest.

The FOI request originally asked for correspondence from organisations seeking to gain access to stored telecommunications metadata. The department denied this request on practical grounds, stating that 2,661 pages spread across 288 documents were related to such a request, and that 45 third parties needed to be consulted before the information could be released.

Eventually, the request was narrowed down to merely a list of agencies looking to be declared as an enforcement agency as defined under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act.

"Agencies objected to disclosure on the basis that it would compromise the trust they place in the Commonwealth," AGD said last week. "During consultation, these four agencies clearly indicated that disclosure of this information would damage the relationship between the department and the relevant agencies, and could affect any future cooperation with the department."

The full list of agencies is as follows:

1. Australian Financial Security Authority
2. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
3. Australian Postal Corporation
4. Australian Taxation Office
5. Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre
6. Civil Aviation Safety Authority
7. Clean Energy Regulator
8. Department of Agriculture
9. Department of Defence
10. Department of the Environment
11. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
12. Department of Health
13. Department of Human Services
14. Department of Social Services
15. Fair Work Building and Construction
16. National Measurement Institute
17. ACT Revenue Office
18. Access Canberra (Department of Treasury and Economic Development)
19. Bankstown City Council
20. Consumer Affairs - Victoria
21. Consumer, Building and Occupational Services - Tasmania
22. Consumer and Business Services - SA
23. [redacted]
24. [redacted]
25. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - Queensland
26. Department of Commerce - WA
27. Department of Corrective Services - WA
28. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection - Queensland
29. Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources - Victoria
30. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning - Victoria
31. Department of Environment Regulation - WA
32. Department of Fisheries - WA
33. Department of Justice and Regulation (Consumer Affairs) - Victoria
34. Department of Justice and Regulation (Sheriff of Victoria)
35. Department of Mines and Petroleum - WA
36. [redacted]
37. Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries) - NSW
38. Environment Protection Authority - SA
39. Greyhound Racing Victoria
40. Harness Racing New South Wales
41. Health Care Complaints Commission - NSW
42. Legal Services Board - Victoria
43. NSW Environment Protection Authority
44. NSW Fair Trading
45. Office of Environment and Heritage - NSW
46. Office of Fair Trading - Queensland
47. Office of State Revenue - NSW
48. Office of State Revenue - Queensland
49. Office of the Racing Integrity Commissioner - Vic
50. Primary Industries and Regions South Australia
51. Queensland Building and Construction Commission
52. Racing and Wagering Western Australia
53. Racing NSW
54. Racing Queensland
55. Roads and Maritime Service NSW
56. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) - Victoria
57. State Revenue Office - Victoria
58. Taxi Services Commission - Victoria
59. [redacted]
60. Revenue SA
61. Victorian WorkSafe Authority

The Australian data-retention laws allow the nation's approved law-enforcement agencies to warrantlessly access two years' worth of customers' call records, location information, IP addresses, billing information, and other data stored by telcos.

Also contained within the FOI documents was a list of agencies that previously had access to telecommunications data. The list was sorted alphabetically along with redactions in place.

1. Access Canberra (Department of Treasury and Economic Development)
2. ACT Revenue Office
3. Australian Financial Security Authority
4. [redacted]
5. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
6. Australian Postal Corporation
7. Australian Taxation Office
8. Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre
9. Bankstown City Council
10. [redacted]
11. [redacted]
12. [redacted]
13. Civil Aviation Safety Authority
14. Clean Energy Regulator
15. [redacted]
16. [redacted]
17. Consumer and Business Services - SA
18. Consumer, Building and Occupational Services
19. [redacted]
20. [redacted]
21. Department of Agriculture
22. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Queensland)
23. Department of Commerce - WA
24. Department of Corrective Services - WA
25. Department of Defence
26. Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (Fisheries) - Victoria
27. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection - Queensland
28. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning - Victoria
29. Department of Fisheries - WA
30. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
31. Department of Health
32. Department of Human Services
33. Department of Mines and Petroleum - WA
34. [redacted]
35. Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries) - NSW
36. Department of Social Services
37. Department of the Environment
38. [redacted]
39. [redacted]
40. [redacted]
41. Environment Protection Authority - SA
42. Fair Work Building and Construction
43. Greyhound Racing Victoria
44. Harness Racing New South Wales
45. [redacted]
46. Health Care Complaints Commission - NSW
47. Legal Services Board - Victoria
48. [redacted]
49. National Measurement Institute
50. NSW Environment Protection Authority
51. NSW Fair Trading
52. [redacted]
53. Office of Environment and Heritage - NSW
54. Office of Fair Trading - Queensland
55. [redacted]
56. Office of State Revenue - NSW
57. Office of State Revenue - Queensland
58. Office of the Racing Integrity Commissioner - Vic
59. [redacted]
60. [redacted]
61. Primary Industries and Regions South Australia
62. Queensland Building and Construction Commission
63. Racing and Wagering Western Australia
64. Racing NSW
65. Racing Queensland
66. Roads and Maritime Service NSW
67. [redacted]
68. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) - Victoria
69. [redacted]
70. [redacted]
71. State Revenue Office - Victoria
72. [redacted]
73. [redacted]
74. Taxi Services Commission - Victoria
75. [redacted]
76. [redacted]
77. [redacted]
78. Victorian WorkSafe Authority
79. [redacted]

Of those listed, it appears that South Australia's Consumer and Business Services is the only agency to not reapply for access.

During 2015, 3,926 telecommunications interception warrants were issued, a 2 percent fall from the year prior, and 365,728 authorisations for the disclosure of historical telecommunications data were made by agencies.

Of the agencies and departments given access to existing information or documents to enforce a criminal law over the 12-month period, and not included on either list released by AGD, or known to be an enforcement agency already, are: the Australian Fisheries Management Authority; the Department of the Environment; SA Consumer and Business Services; Corrective Services NSW; the WA Department of Environmental Regulation; Corrections Victoria; RSPCA Queensland; RSPCA Tasmania; The Hills Shire Council; the Vic Transport Accident Commission; and Workcover NSW.

A similar request was made by privacy advocate Geordie Guy, for which the department requested a fee of AU$424 to complete the request -- a fee that Guy was able to raise through crowdfunding.

On appeal from ZDNet on its separate request, the department reduced the charges by 75 percent and said the release of such documents was in the public interest as it would provide background on how the metadata legislation is operating.