EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by authority of the Minister for Home Affairs
Telecommunications (Interception And Access) Legislation Amendment (Emergency Service Facilities) Instrument (No. 3) 2025
PURPOSE AND OPERATION OF THE INSTRUMENT
The purpose of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Legislation Amendment (Emergency Service Facilities) Instrument (No. 3) 2025 (Amendment Instrument) is to specify the emergency service facilities operated by Telstra Corporation Limited in the geographic region of Sydney. The Amendment Instrument also removes the emergency service facilities operated by Telstra Corporation Limited in the geographic region of Paddington.
The Amendment Instrument is made under subsection 6(2D) of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (TIA Act) and amends the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) (Emergency Service Facilities–New South Wales) Instrument 2020 (the Instrument).
Background
The TIA Act establishes a general prohibition against the interception of communications passing over a telecommunications system. However, there is an exception in section 6 that allows a person to listen to or record emergency calls at emergency facilities declared by the Minister in certain circumstances.
Under subsection 6(2B), the Minister may declare premises to be emergency service facilities if the Minister is satisfied that the premises are operated by a police, fire, ambulance or dispatching service to enable emergency services to deal with a request for assistance in an emergency.
Telstra Corporation Limited notified the Department of Home Affairs that its Triple Zero Call Centre in Paddington would be decommission from 1 December 2025 and that it would commence operating a new Triple Zero Call Centre in Sydney.
The Minister subsequently amended the relevant declaration to remove the decommissioned facility and add the new facility.
Subsection 6(2D) of the TIA Act provides that, if the Minister makes a declaration under subsection 6(2B) of the TIA Act, the Minister must, by legislative instrument specify the name of the emergency service and the geographic region in which those premises are located.
Details of the Amendment Instrument are set out in Attachment A. The Amendment Instrument satisfies the Minister’s obligations under subsection 6(2D) of the TIA Act.
The Amendment Instrument is a disallowable instrument under section 42 of the Legislation Act 2003 and therefore a Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights has been provided at Attachment B.
CONSULTATION
The Amendment Instrument was made to reflect the decommissioned and new premises advised by Telstra Corporation Limited. Consultation was undertaken with Telstra Corporation Limited on the draft instrument and no concerns were raised.
It was not necessary to conduct consultation beyond Telstra Corporation Limited as the Amendment Instrument is technical in nature in that communications are already being recorded and listened to by Telstra Corporation Limited’s other emergency facilities. The Amendment Instrument merely updates the locations of these facilities.
Attachment A
NOTES ON SECTIONS
Section 1 – Name
Section 1 provides that the Amendment Instrument is the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Legislation Amendment (Emergency Service Facilities) Instrument (No. 3) 2025.
Section 2 – Commencement
Section 2 provides that sections 1 to 4 commence on the day after the Amendment Instrument is made. This provides clarity and promotes transparency by aligning the commencement of the instrument with the commencement of the declaration that allows calls to be intercepted at the new emergency service facilities.
Schedule 1, item 1 commences on 24 November 2025 to align with the date that the Sydney facility becomes operational.
Schedule 1, item 2 commences on 1 December 2025 to align with the date that the Paddington facility will be decommissioned.
Section 3 – Authority
Section 3 provides that the Amendment Instrument is made under subsection 6(2D) of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979. In addition, subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 provides that where an Act confers a power to make, grant or issue any instrument of a legislative or administrative character (including rules, regulations or by-laws), the power shall be construed as including a power exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like conditions (if any) to repeal, rescind, revoke, amend, or vary any such instrument.
Section 4 – Schedule
Schedule 1 of the Amendment Instrument amends section 4 of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) (Emergency Service Facilities––New South Wales) Instrument 2020.
Item 1 inserts a new premises operated by Telstra Corporation Limited in the geographic region of Sydney.
Item 2 removes the premises operated by Telstra Corporation Limited in the geographic region of Paddington as it will cease operating as an emergency service facility.
Telstra Corporation Limited has confirmed that it has erected signs easily visible at each entrance to the facility notifying persons that communications to or from the facility may be listened to or recorded, consistent with the requirements in subsection 6(2G).
Attachment B
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
The Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Legislation Amendment (Emergency Service Facilities) Instrument (No. 3) 2025 (the Amendment Instrument) is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the Disallowable Legislative Instrument
The Minister has, under subsection 6(2B) of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (TIA Act), declared a new premises in Sydney operated by Telstra Corporation Limited (Telstra) to be an emergency service facility and removed a decommissioned facility in Paddington operated by Telstra.
The purpose of the Amendment Instrument is to specify the geographical location of the premises that has been declared to be an emergency service facility in Sydney and remove the geographic location of the facility in Paddington.
Human rights implications
This Disallowable Legislative Instrument engages the following rights:
the right to privacy contained in Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and
the right to life contained in Article 6 of the ICCPR.
Interference with a person’s privacy or correspondence
Article 17 of the ICCPR provides that:
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour or reputation.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 17 of the ICCPR provides that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with their privacy. Interferences with privacy may be permissible provided that it is authorised by law and is not arbitrary. For an interference with the right to privacy not to be arbitrary, the interference must be for a reason consistent with the provisions, aims and objectives of the ICCPR and be reasonable in the particular circumstances. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has interpreted ‘reasonableness’ in this context to imply that ‘any interference with privacy must be proportional to the end sought and be necessary in the circumstances of any given case’. The term unlawful means that no interference can take place except as authorised under domestic law.
Despite the general prohibition on the interception of communications in subsection 7(1) of the TIA Act, section 6 ensures that listening to or recording a communication passing over a telecommunications system to or from a declared emergency service facility by a person who is lawfully engaged in duties related to the receiving and handling of communications is not an interception of communication.
The purpose of this exception is to ensure that emergency services are able to assist an emergency caller, and respond to an emergency situation as quickly as possible, without first notifying the caller of the recording. This ensures that persons requiring emergency assistance are provided with efficient and timely assistance. Recording of a call enables an emergency service to undertake appropriate clarification, review and audit in dealing with an emergency situation which may involve a threat to life.
The effect of the Amendment Instrument is reasonable, necessary and proportionate to achieving the objective of providing efficient and timely assistance in emergency situations.
The Amendment Instrument is subject to a number of safeguards, including:
the exception applies only if the Minister is satisfied that the premises are operated by a police, ambulance, fire or dispatching service to enable them to deal with a request for assistance in an emergency
under subsection 6(2G), the facility must erect signs easily visible at each entrance to the facility notifying persons that communications to or from the facility may be listened to or recorded, and
the instrument is subject to disallowance and sunsetting.
Consultation occurred with Telstra to understand the privacy arrangements in place at the new premise. Privacy policies, training and codes of conduct of Telstra ensure that the collection, use, storage and disclosure of information are undertaken only to the extent necessary to facilitate the operations of the premise as an emergency service facility. Further, Telstra has confirmed that it has erected signage consistent with the requirement in subsection 6(2G).
Accordingly, to the extent that the measures in the Amendment Instrument may limit the right to privacy in Article 17 of the ICCPR, the limitation is not arbitrary or unlawful and is reasonable, necessary and proportionate to the legitimate objective of protecting public order, public health, public safety and the rights and freedoms of others, such as the right to life under Article 6 of the ICCPR.
Right to life
The right to life under Article 6 of the ICCPR includes obligations to promote life, including taking appropriate steps to protect the right to life of those within its jurisdiction.
The Amendment Instrument ensures that the premises declared as emergency service facilities can provide appropriate and timely assistance for persons in emergency situations. Emergency services are critical to delivering first responder functions to people in New South Wales. In this regard, the Amendment Instrument promotes the right to life under Article 6 of the ICCPR.
Conclusion
This Disallowable Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights because it promotes the protection of human rights and to the extent that it may limit human rights, those limitations are not arbitrary or unlawful and are reasonable, necessary and proportionate.
The Hon Tony Burke MP
Minister for Home Affairs