Attorney-General must properly resource Information Commission
EFA today calls on the Attorney-General to cease his absurd war of attrition with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Since announcing in 2014 that it intended to abolish the Office, the government has starved the agency of funds and has failed to reappoint two of the three statutory officer positions, despite the reality […]
EFA joins Global Call to World Leaders to Support Strong Encryption
Today Electronic Frontiers Australia joins experts and organisations in more than 35 countries in asking world leaders to support strong encryption and to reject any law, policy, or mandate that would undermine digital security. This open letter is now open to public support and is hosted at: SecureTheInternet.org. In countries including France, India, the UK, […]
Proposed copyright amendments welcome but insufficient
EFA welcomes today’s release by the Department of Communications of an exposure draft of proposed amendments to the Copyright Act that seeks to address a number of important weaknesses in the current law relating particularly to the educational, library and archives sectors. In particular, EFA welcomes the proposed extension in the safe harbour provisions, as […]
Digital innovation requires copyright reform
EFA welcomes the release of the government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda but is disappointed that the agenda is silent on copyright reform. As recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission in their November 2013 report on Copyright and the Digital Economy, the introduction of a broad flexible fair use exception into Australian copyright law […]
EFA calls for universal warrant requirement for data retention
EFA welcomes the report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights [PDF] which confirms that the protections for journalists included in this year’s mandatory data retention legislation are inadequate and may ‘limit the right to an effective remedy, fair hearing, privacy and freedom of expression.’ While the Committee’s report primarily addresses the procedural shortcomings […]