Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2000 (NO. 1) 2000 NO. 197

STATUTORY RULES 2000 No. 197

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts

Telecommunications Act 1997

Telecommunications Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1)

Section 594 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (the Act) allows Governor-General to make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed.

The purpose of the accompanying Regulations is to amend the Telecommunications Regulations 1998 to allow for the disclosure and use of information for the purpose of research into the use of emergency service numbers.

Section 278 of the Act prohibits an "emergency call person" from disclosing any information or document that relates to the contents or substance of a communication, or the affairs or personal particulars of another person, that comes to the person's knowledge or into the person's possession in connection with the operation of an emergency call service. Subsection 292(3) of the Act provides that section 278 does not prohibit a disclosure or use of information or a document in circumstances specified in the regulations.

The accompanying Regulations will allow an emergency call person to disclose information to a researcher engaged by the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) to conduct research into the way in which emergency call numbers are used or dialled. To conduct the research the researcher needs to call back persons who mis-dial emergency call numbers. This requires emergency call persons to be able to disclose the numbers of persons who misdial emergency call numbers to enable the researcher to call back these persons. These accompanying Regulations provide for this disclosure of information by emergency call persons.

The accompanying Regulations will require that, prior to any disclosure of information by an emergency call person, the ACA and the researcher will agree that the research will be completed within 12 months of when it is started, and that the researcher will not disclose the information or document except for the purposes of the research.

The accompanying Regulations commence on gazettal.

Details of the accompanying Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

ATTACHMENT

Telecommunications Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1)

Regulation 1 - Name of Regulations

Regulation 1 provides that the Regulations are named the Telecommunications Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1).

Regulation 2 - Commencement

Regulation 2 provides that the Regulations commence on gazettal.

Regulation 3 - Amendment of Telecommunications Regulations 1998

Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Telecommunications Regulations 1998.

Schedule 1 - Amendments

Item 1 - Part 2, heading

Item 1 replaces the heading to Part 2 of the Telecommunications Regulations 1998.

Item 2 - After regulation 4

Item 2 inserts a new regulation 5 into the Telecommunications Regulations 1998

This new regulation provides the disclosure of information by emergency call persons for the purposes of research about emergency service numbers. Subregulation 5(1) provides that the disclosure of information:

*       must be by an emergency call person to a researcher;

*       must be made to a researcher who is engaged by the ACA to conduct research of a specific kind into the way in which emergency service numbers are dialled or used. The ACA will specify the nature of the research that the researcher will undertake;

*       will only be for the purpose of allowing the researcher to conduct the research;

*       will only occur following agreement between the ACA and the researcher that the research will be finished within 12 months after the research is begun; and that the researcher will not disclose or use any of the information disclosed under these Regulations except for the purpose of conducting the specific research.

Subregulation 5(2) provides that nothing in these Regulations authorises disclosure or use of information or documents more than 12 months after the researcher starts the research.