24 times more wiretaps

A recently published Attorney-General's department report shows that Australians are 24 times more likely to have their phones tapped than people living in the United States.

The report on the use of the Telecommunications (Interception) Act 1979 shows that 2883 phone-tap warrants have been issued in Australia, 24 times more on a per capita basis than the 1774 warrants issued in the US, according to a comparable US report.

Unlike in the US, Australian warrants do not have to be authorised by judges, just by members of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, who are appointed by the government. According to the report, 647 applications for warrants were made by the Australian Federal Police alone and all were approved.

Dale Mills

From Green Left Weekly, May 31, 2006.

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From GLW issue 669