The Government is consulting on the extension of legislative instruments to ensure continued security obligations for the telecommunications sector.
In July 2022, instruments were put in place to require telecommunications carriers and carriage service providers to supply information to the Register of Critical Infrastructure Assets. This register supports the Australian Government to identify and manage risks to critical infrastructure assets which could cause significant harm to Australia.
The Telecommunications (Carrier License Conditions—Security Information) Declaration 2022 and the Telecommunications (Carriage Service Provider—Security Information) Determination 2022 were registered on 6 July 2022 and commenced on 7 July 2022. These instruments were intended to be in place for a finite period, to allow more permanent legislative amendments to take place.
As the instruments are due to sunset on 7 January 2024 and relevant amendments to the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act incorporating telecommunications security reforms will not be in force by that date, the Australian Government is seeking to extend the timeframe of the instruments by a further 18 months. This would extend the instruments from 7 January 2024 to 6 July 2025.
We are seeking the views of Carriers and eligible Carriage Service Providers (eCSPs) on the proposed extension. You can have your say on our website or by providing a written submissions by 17.00 AEDT Wednesday 13 December 2023.
The consultation process for the draft carrier licence condition and service provider rule ran from 25 February 2022 to 29 March 2022. Following this process, Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, made the legislative instruments which the government is seeking to extend to 7 July 2025. More information on the initial consultation process, including stakeholder submissions, can be found on the department's website.
A copy of the Carrier Licence Conditions and the Carriage Service Provider instruments currently in force, along with the Explanatory Statement are available on the legislation.gov.au website. You can also find these materials on the Telecommunications security reforms page on our website.