The Consumers’ Federation of Australia (CFA) was recently contacted (below) by and about the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement’s new inquiry into cybercrime. As per our new Strategic Plan, CFA will not be writing up a separate submission but will instead network and assist members and other consumer advocates and organisations with their submissions. This inquiry into cybercrime comes as CFA along with other notable consumer advocacy groups, organisations and individuals, joins with CHOICE to call for stronger consumer protection from data breach and misuse. Though the problems of cybercrime and data privacy are not a one to one match they do have significant overlap. Additionally, cybercrime and scams also overlap quite heavily. CFA encourages anyone with an interest or passion for advocating for consumers on any of the above issues to consider writing a submission. If you would like any assistance with the submission, for CFA to co-sign a submission, or want to coordinate with other organisations on this submission or any others please contact info@consumersfederation.org.au, or if you are a member use Slack.
On 16 October 2023, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement agreed to inquire into and report on the capability of law enforcement to respond to cybercrime, including:
- Existing law enforcement capabilities in the detection, investigation and prosecution of cybercrime, including both cyber-dependent crimes and cyber-enabled crimes;
- International, federal and jurisdictional coordination law enforcement mechanisms to investigate cybercrimes and share information related to emerging threats;
- Coordination efforts across law enforcement, non-government and private sector organisations to respond to the conduct of cybercrimes and risks of cybercrime
- Emerging cybercrime threats and challenges affecting Australian entities and individuals, including the scale and scope of cybercrimes conducted in Australia or against Australians;
- The opportunities and challenges of the existing legislative framework in supporting law enforcement to investigate and act upon instances of cybercrime;
- Prevention and education approaches and strategies to reduce the prevalence of victimisation through cybercrime; and
- other related matters.
The purpose of this letter is to draw your attention to the inquiry and to invite you or your organisation to make a written submission to the committee.
The committee is seeking submissions by Friday, 15 December 2023. There is no requirement to address the full terms of reference, and you may choose to comment only on the terms of reference that are relevant to you.
The committee would like to publicise its work as widely as possible and would appreciate you referring this letter of invitation to any individual or organisation you think would like to contribute to the inquiry.
Making a submission
The committee prefers to receive submissions as an attached document via the online system. To lodge a submission this way, click ‘Upload Submission’ on the inquiry webpage: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Law_Enforcement/LECybercrime47
Alternatively, submissions may be emailed as an attached document to le.committee@aph.gov.au or mailed to the address below:
Committee Secretary
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Submissions should include contact details in case the committee or the secretariat need to contact you. Personal contact details are removed from submissions before publication.
Submissions become committee documents and are made public only after a decision by the committee. You must not release your submission until the committee advises that it has been accepted and released publicly. Submissions are protected by parliamentary privilege, but the unauthorised release of them is not.
Publication of submissions includes loading them onto the internet and making them available to other interested parties, including the media. Please indicate if you wish the committee to consider keeping your submission, or part thereof, confidential. If you have concerns about confidentiality, I encourage you to call me to discuss this before lodging the submission.
You can find guidance about preparing a submission on the Parliament House website at: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Making_a_submission.
More information
You can find information about the committee and its inquiry on the committee’s webpage at: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Law_Enforcement
For advice about the inquiry or making a submission, please contact the committee secretariat by email at le.committee@aph.gov.au or by phone (02) 6277 3419.
The committee looks forward to receiving your views on this issue.