Abstract
As part of its overall national security strategy, one of the contemporary challenges for the Australian Commonwealth government is the protection of Australia’s borders. For the Commonwealth to achieve border protection outcomes, government agencies must have the ability to cooperate and to appropriately share information at a domestic level. Any sharing of information must be based on lawful powers, be accountable and balanced against other public and individual interests including the protection of sensitive government information and data protection. There have been calls to strengthen the coordination between Australian agencies which have led to significant institutional changes and targeted law reform in recent years. This thesis examines whether the existing legal framework in Australia operates to facilitate or hinder the sharing of information within the Commonwealth government to support the operation of border protection policies. It finds that the existing rules can have a chilling effect on necessary and efficient information sharing by being overly complex, prescriptive, and inconsistent.The government of the United Kingdom similarly tackles border protection issues in a national security context and has demonstrated a desire for relevant agencies to appropriately share information. With similarities to Australia in some institutional structures and border protections strategies, this thesis compares the legal frameworks in Australia and the UK that apply to the sharing of information and the application of safeguards to sharing. Drawing upon this comparison, this thesis provides practical recommendations for the adoption of principles in Australia when enacting or reforming information sharing rules. The recommended principles aim to reconcile the need for Commonwealth agencies to share information effectively to ensure border integrity with the expectation of the community that both public and individual interests are not unnecessarily impacted.
| Date of Award | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | Dan Svantesson (Supervisor) & William Van Caenegem (Supervisor) |