Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

The honourable member should be aware that the fact that you have had communications with a lawyer is not subject to legal professional privilege. The advice is what in most circumstances is subject to legal professional privilege. The fact that you have telephoned your lawyer at a certain time or a number that is in fact belonging to your lawyer is information that is held by telcos now. It can be accessed now. But the content of the telephone call or indeed the content of an email is expressly not covered—it is not retained by the telco at all and it is expressly not covered by this legislation.

If I could touch on something the honourable member raised earlier, just to provide a little bit more information, the committee considered it entirely appropriate for service providers to retain telecom data for longer than two years where they had a legitimate business purpose to do so or in accordance with another regulatory obligation, such as the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code. The Privacy Act:

… provides a framework for the destruction of personal information where this information is no longer required under law or for a legitimate business purpose …

It requires service providers to destroy or de-identify information when it is no longer required for a legitimate purpose. Nothing in this current bill overrides or removes that obligation.

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