Penny Wright (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Perhaps if I could follow up on that issue around lawyer-client privilege, which has been raised very firmly by various legal commentators in Australia, including the Law Council. I would just like to ask the Attorney-General to respond in a bit more detail about issues that have specifically been raised by Mr Duncan McConnel, President of the Australian Law Council, who says that some of this information in relation to lawyer-client communications may, potentially, be caught under the bill. Firstly, I will quote from Mr McConnell. He says:

It is not difficult to envisage situations where client/lawyer telecommunications data would reveal a range of information that could compromise confidentiality and even legal professional privilege.

For example, what would happen if a whistle-blower seeks legal advice prior to, or during communication with a journalist? Under the proposed amendments, the journalist’s communication may be confidential, but what of the communications between a journalist or the journalist’s source and the lawyer?

Data could allow inferences to be drawn from whether a lawyer has been contacted; the identity and location of the client, lawyer and witnesses; the number of communications and type of communications between a lawyer and a client, witnesses and the duration of these communications …

So they may not go to content, as we understand it at this point in time, but they certainly go to the relationship, the manner, the occurrence, the time, the length and the number of communications that have occurred. He goes on to say:

The Law Council’s position is simple—lawyer communications deserve the same level of protection to that afforded to journalists …

I suppose my question is: is that a concern that has been consistently raised? There are really good policy reasons for protecting lawyer-client communications. Why is it, Attorney, that lawyer communications do not deserve the same level of protection as that afforded to journalists?