I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Biosecurity and export controls are foundational to Australia's economic prosperity and environmental protection. They safeguard our agricultural industries, preserve our pest and disease status, and uphold the integrity of our export systems. Effective regulation in these areas depends on sound policy, ensuring integrity in the people who participate in import and export systems, and the practical ability to investigate and respond to noncompliance in a timely and proportionate manner.

This bill strengthens these capabilities in the Biosecurity Act 2015 and the Export Control Act 2020 in two ways: by strengthening the fit-and-proper-person framework and by modernising investigation powers available under these acts.

This bill represents the first step for my department in implementing the simplified trade system reforms. This whole-of-government reform project will modernise Australia's cross-border trade regulation and reduce unnecessary regulatory burden on industry.

A key aspect of the bill is modernising and aligning the fit-and-proper-person provisions within the agricultural portfolio. Fit-and-proper-person assessments play a critical role in the effective operation of Australia's cross-border regulatory pathways, by ensuring that regulated importers and exporters meet appropriate standards of integrity, compliance and financial responsibility. This reduces the risk of misconduct or noncompliance that could expose Australia to serious threats.

These amendments support further development of the 'tell us once' approach among cross-border trade agencies, as part of the simplified trade system reforms. These reforms are intended to simplify and streamline interactions between government and industry, reducing duplication, time and effort for traders operating at Australia's border. This positive impact will flow through to the thousands of fit-and-proper-person assessments for importers and exporters that are conducted by the department each year.

It is important to mention that the fit-and-proper person assessment process itself is not fundamentally changing; what is changing is the legislative clarity and alignment that underpins that process.

Currently, there are legislative differences between the Biosecurity Actand the Export Control Actin relation to the three core criteria—criminal history, compliance history and financial history.

The bill will amend the criminal history provisions so that assessments may consider not only convictions and penalties but also serious outstanding charges. It provides clear guidance around what criminal history can be considered and over what time frame, further clarifying and strengthening the decision-making process.

In relation to compliance history, the bill will ensure consistency in respect of historical adverse administrative decisions which are considered as part of the 'fit and proper person' assessment. This will improve administrative efficiency while providing decision-makers with a clearer and more comprehensive evidentiary basis for their determinations.

The bill will better align financial history considerations with other cross-border agencies by expanding financial history to include debts other than debts owed to the Commonwealth. For natural persons, this includes whether an individual is an undischarged bankrupt, insolvent under administration or a director of a company wound up within the past two years. For companies, this includes circumstances such as receivership, administration or winding up.

The bill introduces a common and expanded definition of associates. This ensures that decision-makers can consider key relationships that may be in a position of genuine influence over an entity. These will include trustees of a trust, all partners in a partnership, and relevant office holders of a body corporate.

Privacy obligations, lawful information-sharing arrangements and appropriate governance oversight will continue to underpin the framework.

These reforms will directly benefit industry by streamlining regulatory requirements across import and export pathways. Industry participants operating across multiple regulatory frameworks will benefit from clearer, more-consistent application forms and assessment processes as well as increased clarity and transparency in regulatory requirements. These reforms will also support more-efficient 'fit and proper person' assessments through the transferability of information, improving administrative efficiency and strengthening risk based decision-making. Collectively, these measures will enhance the integrity of Australia's trade regulatory system.

Modernising investigation powers

The bill will also modernise investigation powers under the Biosecurity Act and the Export Control Act by enhancing the way the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014 operates in relation to those acts. In particular, the bill will introduce targeted search and seizure powers that better reflect contemporary digital environments and align with longstanding powers available under the Crimes Act 1914.

Currently investigation warrants executed under the Regulatory Powers Act allow the department's investigators to operate electronic equipment on premises and seize evidential material that has been identified at that location. However, those powers were designed at a time when electronic storage was comparatively limited and when data was typically held on physical devices located at the premises being searched.

Modern import and export businesses operate almost entirely in digital environments. Records are held in large email repositories, cloud based systems and account based platforms. Individual devices may contain thousands of documents. In that context, the requirement for investigators to remain on the premises until each individual file is assessed against the conditions of a warrant is not only inefficient but also often impracticable.

These constraints create operational delays, increase costs for both the department and the occupiers of the premises, and risk compromising the thoroughness of investigations. As a result, the department has increasingly relied on search warrants issued under the Crimes Act, which contain broader ancillary powers to search and seize electronic material.

This has necessitated assistance from the Australian Federal Police or the relevant state or territory police, creating operational dependency on external law enforcement resources. More significantly, material seized under Crimes Act warrants is generally limited to use for criminal investigation and prosecution purposes. It cannot readily be used to support the department's broader regulatory functions, including administrative action or civil penalty proceedings. Nor can it be shared as effectively with state and territory biosecurity agencies.

For regulatory regimes such as biosecurity and export control—where enforcement responses range from education and warning letters to civil penalties and, in serious cases, criminal prosecution—this limitation is inconsistent with a proportionate, risk based compliance model. This bill addresses those issues directly.

The bill will amend the Biosecurity Act and the Export Control Act to incorporate additional search and seizure powers substantially similar to those already available under the Crimes Act. These amendments will:

These powers will be exercisable only where entry is otherwise authorised under existing legislation, including under an existing warrant framework or other statutory entry powers. They will remain subject to the same judicial oversight, statutory safeguards and conditions that apply to the current investigation powers. They do not create new categories of offences, remove judicial supervision or diminish individual rights.

Comparable approaches have been adopted in other Commonwealth legislation, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013, where parliament recognised the need to adapt investigation powers to modern electronic environments. This bill follows that established precedent.

The policy rationale is clear, as evidenced by the following benefits against the associated risks:

This bill ensures that investigators can perform their functions efficiently in an environment where digital storage and remote data access are the norm. It provides clarity to regulated entities and reduces time spent on premises during warrant execution. It also strengthens the integrity of enforcement outcomes, including supporting the department's ability to respond proportionately to noncompliance, particularly where civil or administrative action is more appropriate than criminal prosecution. In doing so, it enhances the resilience and credibility of Australia's biosecurity and export regulatory framework.

The bill will also make minor and technical amendments to the Biosecurity Act and the Export Control Act to remove redundant references to powers which must not be sub-delegated, where powers have been delegated to SES employees in the agriculture department. These amendments will not affect the substantive operation of the acts but will improve the quality of legislation and keep the Commonwealth statute book accurate.

This bill will align the Biosecurity Act and the Export Control Act, strengthen and streamline the 'fit and proper person' provisions and modernise investigation powers under these acts. It will ensure that these acts continue to safeguard Australia's economic prosperity and agricultural industries.

Debate adjourned.