Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I've already made the point that providing a safe harbour regime—and I'm not sure that it extends quite as widely in the US as you've said—would give entities a shield against any legal liability incurred as a result of a cybersecurity incident. I didn't say that it was a complete shield, but it would provide a shield against liability.

The other issue with going down the safe harbour path is that that would interfere with a number of other regulatory regimes that Australia has in place, including those that relate to regulatory agencies like APRA. There are a number of others as well, and our view is that providing for limited use is a more appropriate way to go for Australian circumstances.