The New South Wales opposition says it’s “unbelievable” that privacy safeguards for a counter-terror program in the state were allowed to lapse four months ago.
The countering violent extremism program is a joint effort between the commonwealth, states and territories to prevent terrorism and discourage Australians from joining conflicts abroad.
It was designed to identify high-risk individuals and divert them from extremism, largely by linking them with support services and deradicalisation programs.
The program involves the sharing of personal information, and the state government, at least initially, believed it needed exemptions from NSW privacy laws to operate lawfully.
The state sought an exemption from the laws last year, which was granted by the NSW information and privacy commission. But the exemption was allowed to lapse in June, despite the commission giving the NSW government information on how to request a renewal.
A justice department spokesman said despite the lack of an exemption, the program still operates within the confines of the NSW privacy framework.
“The program did previously operate under public interest directions approved by the former privacy commissioner,” he said.
“These have since expired. The CVE program currently operates within the NSW privacy framework, and in particular, the program ensures that consent is obtained from the individuals concerned for relevant information sharing.”
But the state shadow attorney general, Paul Lynch, said the lapse meant the program now operated in breach of the law.
Lynch said counter-terror was too serious to be devalued, and that failing to obtain the exemption undermined public confidence.
“No-one, including government agencies, are above the law,” he said.
“Whether it’s because of arrogance or incompetence, its scarcely believable and certainly unacceptable for programs such as this to be conducted in breach of the law,” Lymch said.
The NSW Information and Privacy Commission confirmed it had received no request to renew the privacy exemptions, which lapsed on 18 June.
Asked whether that put the program in breach of the law, the spokeswoman said: “This will depend on the current design and operation of the program. I refer you to the NSW police force and the Department of Justice for further information about the program.”
It appears that at least some within the NSW police force believed the privacy exemption was necessary. A response to a question on notice from Lynch shows that an email was sent to the IPC in mid-June, asking for help to renew the exemption.
But the email was not sent with the knowledge of the NSW police force commissioner, Mick Fuller, or on his behalf, according to the response.
