Law Commons^™

Vaguely Going Where No-One Has Gone: The Expansive New Computer Access Offences, Alex Steel

Alex Steel

Both the New South Wales and Australian Commonwealth governments have enacted major reforms to computer - related offences. These reforms are based on the Model Criminal Code Chapter Four: Damage and Computer Offences. The reforms move from an emphasis on access to an emphasis on damage. While they provide principled limitations on some previous offences they also introduce new sweeping offences relating to network impairment and control of data preparatory to other offences. This article outlines the elements of these new offences and highlights the issues that are likely to arise in their enforcement.