Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:C2025C00155:section:214ab:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:C2025C00155
Segment Type: section
Provision Reference: s 214AB (pt 1/2)
Character Range: 1385738–1388481

214AB  What are monitoring powers?

Monitoring powers
 (1) For the purposes of this Subdivision, the following are monitoring powers:
 (a) the power to search premises;
 (b) the power to take photographs (including a video recording), or make sketches, of premises or anything at premises;
 (c) the power to inspect, examine, count, measure, weigh, gauge, test or analyse, and take samples of, anything in or on premises;
 (d) the power to inspect any document or record in or on premises;
 (e) the power to take extracts from, or make copies of, any document or record in or on premises;
 (f) the power to take into or onto premises any equipment or material reasonably necessary for the purpose of exercising a power under paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e);
 (g) the power to test and operate record‑keeping, accounting, computing or other operating systems of any kind that are at premises and may be used to generate or record information or documents of a kind that may be communicated to the Department;
 (h) the power to secure a thing that:
 (i) is found during a search of premises; and
 (ii) a monitoring officer believes on reasonable grounds affords evidence of the commission of an offence against a Customs‑related law and may be lost, destroyed or tampered with;
  until a warrant is obtained to seize the thing or 72 hours elapses after the securing of the thing, whichever first occurs;
 (i) the powers in subsections (2) and (3).

Power to operate equipment to check information
 (2) For the purposes of this Subdivision, monitoring powers include the power to operate equipment at premises to see whether:
 (a) the equipment; or
 (b) a disk, tape or other storage device that:
 (i) is at the premises; and
 (ii) can be used with the equipment or is associated with it;
contains information that is relevant to assessing:
 (c) whether a person is complying with a Customs‑related law; or
 (d) whether a person's record‑keeping, accounting, computing or other operating systems of any kind accurately record and generate information to enable compliance with a Customs‑related law; or
 (e) the correctness of information communicated by a person to the Department (whether in documentary or other form).

Power to copy information found by operating equipment
 (3) For the purposes of this Subdivision, monitoring powers include the following powers in relation to information described in subsection (2) that is found in the exercise of the power under that subsection:
 (a) the power to operate facilities at the premises to put the information in documentary form and copy the documents so produced;
 (b) the power to operate facilities at the premises to transfer the information to a disk, tape or other storage device: