On 7 December 2017, the Government introduced the Security of Critical Infrastructure Bill 2017 to Parliament.
The bill provides for the management of the national security risks of espionage, sabotage and coercion arising from foreign involvement in Australia’s critical infrastructure by: establishing a Register of Critical Infrastructure Assets; providing the minister with a power to direct a reporting entity or operator of a critical infrastructure asset to do, or refrain from doing, an act or thing within a specified period of time; empowering the secretary to request certain information from reporting entities and operators of critical infrastructure assets; and providing that the minister can privately declare an asset to be a critical infrastructure asset in certain circumstances.
The Attorney-General’s Department prepared and certified a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS). The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) assessed the RIS as compliant and consistent with best practice.
The RIS estimates the average annual regulatory costs of the measures in the Bill to be $8.21 million. The OBPR agreed to this estimate.