Authors: Nicholas Hodgkinson and Lyria Bennett Moses
Making sense of Australia’s laws on artificial intelligence (AI), cyber security, data, and privacy is no mean feat, even for lawyers. While Australia has only recently enacted the Cyber Security Act 2024 (Cth), its first dedicated cyber security legislation, it also has a web of laws relevant to cyber professionals and people working in cyber policy, including subject-matter areas such as criminal law, critical-infrastructure protection, consumer law, privacy, and telecommunications.
The Australian Cyber Law Map, hosted by the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) Communities, draws these together. It was created to “map” laws impacting upon Australia’s cyber security and resilience, both to enhance national and international understanding of Australian law and to build content and a community of experts and practitioners at the intersection of law and technology.
Each topic in the Map connects you directly with the legislation, regulations, and policies that shape Australia’s approach to cyber governance. Alongside these links, the Map’s contributors provide plain English, to-the-point commentary and context. Whether you work in industry, policy, or research, the Map helps chart the laws that define Australia’s digital environment.
Some of its most recent updates focus on the areas shaping today’s conversations and debates: the 2023–2030 Cyber Security Strategy; the abovementioned Cyber Security Act; cyber-related criminal offences, including the newly enacted doxxing offence in the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth); Security of Critical Infrastructure law, as amended by the Security of Critical Infrastructure and Other Legislation Amendment (Enhanced Response and Prevention) Act 2024 (Cth); tranche 1 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) amendments, including the new statutory tort; consumer laws such as the Consumer Data Right; and the emerging body of data breach class actions and other suits in a dedicated Litigation and Investigations page.
The Map began as a collaboration between AustLII, the University of Melbourne’s Centre for AI and Digital Ethics, and UNSW Sydney’s Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation. It was conceived by Professor Lyria Bennett Moses, currently Head of the School of Law, Society and Criminology at UNSW Law & Justice, and Dr Kobi Leins, with support from the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre and the Defence Science Institute. It was built to be an “evolving wiki”: a collaborative, living, and open resource that continues to develop. Contributions from new experts are always welcome, and feedback helps keep the content accurate, current, and relevant. For anyone working at the intersection of law and technology, the Map offers an inquisitive and practical way to understand Australian cyber law.
Explore the Cyber Law Map here.
