Page:Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act 2021.pdf/8

8 PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title and commencement

1. This Act is the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act 2021 and comes into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette.

Purposes of Act

2. The purposes of this Act are to protect the public interest by counteracting acts of foreign interference through—
 * (a) countermeasures aimed at such acts by electronic communications activity; and
 * (b) countermeasures aimed at pre-empting or preventing the occurrence of such acts involving persons identified as at-risk because they are politically significant.

General interpretation

3.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
 * “a point” includes a mobile or potentially mobile point, whether on land, underground, in the atmosphere, underwater or anywhere else;
 * “access”, in relation to communications activity, includes—
 * (a) access that is subject to a precondition, such as the use of a password;
 * (b) access by way of push technology;
 * (c) access by way of a standing request;
 * “access blocking direction” means a direction described in section 33;
 * “account” includes—
 * (a) a free account;
 * (b) a prepaid account; and