The Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2020 (CI Bill) was introduced into parliament on 10 December 2020 to amend the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018 (SOCIA). The aim of the CI Bill was to update the Government’s legislative powers and oversight of infrastructure critical to national interest in response to the increasing cyber threat landscape.
The CI Bill proposed a significant expansion of the sectors currently covered by the SOCIA – those being electricity, water, gas and ports – to include the communications, financial services and markets, data storage and processing, defence, higher education and research, energy, food and grocery, healthcare and medical, space technology, transport, and water and sewage sectors. It also significantly expanded government powers, including powers to give binding directions and to intervene in the face of significant cyber incidents, and industry obligations with respect to reporting and implementing risk management frameworks.
The introduction of the CI Bill has been met with significant industry concern. Of particular concern is the overlap with existing regulatory regimes, the cost of…
