[SiempreViernes]

On reading more, I don't really see how this particular legislation played a mayor role in things like the ABC raid?

I doubt this "anti-encryption" legislation is what allows the police to stomp into a journalist office and take things like cameras as the ABC warrant allowed.

I mean, clearly a law supposed to help combat terrorism is gravely misapplied when used to search for a journalists source, but the real problem is that journalism seems to lack pretty basic protections at all in Australia.

[torified]

The entire article is to explain how the new anti-encryption laws augmented the existing laws, removing the need for a special journalist information warrant.

So it was exactly these horrible laws that allowed them to stomp through and do whatever tf they want, including modifying data.

[SiempreViernes]

I'm not convinced, historically they appear to get those journalist warrants easily enough, and those don't appear particularly limited in scope in regards to what can be seized etc.

This circumvention seems to be mostly added convenience. The only novel bit is the allowance for modifying data, but I doubt it matters much in practice as the AFP will likely just take physical devices and at best hand it back wiped.