Phone SeizedAustraliaComputer access orders under s.3LA of the Crimes Act
Computer access orders under s.3LA of the Crimes Act
What you must do, what you can refuse, and what they can do
Every claim below links to the law it comes from, with the wording quoted so you can check it yourself.
You must
Refusing is a criminal offence.
Once a magistrate makes an order under s.3LA, the order requires you to provide a constable any information or assistance that is reasonable and necessary to allow the constable to do one or more of the things the order specifies — including accessing data held in, or accessible from, a computer or data storage device.
Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), s.3LA(1) — order power (Compilation No. 167, 27 Aug 2026)
“A constable may apply to a magistrate for an order requiring a specified person to provide any information or assistance that is reasonable and necessary to allow a constable to do one or more of the following:—access data held in, or accessible from, a computer or data storage device”
Read it at legislation.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-09
Lawful to refuse — but it costs you
Not an offence, but it carries a penalty or an inference.
Section 3LA(5) makes it an offence to fail to meet the order, carrying imprisonment for up to 5 years or 300 penalty units, or both.
Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), s.3LA(5) — penalty tier one (Compilation No. 167, 27 Aug 2026)
“A person commits an offence if:— the person is subject to an order under this section; and— the person is capable of complying with a requirement in the order; and— the person omits to do an act; and— the omission contravenes the requirement.—Penalty: Imprisonment for 5 years or 300 penalty units, or both.”
Read it at legislation.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
A separate, more serious offence under s.3LA(6) carries imprisonment for up to 10 years or 600 penalty units, or both.
Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), s.3LA(6) — penalty tier two (Compilation No. 167, 27 Aug 2026)
“A person commits an offence if:—Penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years or 600 penalty units, or both.”
Read it at legislation.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
What they can do
A power the law gives them over you or your device.
A search warrant under s.3E — the warrant a s.3LA order typically accompanies — can only be issued if an issuing officer is satisfied there are reasonable grounds for suspecting evidential material is, or will be within 72 hours, at the premises.
Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), s.3E(1) — when a search warrant can be issued (Compilation No. 167, 27 Aug 2026)
“An issuing officer may issue a warrant to search premises if the officer is satisfied, by information on oath or affirmation, that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is, or there will be within the next 72 hours, any evidential material at the premises.”
Read it at legislation.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
At warrant premises, an executing officer or a constable assisting may operate electronic equipment — including your phone — to access data they reasonably suspect is evidential material or shows a seizable digital asset, even data not physically held at the premises.
Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), s.3L(1) — operating electronic equipment at warrant premises (Compilation No. 167, 27 Aug 2026)
“The executing officer of a warrant in relation to premises, or a constable assisting, may operate electronic equipment at the warrant premises to access data (including data not held at the premises) if he or she suspects on reasonable grounds that the data constitutes evidential material or suggests the existence of a digital asset that may be seized under the warrant.”
Read it at legislation.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
If that equipment access turns up data reasonably suspected to be evidential material, the officer may copy any or all of it to a disk, tape or other device brought to the premises.
Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), s.3L(1A)(a) — copying accessed data to a device (Compilation No. 167, 27 Aug 2026)
“If the executing officer or constable assisting suspects on reasonable grounds that any data accessed by operating the electronic equipment constitutes evidential material or suggests the existence of a digital asset that may be seized under the warrant, he or she may:—copy any or all of the data accessed by operating the electronic equipment to a disk, tape or other associated device brought to the premises”
Read it at legislation.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
Limits on them
A rule that constrains them, or a remedy you can use.
An order under s.3LA can be made only where a magistrate is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that evidential material is held in, or is accessible from, the computer or data storage device.
Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), s.3LA(2)(a) — matter the magistrate must be satisfied of (Compilation No. 167, 27 Aug 2026)
“The magistrate may grant the order if the magistrate is satisfied that:—there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that evidential material is held in, or is accessible from, the computer or data storage device”
Read it at legislation.gov.auquote checked 2026-09-08
A Commonwealth court order, not a request
Section 3LA of the Crimes Act 1914 is Commonwealth law — it applies the same way across every state and territory, alongside (not instead of) the state schemes covered on this site for New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
A constable may apply to a magistrate for an order under s.3LA requiring a specified person to provide the information or assistance that is reasonable and necessary to allow a constable to do one or more of the things the order specifies — in practice, that can mean unlocking a device or supplying a passcode.
What the order requires
Once a magistrate actually makes the order, it requires you to give a constable any information or assistance that is reasonable and necessary — that is the order’s whole purpose, not a side effect of it.
The warrant and on-site powers behind it
A s.3LA order does not stand alone. The search warrant it typically sits alongside is issued under s.3E, and an issuing officer can only issue that warrant if satisfied, on oath or affirmation, that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting evidential material is at the premises now, or will be within the next 72 hours.
At those premises, the executing officer or an assisting constable may separately operate electronic equipment — potentially including your phone — under s.3L, to access data they reasonably suspect is evidential material or shows a seizable digital asset, even data not physically held at the premises. If that turns up anything of that kind, they may copy it to a disk, tape or other device brought to the premises, under s.3L(1A).
Before the order is made
The s.3LA duty depends entirely on the order existing. It arises only once a magistrate is satisfied there are reasonable grounds for suspecting evidential material is held in, or accessible from, the device — an officer simply asking is not the same thing, and this site has not found a separate Commonwealth offence for declining an informal request made before any order is in place.
The penalty for refusing
Failing to comply with a s.3LA order carries real penalties. The base offence under s.3LA(5) is imprisonment for up to 5 years or 300 penalty units, or both. A separate, more serious tier under s.3LA(6) carries imprisonment for up to 10 years or 600 penalty units, or both.
See how this compares with New South Wales’ digital evidence access orders, Queensland’s device information orders, Victoria’s s.465AA orders, and when you must give police the code generally.
Last reviewed 2026-09-08. Next review due 2027-03-08. No lawyer has reviewed this page — see [email protected] if you think something here is wrong.