Australian computer offences law

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A student guesses a classmate's password and only reads their emails, changing nothing. Is this a computer offence?

A No, nothing was changed so no offence

B Yes, it is unauthorised access to data

2. Which law introduced the main Commonwealth computer offences into the Criminal Code?

A Copyright Act 1968 (Cwlth)

B Cybercrime Act 2001 (Cwlth)

3. Which statement about computer offence laws in WA is correct?

A The Criminal Code (WA) has its own computer offences, alongside the Commonwealth laws

B Only the Commonwealth has computer offences, so WA law never applies

4. A hacker floods a school's server so legitimate users cannot reach it. Which type of computer offence is this?

A Unauthorised impairment of a system

B Authorised modification of data

5. A penetration tester has written authorisation from a company to test its network within an agreed scope. Why is the tester not committing an offence?

A Authorisation is a defence to unauthorised access

B Testers are exempt from all computer offence laws

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1Cybercrime Act 2001 (Cwlth)		AWA offence for unlawfully operating a computer system, such as using it without permission
2Criminal Code (WA) s 440A		BInsiders can also commit computer offences. An employee who accesses or changes data beyond their permission breaks the law.
3Opening restricted data you have no permission to see is a computer offence		CUnauthorised access alone can be an offence. Modifying or impairing data is not required.
4Authorisation is a defence: access with the owner's permission is not an offence		DCommonwealth law that added computer offences to the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cwlth), covering unauthorised access, modification and impairment
5Only outside hackers can commit computer offences		Es 478.1 unauthorised access to restricted data
6Looking at data is legal as long as you change nothing		FIF access_authorised THEN no offence

Definitions

computer offence

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

Cybercrime Act 2001 (_____)

Access without _____________ is an offence

Unauthorised ____________ of data is a crime

Criminal Code (__) covers computer offences

Authorisation is a _______ to the offence

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A // Cybercrime Act 2001 (Cwlth)

B IF access AND authorised

C offence <- TRUE

D ENDIF

Question 2

A law <- 'Cybercrime Act 2001'

B jurisdiction <- 'WA'

C OUTPUT law, jurisdiction

Question 3

A IF data_changed THEN

B IF NOT authorised

C offence <- TRUE

D ENDIF

E ENDIF

Question 4

A IF impair AND allowed THEN

B offence <- TRUE

C ELSE

D offence <- FALSE

Question 5

A act <- 'Cybercrime Act 2001'

B level <- 'Commonwealth'

C defence <- 'curiosity'

D OUTPUT act, level, defence

Answer Key

Australian computer offences law

Section A: Quick Questions

B — Yes, it is unauthorised access to data

B — Cybercrime Act 2001 (Cwlth)

A — The Criminal Code (WA) has its own computer offences, alongside the Commonwealth laws

A — Unauthorised impairment of a system

A — Authorisation is a defence to unauthorised access

Section B: Match the Pairs

Cybercrime Act 2001 (Cwlth) → Commonwealth law that added computer offences to the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cwlth), covering unauthorised access, modification and impairment

Criminal Code (WA) s 440A → WA offence for unlawfully operating a computer system, such as using it without permission

Opening restricted data you have no permission to see is a computer offence → s 478.1 unauthorised access to restricted data

Authorisation is a defence: access with the owner's permission is not an offence → IF access_authorised THEN no offence

Only outside hackers can commit computer offences → Insiders can also commit computer offences. An employee who accesses or changes data beyond their permission breaks the law.

Looking at data is legal as long as you change nothing → Unauthorised access alone can be an offence. Modifying or impairing data is not required.

Section C: Definitions

computer offence — A crime under the Cybercrime Act 2001 (Cwlth) and the WA Criminal Code: accessing, changing or impairing computer data or systems without authorisation. Authorisation is a defence.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

Cybercrime Act 2001 (Cwlth)

Access without authorisation is an offence

Unauthorised modification of data is a crime

Criminal Code (WA) covers computer offences

Authorisation is a defence to the offence

Section E: Spot the Error

B — Computer offences involve access WITHOUT authorisation. The condition should be IF access AND NOT authorised.

B — The Cybercrime Act 2001 is Commonwealth (Cwlth) law, not WA law. It should be jurisdiction <- 'Cwlth'.

B — The IF statement is missing THEN, so the pseudocode is syntactically wrong. It should be IF NOT authorised THEN.

A — Impairing a system is an offence only when it is NOT authorised. Authorised impairment, such as an admin shutting down a server, is not an offence. It should be IF impair AND NOT allowed THEN.

C — Curiosity is not a defence to a computer offence. The defence is authorisation, so it should be defence <- 'authorisation'.