The Federal Court, through senior officers of the Court, became aware in late March 2020 that the names of some litigants who had commenced protection visa proceedings in the Federal Court and the Federal Circuit Court could be accessed on the Commonwealth Courts Portal through Federal Law Search. Those web-based services are managed under the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976.
The access that could be obtained to the names of some litigants was or could be, if obtained, publication contrary to the Migration Act s 91X. That provision provides that a federal court must not publish (in electronic form or otherwise) the name of a person in a proceeding relating either to their application for a protection visa or related bridging visa, or to the cancellation of such a visa. This state of affairs is referred to in these terms of reference as a ‘data breach’ or ‘the data breach’.
Source: S91X.pdf