THE RORT · DOSSIER · METADATA RETENTIONSTATUS · SYSTEMIC
NSW Police: named together in 2 articlesNSW PoliceAnthony Albanese: named together in 1 articleAnthony AlbaneseThe ASD: named together in 1 articleThe ASDBridget McKenzie: named together in 1 articleBridget McKenzieGoogle: named together in 1 articleGoogleThe INSLM: named together in 1 articleThe INSLMJacqui Lambie: named together in 1 articleJacqui LambieNPWS: named together in 1 articleNPWSNSW DCCEEW: named together in 1 articleNSW DCCEEWThe OAIC: named together in 1 articleThe OAICOpenAI: named together in 1 articleOpenAIPM&C: named together in 1 articlePM&CServices Australia: named together in 1 articleServices AustraliaSunset Clauses: named together in 1 articleVictoria Police: named together in 1 article
DOSSIER / MECHANISMMECHANISM · SURVEILLANCE

Metadata Retention

Status Systemic

Two years of every Australian's communications records, retained by law and accessed without a warrant hundreds of thousands of times a year under s178 authorisations.

Last on record
2026-09-24
Named in
3 articles
Across
2 cases

Named in 3 articles across 2 cases 15 connections: companies 2, mechanisms 1, regulators and bodies 2, agencies and departments 5, police 2, people 3

Key figure on file
126,775 of 357,864
NSW Police's share of the nation's warrantless s178 metadata authorisations in 2024-25. The same force made 43 of the 58 voluntary TOLA assistance re… TIA Act Annual Report 2024-25; SDA Annual Report 2024-25, homeaffairs.gov.au
3
Articles naming it
2
Cases it recurs across
15
Linked in the graph
2
Figures on file

Fig. 01 / Where this name appears

The Surveillance Rort126,775 of 357,864NSW Police's share of the nation's warrantless s178 metadata authorisations in 2024-25. The same force made 43 of the 58 voluntary TOLA assistance …2 articles →The Reporting Rort11 article →
Fig. 01Source: article scan · every article naming itAs of 2026‑09‑24Auto-assembled

Fig. 02 / On the record

  1. 126,775 of 357,864NSW Police's share of the nation's warrantless s178 metadata authorisations in 2024-25. The same force made 43 of the 58 voluntary TOLA assistance requests, the clear majority of the national total.Source: TIA Act Annual Report 2024-25; SDA Annual Report 2024-25, homeaffairs.gov.auThe order that replaces the warrant →
  2. 357,864Warrantless metadata authorisations were made under s178 of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act in 2024-25, to enforce the criminal law. No warrant is required for a s178 authorisation; warrantless is the exact word. That is about 1,000 a day.Source: TIA Act Annual Report 2024-25The sunset that won't set →
Fig. 02Source: figures on file for this name, each tied to the article it came fromAs of 2026‑09‑24Auto-assembled

How we know

The sources of the 3 articles that name Metadata Retention, by the tier the desk declared. A source supports its article, not necessarily a claim about Metadata Retention.

Evidence strength · 96 sources across 3 articles
  • Primary 45
  • Official 10
  • Masthead 19
  • Trade 10
  • Aggregator 1
  • 11 not yet graded
Primary
the document itself: legislation, a court record, a filing, a regulator’s own publication
Official
the organisation’s own statement about itself
Masthead
a news organisation with a corrections policy, reporting the primary document
Trade
specialist or trade press
Aggregator
republishes others’ work
How sources are graded

3 of 3 articles are graded on every headline finding. How findings are graded

Fig. 03 / Named together

Metadata RetentionNSW Police: named together in 2 articlesNSW Police2Anthony Albanese: named together in 1 articleAnthony Albanese1Bridget McKenzie: named together in 1 articleBridget McKenzie1Google: named together in 1 articleGoogle1Jacqui Lambie: named together in 1 articleJacqui Lambie1NPWS: named together in 1 articleNPWS1NSW DCCEEW: named together in 1 articleNSW DCCEEW1OpenAI: named together in 1 articleOpenAI1PM&C: named together in 1 articlePM&C1Services Australia: named together in 1 articleServices Australia1Sunset Clauses: named together in 1 articleSunset Clauses1The ASD: named together in 1 articleThe ASD1
The 12 names most often in the same articles as Metadata Retention. A line's weight, and the number by each name, is how many articles name both. Grey chords join the neighbours most often named together themselves (two articles or more). Circles are people and organisations, squares are mechanisms. Named together is all this shows: it is not a finding about what the relationship is.
Fig. 03Source: article scan · articles naming bothAs of 2026‑09‑24Auto-assembled

How this page is assembled. The name, status and role are the desk's entity record. The article list, case counts, connections and the figures under On the record are read by script from the published articles that name Metadata Retention: the desk's key figures where it declared them, otherwise figures harvested from those articles. A connection is a name that appears in the same articles; it is not a finding about the relationship. Under How we know, the sources are those articles' references, counted once each and tiered only where the desk declared a tier; a grade beside an article is its weakest headline finding, shown only where every headline finding is graded. The page is rebuilt when an article is published or changed.

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