“My collaborations would see me jailed”: Australian researchers fear proposed new laws

From Nature, 28 November 2023:

Scientists have reacted with alarm at a proposal by the Australian Department of Defence to control information sharing with foreign researchers, even those working in Australia.

If it is passed, the proposed Defence Trade Controls Amendment Bill 2023 would affect scores of scientists working in Australia and have a chilling effect on international collaboration and the employment of visiting researchers in Australian laboratories, scientists say.

“Because we are in such an interconnected world, it is critical that we continue to exchange knowledge to solve the problems,” says Anna-Maria Arabia, chief executive of the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra.

The act, as it currently stands, requires Australian researchers to obtain a permit to export ‘dual-use’ technologies — technology that could have military uses. Failure to do so could result in fines and up to 10 years in prison. Dual-use technologies are detailed in the Defence and Strategic Goods List, a 344-page document that includes items such as sea-bed sonar mapping technology, spacecraft and protective suits against ‘biological agents’. A review of the act in 2019 recommended restrictions on collaborations not be tightened. Read more.