"This legislation could mean a conference speech, publication of a scientific paper or sending an email to colleagues could require a Defence permit or become a serious crime." (1)
- Professor Jill Trewhella

The Defence Trade Controls bill will give the Defence department the power to censor communication by researchers if their work involves "Defence and Strategic Goods". As presently proposed, any researcher conducting research with a purpose in mind (Almost any research with an application) will potentially  be affected.The vast majority of this research has nothing to do with military applications; researchers in vaccinations, quantum computing and semiconductor research may risk prison if they don’t get the paper work right.

The bill, especially in its current form, is a threat to our civil liberties as academics, students and researchers. If the bill can’t be stopped, we urge the Senate to at least make the changes recommended by Universities Australia in order to protect scientists, engineers, students and universities.

For more information, consult the following:

(1) http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/tighter-defence-ties-will-bind-academics-and-stifle-innovation-20121009-27b4n.html​

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/defence-treaty-to-censor-research-20121009-27bao.html​

http://theconversation.edu.au/science-and-the-slammer-the-consequences-of-australias-new-export-control-regime-10127