The general meaning of cybercrime in Australia suggests that cybercrime is synonymous with the term electronic crime and encompasses a variety of offences associated with the use of information and communication technology. Cyrbercrime is often distinguished as two main categories based on the characteristics of the offenses. The first category includes the crimes committed directly against computers and/or computer systems and the other form of cybercrime offence is the use of technology to commit or facilitate the commission of traditional crimes. In Australia, Part 10.7 of the Criminal Code Act (Commonwealth) 1995 which incorporates the Cybercrime (Commonwealth) Act 2001 is the main legislation prescribes the cybercrime offences. The cybercrime offences under the Criminal Code require the act of 'unauthorised access, modification or impairment' as an element of crime offence. The meaning of 'unauthorised access, modification or impairment' is determined in the Criminal Code. The statutory definition of external element of the offences 'unauthorised access, modification or impairment' is a crucial restriction on the scope of offences. The motivation of the person in accessing, modifying or impairing the data is not relevant. What is relevant is the question of their authorisation. The issue of consent has been discussed in Kennison v Daire case in 1986 and the decision of the Court has not been challenged. There is no single Australian law enforcement or policy body which has responsibility for cybercrime matters. It is, rather, the cybercrime enforcement is the responsibility of a diverse group of organisations which include law enforcement, regulatory authorities and research bodies

I. What is Cybercrime?
1. Two major categories of offenses
II. Cybercrime related Australian Commonwealth legislations
1. Unauthorised access, modification or impairment
2. Issue of consent
III. Legislation and law enforcement

• 송미영(호주/뉴질랜드 변호사, 법무법인 특허법인 다래)