Police Illegally Obtained Journalist's Phone Records Under New Metadata Program

The Australian Federal Police announced this week that they illegally obtained a journalist's phone records under the Turnbull government's new metadata retention plan.

The breach was accidental, according to the police, and happened as part of an investigation into a leak of police material.

The journalist was not notified about their data being accessed, due to the sensitive nature of the police work, AFP said.

"This was human error ... . There was no ill will or malice or bad intent by the officers involved who breached the Act. But simply it was a mistake."

AFP said their practices would now see "significant changes."