Highly sensitive Australian Federal Court data — potentially including suppressed evidence, witness statements, and material from national security proceedings — has been accessed by a foreign entity operating out of India, the ABC has reported.
The breach involves transcription services contracted to process audio recordings from Federal Court hearings, creating a pathway through which an overseas-based company gained access to some of the most sensitive legal proceedings in the country. The companies identified in the ABC's reporting are VIQ Solutions and its subsidiary E24 Technologies, both with operational connections to India.
The Federal Court of Australia handles an enormous range of sensitive matters: corporate insolvency and fraud cases, intellectual property disputes, immigration proceedings, and — critically — matters involving national security, counter-terrorism, and classified evidence. Transcripts from such proceedings can contain the names of intelligence sources, details of surveillance methods, suppressed identities, and protected witness information.
The ABC reported that the court outsourced its transcription work without adequate oversight of where data was being processed or stored, and that court officials were unaware that material had been accessed offshore. Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus' department is understood to be examining the full scope of the breach.
"This is not a routine data breach," a cybersecurity analyst familiar with court security frameworks told the ABC. "The sensitivity of what sits in Federal Court transcripts is extraordinary — it includes material that is suppressed from public record precisely because its disclosure could endanger lives or compromise ongoing investigations."
The incident fits into a pattern of concern about Australia's exposure to foreign data access through third-party contractors and outsourced services — a vulnerability raised repeatedly by the Australian Signals Directorate and in successive government cybersecurity reviews.
It also arrives in a geopolitical context that makes the word "India" complicated. India is a Quad partner, a close diplomatic ally, and increasingly central to Australia's Indo-Pacific strategy. New Delhi and Canberra have been building a comprehensive strategic partnership. That does not make every India-based company a state actor — but it does mean the investigation will require careful distinction between a private commercial operator cutting compliance corners and anything with a more concerning character.
VIQ Solutions is a Canadian-listed company with operations across multiple countries. E24 Technologies is an Indian subsidiary that has provided transcription and audio technology services across the Asia-Pacific region.
Australia's courts have historically relied on domestic providers or cleared contractors for sensitive transcript work. The circumstances under which offshore access was permitted — and how long it continued undetected — are now central questions for the Attorney-General's investigation.
The opposition's home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the breach was "a serious failure of process" and demanded a full account of what material was accessed and for how long.
